USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley has received backlash for the Trojans’ performance on the field in their disappointing 4-4 ​​start to the season. Now add something outside the field to the list.

USC made the announcement Monday no more media would be allowed in training for the rest of the season. Previously, members of the media were allowed to follow the first minutes of practice. No more of that.

What was Riley’s reasoning for this?

Lincoln Riley addresses the decision to close the practice

The first question USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley was asked after practice Tuesday was why he decided to close practices from the media for the rest of the season.

“Evaluated a few things last week,” Riley said. “Made some changes to how we handle pre-training with the short week.”

USC had a short week when they hosted Rutgers on their last outing. Friday’s game led to some practice and media availability times. With USC coming off a big win and snapping its three-game winning streak, it doesn’t sound like Riley wants to change anything in the lead going into that game.

“We liked how our team handled it and responded to it,” Riley said.

He is not wrong. USC came out on fire and immediately took a 21-3 lead in the first half. From there, USC held off a Rutgers comeback and tacked on a few late touchdowns to pick one up comfortable 42-20 win.

“With that, we’re moving forward with a lot of the things we did last week,” Riley said. “It just didn’t make sense to have it, honestly.”

Riley had no further comment on the decision.

Riley and USC face criticism for closing practice

This is not the first time Lincoln Riley has decided to close his team’s practice from reporters and members of the media. Per On3, Riley suspended media access while working out at Oklahoma amid a quarterback controversy between Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler in 2021.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg had a very fair criticism of Riley, citing how dominant USC teams in the past didn’t care about the media at practice.

If USC lost to Rutgers, would this still happen? Is it possible that it is a superstitious decision because the Trojans won? Maybe the team just performs better during preseason when they’re not covered by reporters.

One thing is for sure: if USC turns this season around and goes on a five-game winning streak to end the year, most USC fans won’t care if practices are closed or not.