On The Riley Files, Oklahoma insider Kegan Reneau explained how detailed and targeted Lincoln Riley’s recruiting strategy was with the Sooners, but also how the specificity of that strategy created a smaller margin for error.
“I thought his roster construction early on at Oklahoma made a lot of sense in the era of recruiting elite recruits in the country and having a plan for them, like when you could possibly play,” Reneau said. “What does the roster look like in front of you if you saw the way Oklahoma recruited? It was very calculated. I’ve said that word about 10 times, but they recruited a quarterback every other year. They didn’t go all in on a quarterback during an even-numbered year while Lincoln Riley was the head coach. They were always trying to go all-in on an offensive lineman every other year.
“But whenever you have a quarterback that doesn’t develop and your best receiver is kicked off the team because of an arrest, that margin for error is as thin as it was for Oklahoma to have success on the football field. When those things that you’re counting on don’t happen, you don’t have depth. You have to play a freshman quarterback against some of the best, most difficult defenses to process in the country. You have what happens in 2020 and 2021, right?
“The roster construction at the time, if Lincoln Riley follows the same path (at USC) he had at Oklahoma, he’ll be recruiting a quarterback every other year. He’s not gonna go after the same elite offensive lineman every single year.”
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz8sj88pxak7gd player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=47516]