LOS ANGELES — Lincoln Riley has been saying it loud for months, in rooms private and public, as the NCAA’s definition of amateurism has been increasingly buried under a heap of pay-for-play cash: the current model of college football is now a professional model.

“We’re having to make some tough decisions,” Riley said on an early-December appearance on USC’s radio show “Trojans Live.” “We’re having to decide where to allocate reps, or where to allocate resources, roster spots, all of those things. You’re getting ready to reduce the roster size. You’re getting ready to have a salary cap, essentially.”

“I mean,” Riley continued, “that’s what we’re becoming.”

The transfer-portal market has become increasingly unstable, with offers from NIL collectives rising exponentially under an out-of-control free market. Revenue-sharing, and a $20 million allotment for universities to delegate pay directly to athletes across their various sports, is coming with the resolution of the House v. NCAA settlement. And as blue-blood programs across the nation race to add roster-management help, the Trojans are getting in the mix: a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Southern California News Group that USC is planning to finalize hiring a new general manager for football in the next two to three weeks.

The development, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, falls into a growing pattern of schools targeting front-office help similar to an NFL operation, as that general manager role has become one of the most valuable positions in collegiate sports. Look to Michigan, where head coach Sherrone Moore hired former Chicago Bears chief of staff Sean Magee as the Wolverines’ GM in April. Look to the Bill Belichick era at North Carolina, targeting longtime NFL executive Michael Lombardi as the Tar Heels’ GM.

USC already has a GM on staff: Dave Emerick, who was targeted by Riley in 2022 from Mississippi State and is heavily involved in recruiting conversations with agents and families on player valuations. Emerick, though, was hired largely to do a different job in a different era — long before revenue-sharing developments. And the source told the Southern California News Group that USC began discussing adding a GM in a new role, after the House V. NCAA settlement landed in summer 2024.