One of the subsections of our Riley Files podcast series from the summer of 2022 dealt with the kinds of coaches who are able to thwart Lincoln Riley-coached teams.
Though this series was recorded last year, it already seemed clear which kind of coach might get in Riley’s way. What Oklahoma insider Kegan Reneau said about “Riley-stopping coaches” turned out to be quite accurate and prescient. He identified Utah’s Kyle Whittingham as a coach whose teams would own the collection of attributes needed to beat Riley and the Trojans.
“Mark Stoops, and I’ll just say this quite frankly, is a guy that’s standing across the sideline that’s probably willing to fight Lincoln Riley. That’s the guy. Kyle Winningham, a coach of his nature. That kind of coach would give me pause if Lincoln Riley went up against them on a yearly basis.”
Utah beat USC twice last season, preventing Riley and the Men of Troy from making the College Football Playoff. We’ll see if this year changes that dynamic.
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