USC football on probation and fined $50,000 for violating coaching staff rules, NCAA says

The University of Southern California's football program has been placed on probation for one year and fined $50,000 for violating NCAA coaching staff rules, the National Collegiate Athletics Association announced Tuesday.

The university and the NCAA's enforcement staff reached an agreement that USC's football program exceeded the allowable number of coaches over two academic years and head coach Lincoln Riley violated head coach responsibility rules, according to an agreement released by the NCAA's Division I Committee on Infractions. 

USC responded to the announcement Tuesday with a statement saying the school has cooperated with the NCAA.

"Since learning of potential violations related to our football program in May 2023, USC has worked cooperatively with the NCAA enforcement staff and with the Committee on Infractions, as we identified and acknowledged violations, issued corrective measures, and submitted a negotiated resolution in a timely fashion that was approved by the Committee," USC Director of Athletics Jen Cohen said in a statement. "We remain committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical behavior and integrity in our athletic programs."

It was agreed that the violations occurred when eight analysts for the school's football program were involved in on- and off-field coaching activities during spring 2023, fall 2022 and spring 2022 — an exceeding of the permissible number of coaches by six for the period of two academic years.

"Head coaches are presumed responsible for the actions of their staff, and as a result, Riley violated head coach responsibility rules," the NCAA statement issued Tuesday reads. "In this case, however, some of the violations occurred before rules changes effective in January 2023 that shifted head coach responsibility rules from a rebuttable presumption to automatic attachment."

The NCAA says some of the circumstances surrounding the violations led to the decision to not suspend Riley as head coach.

"Because Riley was not personally involved in the violations and demonstrated that he promoted an atmosphere of compliance and monitored his staff, Riley rebutted his presumed responsibility for the violations occurring before the rules change," the NCAA statement continues. "For the same reasons, the parties also agreed that a suspension penalty for Riley was not appropriate."

USC and NCAA enforcement staff also reached an agreement that the school investigated the violations "promptly" upon being notified and worked with the organization's enforcement staff to resolve them, according to the NCAA statement, which says the school also "appropriately educated and monitored the football program." 

It also says that the analysts involved were aware of the rules "but occasionally exhibited lapses in judgment."

In addition to probation and the $50,000 fine, the NCAA said the infraction committee has also approved the following penalties: a restriction barring the remaining analysts from practice and film review for six consecutive days over the course of four weeks in the coming season, a restriction barring the special teams analyst from practice and film review for six consecutive days during the season and a reduction in the countable athletically related activities for the football program by 24 hours during the season.