Matt Leinart calls “unfortunate” trend in USC recruiting with Lincoln Riley

USC Head coach Lincoln Riley has received a lot of criticism for the way the Trojans are playing on the field after a 3-3 start. Now he’s being criticized by the former USC star and current Fox Sports analyst Matt Leinart for his recruiting tactics and skills.

Luca Evans published a story Thursday evening in which he shared that “several Mater Dei coaches told @ocregister that USC has only visited once since the spring. The same goes for St. John Bosco.”

Evans further revealed, “Lincoln Riley said recruiting kids from California is ‘Priority No. 1.’ Data says USC is increasingly looking south — and finding success there.”

Matt Leinart cited Evans’ story on Twitter Friday morning and shared his thoughts on Lincoln Riley and his recruitment.

“Pete Carrol built a fence around Southern California and the coaches knew they never had a chance of catching anyone during that time. If true, that would be unfortunate as there is still a lot of elite talent not only at MD but throughout Southern California!” said Matt Leinart.

Leinart’s tweet obviously received a lot of attention since he played at USC from 2001 to 2005 and won the Heisman Trophy and two national titles.

Pete Carroll was the head coach at USC in each of Leinart’s seasons. In total, Carroll spent nine years at Southern Cal, leading the Trojans to seven Pac-12 titles and two national titles before heading to the NFL.

It’s safe to say that Lincoln Riley and USC will need to do a better job on the field and in recruiting going forward to prevent Matt Leinart and other former stars from becoming upset with the direction of the program.

In addition to Matt Leinart, fellow Fox Sports analyst Urban Meyer also recently shared his thoughts on USC.

Meyer really can’t believe why USC Problems at this point below Lincoln Riley. Riley is now 5-8 in his last 13 games, including five of seven losses through the end of last season.

Given the brand and recruiting base in California, Meyer was almost amazed that this wasn’t an easy top-10 or top-5 team in the country at that point. So what is the solution?

Well, if it were that easy, Riley and USC might be better than 3-3 midway through the season.

“That cannot be calculated,” Meyer continued The triple option. “It hasn’t worked out for me for the last 10 or 15 years. For me this is a top five place. When you’re recruiting, you stumble upon players. I recruited there forever when I lived at Colorado State, Utah. I’m serious, to me Texas and California are different… In Texas and California they are like college coaches…

“To me, the history, the tradition and the recruiting base and financial support at USC don’t matter, and Coach Riley has a 5-8 record in the last 13 games. This follows previous staff who really struggled. So you can still blame the coaches. But are there any, I guess, is there something? There is a problem? Because that’s a top five job.”