Once considered the “golden boy” of college football, Lincoln Riley has seen his stock take quite a hit in the coaching world.
There are some who never believed in him. But many did. And in fairness, many still do.
However, the extremely controversial way he left Oklahoma rubbed a lot of people the wrong way – and in turn, created a whole lot of new enemies for Riley.
Riley has been a massive disappointment at USC to this point.
Meanwhile, new Sooners head coach Brent Venables is still getting his feet wet and has been a work-in-progress in Norman. (Although Oklahoma fans want to see clear improvement from him this season.)
But as far as Riley is concerned, many feel his messy departure from Oklahoma was actually a blessing in disguise.
Discussing the program’s evolution with On3’s Andy Staples, Eddie Radosevich and George Stoia of Sooner Scoop highlighted the significant shifts since Venables replaced Riley.
“I think it might be the best thing that ever happened to Oklahoma football,” Radosevich said of Riley’s abrupt departure.
“We’ll see with Brent because I think there’s still some skepticism there,” Stoia added.
“I certainly think you love the recruiting side of it. The leaps they’ve made on defense, and everybody expects them to have a very good defense this year.
“We’ll see if he can still improve in terms of being kind of a CEO head coach and game management and all that comes with that.
“Obviously, he made two big hires this offseason. We’ll see how those pan out with Seth Littrell as the offensive coordinator and Zac Alley coming in as a co-defensive coordinator and kind of taking the reins.”
In his tenure, Venables has led the Sooners to a 16-10 record.
While that mark has rightfully been met with mixed reviews, Oklahoma’s recruiting remains strong, with the ninth-ranked class in the 2024 cycle according to On3.
Now entering the SEC, there is renewed excitement and optimism for the Sooners in Norman.
Stoia suggested that Venables’ approach could build a more stable foundation for long-term success, even though it is still unproven to this point.
“In terms of where this was heading under Lincoln Riley, there was a lot of holes that I think were covered up in terms of roster management or, obviously, the defensive side of the football by great quarterback play because they had all these great quarterbacks, Caleb Williams obviously the last one, and you look back at that 2021 season that was such a roller coaster of a year where they’re playing a bunch of close games, they lost games that they shouldn’t, and really the only reason they won as many games as they did is because Caleb Williams was so special and that offense was so special,” Stoia said.
“And you’re seeing that kind of at USC now where it kind of covered some things up for them in terms of recruiting or if it was the defense being a liability, I think as a program and as a team, you’re seeing top to bottom it’s just a better culture, one, and also, two, roster in terms of how many elite guys they have on both sides of the football,” he continued.
“So, I think in that sense definitely. We’ll see, though, like I said, if Brent can…this is a big year for him. Eight wins could be good. Nine wins would be great. 10 wins would be sensational. So, we’ll see. The verdict is still out on Brent, but I do think they’re in a better spot than they were under Lincoln.”
One challenge Venables faces is improving the Sooners’ performance in close games, where they have struggled with a 3-7 record in one-score contests over the past two seasons.
Radosevich emphasized the importance of turning around this trend, especially with the tough competition upcoming in the SEC.
“The biggest thing for Oklahoma going into this year, and when you look at the schedule and you see how many close games you’re gonna be playing, the one score games has not been kind to Oklahoma over the first two seasons under Brent Venables,” Radosevich said.
“They’re gonna have to find ways to change that because I think you expect, you just kind of know going into this conference, with this schedule particularly, you’re gonna be in tight ball games late in the third and fourth quarter, and if you’re leaving on a freshman quarterback…you’re gonna have to find ways to win some of these one-score games.”
Meanwhile, Riley’s tenure at USC has faced its own set of challenges.
Despite an initial 11-win season and a Heisman Trophy for quarterback Caleb Williams, USC’s defense routinely faltered, highlighting a continued problem for Riley.
His second season at USC was an epic disaster. Despite returning Williams and fielding a team who many predicted would make the College Football Playoff, the Trojans ended up being one of the most disappointing teams in the entire country.
Their final 8-5 mark doesn’t nearly do the supreme disappointment justice.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has often been a critic of Riley. Following everything that transpired, the popular college football figure raised the heat up a notch.
“I think it’s over for Lincoln Riley, anyway. To me, he’s lost control. And once you lose control, you’re like in the middle of quicksand,” Finebaum said.
“I don’t know that I’ve seen a worse coaching job by anyone than Lincoln Riley,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show after USC’s loss to UCLA last season. It was the Trojans’ fifth defeat in six games.
“It’s a complete disaster, and quite frankly, he outta pack up. I don’t really see what his path is moving forward.
“Maybe, Lincoln, you outta look in the mirror … Maybe you’re just a total fraud as a coach.”
Ouch!
Finebaum added to the Riley hate-fest with his recent comments on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.
“It’s not a matter of wishing him bad luck out there – that’s already happening. And if you look at the reality, the number of players that are bailing on Lincoln Riley in Southern California is startling,” Finebaum said.
“I’ve always thought he was a good coach, especially on the offensive side. But I don’t think anybody today views him in that same realm. And quite frankly, I think he’ll be out of Southern Cal at the end of the season.
“It’s a matter of whether he crashes and burns or he decides he’s got to seek elsewhere, but I don’t think there’s any way he’s going to be successful out there.
“I think that train has pulled out of the station. And if indeed that happens, this is one of the most historic crash and burns in the history of college football.
“Because five years ago Lincoln Riley was literally considered among the top three or four coaches in the country. Every time the Cowboys job came along everybody feared he would leave. But he made a disastrous decision, I think, in the end,” Finebaum concluded.
Of course, all of these anti-Riley comments take a backseat to the short-but-sweet blow Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione recently delivered on the SEC Network.
“I’m telling you, without reservation, every coach that we talked to was excited. And you know what? The ones that weren’t, aren’t here anymore,” Castiglione said of the Sooners joining the SEC.
“We call that a mic-drop!” Oklahoma president Joe Harroz said in response to Castiglione’s comments which were clearly aimed at Riley.
What are your thoughts on all of the anti-Riley comments?
Has the criticism gone too far? … Or is it all warranted?
Do you think Riley will be able to turn things around at USC?
Or will he end up going down as one of the biggest coaching frauds in college football history???