Joe Castiglione takes apparent jab at Lincoln Riley over Oklahoma joining the SEC

Oklahoma was voted in as a member of the SEC in Summer 2021, with the move officially becoming official on Monday. It’s something athletic director Joe Castiglione has been working on for three seasons alongside his good friend Chris Del Conte at Texas. A new era begins for the Sooners and everybody in Norman seems thrilled about changing over to the SEC.

Back when the announcement was made, Lincoln Riley was the Oklahoma head coach. Six months later, he infamously left for USC following a tough Bedlam defeat, seemingly out of nowhere. Plenty of jokes were made about Riley not wanting to compete in the SEC and heading out West to play against the Pac-12 instead.

Well, Castiglione may have gotten in on the fun during Oklahoma’s SEC welcome party inside Gaylord Family Stadium Monday night. He took an apparent jab at Riley when speaking with the SEC Now crew, citing how excited coaches inside the athletic department were about joining the SEC.

“I will tell you, without reservation — every coach that we talked to was excited,” Castiglione said on the SEC move. “And you know what, the ones that weren’t aren’t here anymore… You either got to accept it or not. This is Oklahoma. Get with it or get on with it.”

Riley has been asked about the narrative surrounding his thoughts on the SEC. Back in May of 2022, the now third-year head coach in Los Angeles said switching over to USC was the right decision for him and his family at the time. He also believes his track record denies the idea of being afraid of a challenge.

“The chance to [coach] at [USC] combined with some of the opportunities for my family off the field — the life away from it, the chance to live in this place, educational opportunities — it was just, at the end of the day, it just really was the right place at the right time,” Riley said.

“And if you’re afraid of a challenge, you don’t take the head-coaching job at OU when you’re 33 years old. You don’t come out to USC to do this. I mean, that’s — the people that know us and know us well know we embrace those things, just like we’re going to embrace it here.”

Turns out, Riley was going to be in the middle of conference realignment either way. USC, alongside crosstown rival UCLA, were the first two to leave the Pac-12. Beginning with the 2024 season, the Trojans will be members of the Big Ten — certainly a step up in competition.

We will get to see Riley face off against an SEC team quite soon too. USC is opening up against LSU in Las Vegas, setting up to be a premier nonconference game. A good test for Riley to see where his team stands early in the season.