Wasn’t Lincoln Riley excited about moving from Oklahoma to the SEC?
OU and Texas officially joined the SEC on Monday, a move years in the making. News first broke in the summer of 2021 that both teams were looking to leave the Big 12 for the richer pastures of the SEC — a report that came after administrators at both schools had been exploring the possibility for months.
Riley was the coach at Oklahoma at the time. And according to Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, he may not have been thrilled about a league change. In an appearance on the SEC Network on Monday afternoon, Castiglione referenced former coaches at Oklahoma who were unhappy about the school’s conference switch.
“I will tell you without reservation that every coach we spoke to was enthusiastic,” Castiglione said. “And you know what, the ones who weren’t, they’re gone.”
The regular OU AD left it at that, but it wasn’t hard for anyone watching and anyone on set to wonder if Castiglione was making a suggestion about Riley.
Riley appeared to be an Oklahoma lifer after taking over for Bob Stoops following Stoops’ retirement at the end of the 2016 season. Oklahoma lost just two games in each of Riley’s first five seasons at the school and was 10-2 in 2021 when USC parted ways with Clay Helton.
That move led to Riley becoming the Trojans’ coach after a season-ending loss to Oklahoma State. Stoops returned to coach Oklahoma’s bowl game before former Oklahoma assistant and Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables was hired to become the team’s new coach.
While Venables is leading Oklahoma’s football team to the SEC in 2024, Riley is also leading a team that is switching conferences this summer. The Trojans are one of four Pac-12 teams heading to the Big Ten this season, as the Big Ten expands to 18 teams. And like Oklahoma and Texas’ moves, USC’s move to the Big Ten was also years in the making. Both USC and UCLA announced their intentions to head to the Big Ten in the summer of 2022, following Riley’s first season in Los Angeles.
