It was the report heard around the college football world. Lincoln Riley is headed west to take the head coaching job for the USC Trojans. In his wake, he leaves behind an Oklahoma squad still reeling from its loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Bedlam.
Not even 18 hours removed from the disappointing defeat to Mike Gundy in Stillwater, reports began to surface that Riley was taking the job with USC and not long after it was out there that he had informed his coaching staff and players.
As wild as this season has been, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that had Riley bolting for USC on their bingo card.
It’s a move that will leave Oklahoma rudderless for the time being, but will have a major impact on the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes. The de-commits are already coming through as several prospects have reopened their recruitment in the wake of the news.
The Sooners now join the college football coaching carousel less than a year after the men’s and women’s basketball team replaced their great coaches as well.
As we wade through the emotions of the Sooners being left high and dry by Lincoln Riley, let’s peruse Twitter and see how the rest of the world reacted to Riley’s move to Southern California.