It turns out that Oklahoma football fans weren’t the only ones blindsided by Lincoln Riley’s decision to leave OU for USC.
According to Jason Kersey, who covers Oklahoma football for The Athletic, the Sooner coaching staff, players and even the higher-ups in the OU administration learned of Riley’s bombshell news at close to the same time the general public got wind of it.
Once word got out at mid-afternoon on Sunday, however, it spread like wildfire across every media platform.
Kersey sent out a Twitter message that was time-stamped 3:03 p.m. CT on Sunday, reporting that OU President Joe Harroz and Athletic Director Joe Castiglione had been in talks “for weeks” about a contract extension for Riley, “but they found out he was leaving for USC around the same time we all did.”
To illustrate how sudden all this came about, less than 12 hours after Oklahoma had lost to Oklahoma State and was eliminated from the Big 12 Championship for the first time in seven seasons, a local TV station in Oklahoma City was set to tape Riley’s weekly television program on Sunday when the station received word that the person believed to be the OU head coach would be delayed. Not too much later, the news broke and Riley ultimately failed to show up.
And then Riley and five of his OU assistants were on their way to Los Angeles to begin their new responsibilities.
The speed at which this blockbuster coaching change took place is somewhat unprecedented. And it ostensibly caught everyone connected with the Oklahoma football program off guard.
Rarely do coaches walk away voluntarily from a successful, tradition-rich program like Oklahoma for another college coaching opportunity. It has happened just twice in Oklahoma football history.
Jim Tatum coached the Sooners for one season (1946) before leaving to become the head coach at Maryland. Chuck Fairbanks was the OU head coach from 1967-72 before leaving to become head coach of the New England Patriots in the NFL. Fairbanks was replaced by his offensive coordinator, Barry Switzer.
Harroz, Castiglione and Bob Stoops, who has agreed to serve as interim head coach during the transition period and coach the Sooners in the postseason bowl game, all spoke with reporters on Monday. All three expressed their disappointment in Riley’s decision but acknowledged that it was a personal decision and indicated there was no sense that Riley was leaving because of any dissatisfaction with OU or the football program or the school’s impending move to the SEC.
“Were we disappointed? Absolutely,” Harroz said. “And that disappointment lasts until you realize you’ve now got to move forward. I mean, we’d like more notice.”
In his introductory press conference at USC on Monday, Riley said, “It was tough to leave the place I left. But at the same time, I knew this was the right thing.
“It came together quickly,” he said. “But to be honest, in this day and age of college football, it kind of has to.
“Everything intrigued me. The location, the history of the program, the opportunity to recruit here (and) to build a national championship roster.”
Not words that Sooner fans appreciate hearing right now. Besides the location, aren’t all those other things present at Oklahoma?
Castiglione said on Monday that he had no knowledge about whether USC had contacted and discussed anything with Riley prior to this past weekend. If not, it certainly didn’t take long for USC to convince Riley of the opportunity and turn his allegiance.
The longtime OU athletic director declined to discuss who or what he is looking for in the next Oklahoma head coach, but he clearly has his work cut out for him. Meanwhile, recruits are falling out of favor with their prior Sooner commitment and several key players have announced they are leaving the program.
“We’re here today, surprised by yesterday, but with an unlimited excitement for tomorrow,” Castiglione said.
If the sky isn’t falling in Norman, it certainly is sagging. Bob Stoops has stepped in to do what he can, but that may not be enough to save the program from a rocky transition and recovery.
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