Lincoln Riley reveals what drew him to USC from Oklahoma

Lincoln Riley shook the college football world over the weekend, when the Oklahoma head coach — who made it to the College Football Playoff in three of the last four years at the helm — left the 10-2 Sooners in favor of USC, where he was named the Trojans’ head coach.

The move was the latest in an array of coaching carousel dominoes, with Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU shortly thereafter. Riley brought a number of assistants with him to USC, including defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh and wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons. In his absence, Oklahoma took a step back, plucking legendary head coach Bob Stoops out of retirement to be named interim head coach.

Riley was emotional in his opening press conference at USC, explaining that the decision to leave Oklahoma wasn’t an easy one. But ultimately, Riley said his decision was influenced by the stature and history of USC.

“(The history) was a huge part,” Riley said to Joel Klatt on FOX Sports’ Breaking the Huddle. “Because it’s been done here (at USC), and it can be done here. I think when you start to think about the possibilities, it’s potential versus current investment. And if you have the big possibilities, the big potential, which USC clearly has — you can argue maybe more so than any other program in the country — that’s great. But if that’s all that you’re relying on, then you’re probably going to get some results that you’ve had there over the last several years.”

USC, as Riley noted, has struggled in recent years. The Trojans have not eclipsed eight wins since 2017, when they went 11-3, and their last season with 12 or more victories came in Pete Carroll’s penultimate season at the helm in 2008. It’ll take some rebuilding, but Riley thinks the potential is there, given both the prestige of the program and the investment from the USC brass.

“If there’s a complete buy in and investment and a hunger about all the people that support this program or are a part of this program to do everything possible to get it where it needs to be, that combination is dangerous,” Riley said. “That combination is what ultimately drove us to making the decision to come here.”

Following his interview with Riley, Klatt made an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd and made a significant proclamation, suggesting that Riley has the chance to change the landscape in the Pac-12.

“Here’s the bottom line,” Klatt said. This conference has been somewhat irrelevant for the better part of a decade outside a couple of years where Mariota was great, or Petersen made a run at Washington, but other than that it hasn’t been great. This makes, not only USC, but the entire conference footprint relevant. And I think the dominoes that we see from this over the next couple of years are going to be substantial.”