USC has hired Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley following a search to replace Clay Helton. Riley, 38, has led the Sooners for the past five seasons after taking over for legendary coach Bob Stoops.
“I am truly excited to come to USC and join the Trojan Family as its new head football coach. USC has an unparalleled football tradition with tremendous resources and facilities, and the administration has made a deep commitment to winning. I look forward to honoring that successful tradition and building on it,” said Riley in a statement released by USC. “The pieces are in place for us to build the program back to where it should be and the fans expect it to be. We will work hard to develop a physical football team that is dominant on both lines of scrimmage, and has a dynamic balanced offense and a stout aggressive defense.
Oklahoma went 55-10 under Riley with four Big 12 titles and three College Football Playoff appearances during his tenure. The Sooners posted a 10-2 record in 2021 but missed out on the Big 12 Championship Game after losing to Oklahoma State 37-33 in a Bedlam thriller on Saturday.
After the game, Riley vehemently shot down rumors tying him to the LSU opening, but he was not specifically asked about the the USC vacancy.
Though Riley has been connected to other high-profile openings in the past, including opportunities in the NFL, this is truly a rare, if not unprecedented, move in the modern landscape. He becomes the first Oklahoma coach to leave for another college job since Jim Tatum left OU for Maryland in 1947. This marks the first time the Sooners will be in the market for a new coach since 1999 when they hired Stoops.
Southern California’s local talent pool, along with the the appeal of Los Angeles and USC’s…
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