USC hires Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma, making big splash in college football coaching carousel

USC Hired Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley after looking for a replacement for Clay Helton. Riley, 38, has led the Sooners for the past five seasons after taking over from legendary coach Bob Stoops.

“I’m really excited to come to USC and join the Trojan Family as the new head coach of the soccer team. USC has an unrivaled football tradition with immense resources and facilities, and administration. was deeply committed to winning. expectant grave. We will work hard to develop a team that is physically superior in both scenarios and has a dynamic balance of attack and a tough aggressive defence.

Oklahoma won 55-10 under Riley with four Big 12 titles and three College football Playoff appearance during his tenure. The Sooners posted a 10-2 record in 2021 but missed the Big 12 Championship Game after losing Oklahoma State 37-33 in a Bedlam thriller on Saturday.

After the match, Riley was furious shoot down rumours tie him up LSU opened, but he was not asked specifically about the USC vacancy.

Although Riley has been connected to other famous opportunities in the past, including opportunities in NFL, This is indeed a rare, if not unprecedented, move in the modern landscape. He became the first Oklahoma coach to leave for another college job since Jim Tatum left OU for Maryland in 1947. It was the Sooners’ first time. will enter the market for a new trainer since 1999 when they hired Stoops.

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Riley’s move to the West comes as Oklahoma and Texas prepare to depart the Big 12 for the SEC. While the two green-bloods don’t plan to switch conferences until 2025, it’s possible – if unlikely – they will switch as soon as next year. Southern California is a recruiting ground for players who are likely to be extremely attracted to Riley’s quick, open attack. Riley produced two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray) and sent another to New York as a Heisman Trophy (Jalen Hurts) finalist.

Since being hired by Stoops as the team’s offensive coordinator before the 2015 season, Riley has led Oklahoma into the top 10 offensive performances every season except for 2021 – the Sooners are tied with SMU in 11th place. – reached number 1 nationally in 2018.

“Lincoln is widely regarded as one of the brightest and most talented football coaches in the country, and his choice of USC is a testament to the strength of our brand, the strength of the Trojan Family and leadership of our university,” said Trojans athletic director Mike Bohn. “This is for our current players, our former players, our alumni, our fans, and our entire college community. Now is the time. our point.”

USC fired Helton two games in 2021. Helton went 46-24 with the Trojans, including the previous Rose Bowl victory. Penn State after the 2016 season. Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s great news.

A coup of epic proportions

New USC athletic director Mike Bohn has a relationship with Luke Fickell, one of the hottest names in the coach market, due to their time together in Cincinnati. It was therefore natural to connect the dots and put Fickell at the top of Bohn’s list. Bohn removed a ninja move that was attacking Riley from Norman in a move that would become one of the most epic hires in recent college football history.

This is the juice that USC needs. The show had to win the public relations battle in Los Angeles, but it fell in a difficult place to attract a name at the height of the profession that would play well in LA. Riley has done both. His success with the Sooners will revive a program that has become stale and put the Trojan back on the map after half a decade of being no longer relevant.

Required recruitment capacity

USC has been a tough company when it comes to recruiting circles in SoCal, but that’s going to change as Riley runs the ship. He offers the perfect system for attracting talent in the region, evolving from a pure Air Raid coach to a whispering midfielder who not only develops superstars but also runs a system. The system is established by the force of the attack.

Riley has a five-star player from California committed to Oklahoma in the 2022 Division, and three other players in the top 50 from the state – including five-star quarterback and No. 2 prospect Malachi Nelson – committed to the Sooners in the Class of 2023. Those players can not only follow Riley to USC but also show how much he has been appreciated in California.

Riley runs the system that pretty much every high school coach in the area uses, which means he’ll be able to open the doors of Heritage Hall and players with five-star offensive skills will be forfeited. sucked into the building like moths to the light.

The SEC factor plays a role

Riley was asked about his relationship with the administration after the loss to the State of Oklahoma, and he mentioned the program was about to move to the SEC.

“I’m not concerned about our administration, our AD, our president,” he say. “We’ve been through a lot together. It’s not our first game together. So we always have conversations about the future. And certainly with all that is going on. change right now in the college scene, all that is ready to change, because we, at some point here we move into a new conference, it’s always been conversations that we’re going to have, and we’re going to have conversations every year no matter what.”

That sounds confusing and it’s a bit like he’s unhappy with the challenges playing in the SEC will present.

Hard to blame him. Oklahoma has struggled in the trenches against teams from the SEC his entire tenure, and he will be forced to do so on a weekly basis once the move is complete. What’s more, he’ll likely do it with a roster that’s incomparable to the majority of the teams he’ll face regardless of how the SEC divides its divisions or teams.

Is Riley afraid of the SEC? That would be the story, but not how to look at it. If he feels like the show hit a ceiling in the Big 12, why not go somewhere that not only has more advantages but doesn’t face the same challenges that Oklahoma will face in the future. near future?

USC recruiting Lincoln Riley marks the first major domino to fall into the 2021 training cycle. Cover 3 Podcast delves into what the move means for Riley, USC and Oklahoma.