Report: Oklahoma targets NFL head coach after Lincoln Riley's departure

The 2021 coaching carousel got even more hectic on Sunday, as Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley reportedly accepted the USC head coaching job. Now, with Oklahoma in pursuit of Riley’s replacement, the Sooners have reportedly targeted an NFL head coach, per Adam Schefter: Kliff Kingsbury.

Kingsbury is currently the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, who jumped out to a 9-2 record in the 2021-22 season. He took over in Arizona back in 2019, at age 40, and amassed a 5-10 season in his first year at the helm, before improving to 8-8 last season. Kingsbury has not yet made the playoffs with the Cardinals, amassing a 22-20 record in three years at the helm, but Arizona sure seems playoff bound this year — thanks, in large part, to one of Riley’s products at Oklahoma in quarterback Kyler Murray.

Kingsbury is no stranger to coaching at the collegiate ranks, as he’s served as a Big 12 head coach before; however, he’s never been an SEC head coach, and Oklahoma is making the jump with Texas in a few years. Kingsbury last coached college in 2018, his sixth year at Texas Tech, where the Red Raiders amassed a 35-40 overall record in six years. Kingsbury went 1-2 in bowl games at Texas Tech, making three in six years.

Should Oklahoma pursue Kingsbury, as Schefter noted, he has just one year remaining on his contract with the Cardinals, so perhaps it makes sense. But then again, with Arizona most certainly heading to the playoffs this season, Kingsbury may not even be available until February.

Kingsbury emerges as candidate after Riley goes from Oklahoma to USC

Riley has shifted the college football landscape with one swift move Sunday, as he reportedly accepted the USC head coaching job, leaving his stable post in Oklahoma behind.

Contract details have yet to be announced. Per USA Today, Riley was the fifth-highest paid coach this season with a $7.672 million salary.

In his fifth season with the Sooners, Riley was tabbed as the heir to the Bob Stoops’ dynasty. Oklahoma is 10-2 this season and was on the cusp of a College Football Playoff berth until its loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday night. A win would have set up the Sooners to meet the Cowboys in Dallas for the Big 12 title this coming weekend.

Riley took over for Stoops in June 2017. Initially hired by Stoops as an offensive coordinator in 2015, Riley built the Sooners into a top-10 offense in the 2016 season and won the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

There are a handful of reasons why Riley would want to make the move. For starters, Oklahoma is set to join the SEC in the coming years and as early as 2023. While the Sooners are constantly in the playoff conversation and winners of six-consecutive Big 12 titles, making the jump to the most competitive conference in the nation could backfire.

With a 55-10 overall record and 37-7 mark in conference play at Oklahoma, Riley has made the playoff four times but still doesn’t have a national title game appearance. Making the move to USC gives the 38-year-old head coach a backyard loaded with talent.