Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley explains why he missed media obligations

Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley may have chosen the wrong time to miss his weekly programming.

Riley on Tuesday missed Oklahoma’s scheduled press conference. Then, a few hours later, he missed his coaches show. Those two absences, coupled with rumors that Riley is a candidate for the LSU Tigers head coaching vacancy, made fans question whether Riley had taken a trip to Baton Rogue to take a midseason job interview.

On Thursday afternoon, however, Riley held a video press conference to clear the air. Except the Oklahoma head coach hardly did that, saying that he missed the two weekly events for personal reasons.

“Yeah, it was a personal matter,” Riley said, when asked by Oklahoma media why the Sooners rescheduled the video conference. “Had nothing to do with my job, football or anything like that. Personal matter that I was dealing with, and dealt with. It didn’t take away from any of our preparation here, thankfully, and back to normal now.

“My mom texted me and asked if I was OK,” Riley said. “That was about it.”

Then, Riley proceeded to say that the real story is more boring than the speculation its giving way to, as media reports have linked him with the LSU job in recent days.

“No, not really,” Riley said, when asked if he’d heard of the LSU rumors. “I mean, I was here working, doing my thing. So nah, not really. I’m kind of sheltered during the season. So I’m sure there’s a good story I’ll hear later on. But that was it. It was a lot more boring, I’m sure, than what’s out there.”

Oklahoma, now No. 4 in the AP poll, has a pivotal matchup this coming Saturday, as Riley leads the Sooners into a top-25 matchup at No. 18 Baylor. The Bears present a game that Oklahoma must win; the Sooners are 9-0 but are ranked just No. 8 by the College Football Playoff committee, a number that Riley hopes to change by season’s end. Despite their undefeated record, Oklahoma failed to jump a spot week-over-week (and, understandably so), as the Sooners were in a bye week.

Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley mentioned in LSU reports

As Riley continues to build upon his success in Norman, Oklahoma, rumors have circulated regarding mutual interest in the LSU job.

Scott Rabalais, a local columnist for The Advocate, appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show Thursday and said LSU’s top three candidates are Jimbo Fisher, Mel Tucker and Lincoln Riley. Although he gave a much stronger case for Tucker, suggesting that the Michigan State coach could very well be the No. 1 option in Baton Rogue, he did establish that Riley is firmly in the conversation.

“What I have gathered is that, and it doesn’t mean it’s going to be one of these three guys, but the Top 3 candidates right now are Jimbo Fisher, Lincoln Riley and Mel Tucker,” Rabalais said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “And there might be as many as five guys that Scott Woodward is looking at.”