# List of USC Trojans head football coaches

The USC Trojans college football team represents the University of Southern California (USC) in the Big Ten Conference. The Trojans compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 26 head coaches and three interim head coaches since it began play during the 1888 season.

## Key

Key to symbols in coaches list :
| General | General | Overall | Overall | Conference | Conference | Postseason | Postseason |
| No. | Order of coaches | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties | C% | Conference winning percentage | | |
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage | | | | |

## Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards :
| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | CC | NC | Awards |
| 1 | Henry H. Goddard | 1888 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1 | Frank H. Suffel | 1888 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | Lewis R. Freeman | 1897 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.833 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | Clair S. Tappaan | 1901 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | John Walker | 1903 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0.667 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Harvey Holmes | 1904–1907 | 27 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 0.759 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | William I. Traeger | 1908 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0.700 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7 & 9 | Dean Cromwell | 1909–1910 1916–1918 | 35 | 21 | 8 | 6 | 0.686 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | Ralph Glaze | 1914–1915 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Gus Henderson | 1919–1925 | 52 | 45 | 7 | 0 | 0.865 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0.636 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Howard Jones$^†$ | 1925–1940 | 170 | 121 | 36 | 13 | 0.750 | 65 | 23 | 12 | 0.710 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 1928 1931 1932 1939 | — |
| 12 | Sam Barry | 1941 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0.278 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0.357 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 13 | Jeff Cravath | 1942–1950 | 90 | 54 | 28 | 8 | 0.644 | 37 | 12 | 5 | 0.731 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — |
| 14 | Jess Hill | 1951–1956 | 63 | 45 | 17 | 1 | 0.722 | 28 | 10 | 1 | 0.731 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 15 | Don Clark | 1957–1959 | 30 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 0.450 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0.472 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 16 | John McKay$^†$ | 1960–1975 | 175 | 127 | 40 | 8 | 0.749 | 70 | 17 | 3 | 0.794 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 4 1962 1967 1972 1974 | AFCA Coach of the Year (1962, 1972) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1962, 1972) Sporting News College Football COY (1972) |
| 17 & 20 | John Robinson$^†$ | 1976–1982 1993–1997 | 143 | 104 | 35 | 4 | 0.741 | 63 | 23 | 3 | 0.725 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 1978 | — |
| 18 | Ted Tollner | 1983–1986 | 47 | 26 | 20 | 1 | 0.564 | 21 | 10 | 0 | 0.677 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 19 | Larry Smith | 1987–1992 | 72 | 44 | 25 | 3 | 0.632 | 33 | 12 | 2 | 0.723 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — |
| 21 | Paul Hackett | 1998–2000 | 37 | 19 | 18 | — | 0.514 | 10 | 14 | — | 0.417 | 0 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 22 | Pete Carroll | 2001–2009 | 116 | 97 | 19 | — | 0.836 | 62 | 14 | — | 0.816 | 7 | 2 | — | 7 | 2 2003 2004 | — |
| 23 | Lane Kiffin | 2010–2013 | 43 | 28 | 15 | — | 0.651 | 17 | 12 | — | 0.586 | 0 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int. | Ed Orgeron | 2013 | 8 | 6 | 2 | — | 0.750 | 6 | 1 | — | 0.857 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int. & 25 | Clay Helton | 2013 2015–2021 | 70 | 46 | 24 | — | 0.657 | 36 | 13 | — | 0.735 | 1 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 24 | Steve Sarkisian | 2014–2015 | 18 | 12 | 6 | — | 0.667 | 7 | 5 | — | 0.583 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int. | Donte Williams | 2021 | 10 | 3 | 7 | — | 0.300 | 3 | 5 | — | 0.375 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 26 | Lincoln Riley | 2022–present | 40 | 26 | 14 | — | 0.650 | 17 | 10 | — | 0.630 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — |