Lincoln Riley-coached teams have not had high-quality defenses. We can all agree on that. However, that doesn’t mean there’s an absence of toughness or resolve. Oklahoma was able to consistently fight back against Big 12 opponents. OU wouldn’t have won four straight conference championships (2017-2020) in Riley’s first four years as head coach if the Sooners lacked a hard-nosed competitive dimension.
Kegan Reneau explained this on The Riley Files:
“In 2021 (at Oklahoma), obviously they got worse,” Reneau said. “It felt like every single week. There are mixed examples of how he responds to adversity. Obviously it looks like he was running away from some adversity at Oklahoma, but they were down 31-14 against Texas in 2021, and that team came back and found a way to win. You can say whatever you want, but Lincoln has a little bit of toughness to him as a person. Now, did his team represent that all the time? They did not, but I do think it goes to show that Lincoln’s got a little edge to him. It’s a little petty too, which I hope you get to enjoy during your time covering him, especially against UCLA and Notre Dame.”
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