Lincoln Riley's move to USC represents a seismic shift for Oklahoma, rest of college football

By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer

Moments after losing the Bedlam rivalry game for the first time in his career, Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley was asked to comment on the many rumors that he was set to become the next head coach at LSU.

Riley stopped the inquiring reporter from even finishing his question.

"Let me stop you right there," he said. "I’m not going to be the next coach at LSU." When the reporter tried to follow up, Riley interrupted him again. "Next question."

Following Oklahoma's 37-33 defeat in debilitating fashion — losing to Oklahoma State for the first time since 2014 and missing the Big 12 championship game for the first time since 2003 — I, like other Sooners fans, took those words to mean, "I’m not f---ing leaving."

We heard those words like they were uttered by Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) in "The Wolf of Wall Street" when he assured his legion of fans that he would not forsake them.

Of course, what Riley probably meant was not unlike the scene in "Independence Day" in which President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) assures a nice, old man, Julius Levinvson (Judd Hirsch), that there is, in fact, no such thing as aliens — only to be contradicted by Secretary of Defense Albert Nimizki (James Rebhorn), who drops a legendarily understated, "That’s not entirely accurate."

Like Nimizki, Riley didn’t lie to us. He simply didn’t tell us the whole truth.

That's what we learned Sunday afternoon, when USC sent shockwaves through college football by landing Riley as its new head coach.

There's a lot to unpack with this seismic shift, so let's break down what it means for Oklahoma, USC and the rest of the sport.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OKLAHOMA?

Grief. Rage. Chaos.

Riley was handpicked by former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops to succeed him, and the offensive guru lived up to the standard Stoops set from the moment the hire was announced. It set a new bar for smooth transitions, a white-glove service for the fan base, and everyone wanted to keep Riley.

Stoops' decision to retire and hand the reins immediately to Riley was one of the greatest acts of his coaching career.

The Sooners have been a model of sustained excellence for more than 20 years, the past five of which have come under Riley’s watch.

In five seasons, Riley posted a 55-10 record, won five Big 12 titles and developed two No. 1 overall picks in the NFL Draft at quarterback (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray). He also made three appearances in the College Football Playoff as a head coach and failed to win a semifinal game.

With each passing semifinal loss, Oklahoma fans became impatient to win a playoff game in a sport that has become about making the CFP and winning the national title above all else. There's little solace in a 10-win season, a feat OU accomplished in 2021 even after the season ended with a loss.

But rather than seeking to pick up a longer extension with more money such as we saw this month for Penn State coach James Franklin, Michigan State coach Mel Tucker and Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson, Riley threw in his lot with the Pac-12 — a conference that hasn’t played in the CFP in five seasons — and a Trojans program that has been mostly mired in mediocrity. 

The question is why?

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione and the Sooners haven’t participated in a coaching search this century, but the last time Castiglione did, he struck gold with Stoops.

Never mind that college football looks like a totally different sport now or that Castiglione has worked with three university presidents and now two head coaches during his 23-year run.

However, no one has had more time to put together a list of potential Oklahoma head coaches. Off the rip, Castiglione needs to think about promoting defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh or co-offensive coordinator Cale Gundy (brother to Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy).

I think Castiglione’s first call needs to be to Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables. He not only is familiar with the program (and has worked for Stoops as well as Dabo Swinney) but also has done nothing since leaving Oklahoma but win games, including against the Sooners, and national championships.

Oklahoma is in Year 21 of its national title drought. Venables could put together an outstanding staff, knows the area, was raised in Salina, Kansas, played at Kansas State and has successfully pulled the odd gem from the region — such as Isaiah Simmons, who is from Olathe, Kansas, was lightly recruited and developed into a "Destroyer of Worlds" at Clemson.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR USC?

In September, I wrote that the next head coach at USC needed to "be both Hollywood and hard-working.

"In a word, you’ve got to be talented because if want-to were all it took to get what you want, I’d be 6-foot-6, 260 pounds and walk around with a cape.

"You’ve got to be comfortable in a living room, a weight room and an entertainment executive boardroom. The job is as open and selective as becoming U.S. president."

The Trojans said "bet" and landed Riley.

Riley fits everyone’s assessment of a home-run hire and has proven that he can successfully recruit in the area. Former five-star quarterback Spencer Rattler hails from Arizona.

Riley is also going to be charismatic, charming and quick with a joke and a smile in a town full of stars and entertainment execs, a city very high on its sense of self and place in the world. His way is that of an aw-shucks kid from Muleshoe, Texas, with an IQ and memory fit for NASA.

How quickly he can turn USC around is my only question. If it takes longer than USC athletic director Mike Bohn thinks it should, will he hold the line to give Riley not only the resources he needs but also the time? In this age, folks get fired for sneezing in the wrong direction along with six games in the loss column.

USC believes it should win national titles with regularity. That's not unlike the place Riley just left. Which begs the question, again: Why go?

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL?

Perhaps, Riley will just say that it was time for him to leave.

It was time to leave the place where he was the fifth-highest paid coach in the sport ($7.672 million).

It was time to leave the place where he helped engineer a move from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference while posturing like he wanted the challenge of facing Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, Mike Leach and the class of college football week in and week out.

It was time to leave the place where he has had a steady road to championships, has consistently recruited well and has been a model of sustained success in the sport.

It was time to leave the place where the college team is the pro team for a place with two NFL teams, two NBA teams, two MLB teams and, perhaps, the most fair-weather fans in the sport.

It was time to leave the place that was ready to build a fifth statue of a head coach — alongside Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and Stoops — next to Heisman Park and memorialize him for all time.

It was time for Riley to turn his back on that.

Nothing is forever. Nothing is sacred. College football is a business, full of businessmen standing on the sideline trying to get ahead of an axe that falls on most.

If this can happen at Oklahoma, to Oklahoma, it can happen anywhere. It can happen to your school, too.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.