Sadly, the 2025 football season is officially over. The Indiana Hoosiers are college football national champions, the Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions, and we have another six months until the greatest sport in the world returns.
With some more time on our hands now, it is a great opportunity to look back on USC’s season. This week, we will be giving report cards for the 2025 Trojans. After doing offense on Wednesday and defense on Thursday, here are our final overall grades for USC’s 2025 season.
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Offense: A-
Overall, USC’s offense gets an A- for the 2025 season. It was certainly not the best unit of Lincoln Riley’s coaching career (which has produced some of the top college football offenses in recent memory), but still a very good one. The Trojans scored at least 24 points in all 13 games, and the unit gave them at least a decent chance to win each contest.
Defense: C+
By no means was USC’s defense this season horrible. The Trojans had plenty of good moments, and played really well against Michigan and in the second half of the Nebraska and Iowa games.
Unfortunately, in the biggest moments, however, USC simply did not make enough plays on the defensive side of the ball. Against Illinois, the Trojans allowed a game-winning drive that looked far too easy. Against Oregon, the defense simply could not get off the field when it mattered most. And we all remember the fiasco that was the final play of the Alamo Bowl against TCU.
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With D’Anton Lynn now at Penn State, Gary Patterson is USC’s new defensive coordinator. How his unit looks in 2026 could very well determine the trajectory of the Lincoln Riley era in Los Angeles.
Special teams: C
For most of the 2025 season, USC’s special teams were actually quite solid. Kicker Ryon Sayeri had a remarkable year, breaking the program record for most field goals made in a single season.
Unfortunately, however, the Oregon game happened, featuring quite possibly the worst special teams day in football history in the Trojans’ biggest game of the season. That alone was enough to drag this grade down to a C.
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New special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler takes over the program in 2026. He will certainly have his work cut out for him.
Coaching: B-
It was an up-and-down year for Lincoln Riley and USC’s coaching staff. While Riley had the Trojans well prepared for several games (most notably Michigan and in the second half against Iowa), there were also several instances this season (especially Notre Dame and Oregon) where USC looked outcoached.
Similarly, while Riley hit on several of his assistant coaching decisions (hiring Chad Savage and promoting Zach Hanson), others did not turn out so well (bringing in Rob Ryan and keeping Ryan Dougherty). To Riley’s credit, though, he did recognize which of those decisions did not work out and made changes for next season.
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Overall, 2025 was not a bad coaching job by Riley and the Trojans—especially in comparison to the prior two years. When you are getting paid what USC is paying Riley, however, the standard is much higher than “not bad”. The pressure is on to take things to the next level in 2026.
Recruiting: A
For the first time since the height of the Pete Carroll era, USC signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. That is a massive accomplishment, and earns the Trojans and A.
The only thing preventing this grade from being an A+ was that USC’s transfer portal class has been a bit smaller than in years past. But general manager Chad Bowden certainly seems to know what he is doing, so that is not something that fans should sweat over too much.
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Overall season grade: B
Overall, this grade fairly accurate reflects USC’s record in 2025. 9-4 is not a bad year by any means, but it is not a great one, either. Plain and simple, USC was an average/slightly above average team this past season.
When I was growing up, my parents used to tell me that getting Bs in school may be good enough for some other kids, but it was not good enough for me. That is a rather fitting metaphor here. While 9-4 may be a successful season for many programs, it is not for USC, especially given what the Trojans are investing into the football program.
Next season, USC needs to get its overall grade from a B up into the A range. It will not be easy, though, with a difficult 2026 “course load” that includes games against Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State. Riley and the Trojans better hit the books and start studying.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football 2025 final overall grades
