Lincoln Riley shares how Oklahoma experience helped at USC

Lincoln Riley had a lot of experience coming to USC after his Oklahoma stint. Regardless of how he left for the Trojans, or how Sooners’ fans felt about it, Riley appreciated his time in Norman.

He wanted to carry all of his experience from Oklahoma, use it at USC and build upon what he’s done in his career. It was a Jekyll and Hyde first two years at USC and Year 2 concludes at the Holiday Bowl against Louisville.

With that in mind, Riley put it all in perspective as the Trojans try to springboard positively into 2024.

“I think we’re all products of the experiences that we have, different opportunities that we’ve had and challenges that we face,” Riley said. “And so I try to carry like Coach (Jeff) Brohm does as well, try to carry all the different experiences with me. The good, the bad, everything in between trying to learn from it, and certainly trying to bring our best down here to USC.

“We knew the challenge coming in here to help rebuild this and something that we’re very, very passionate about very, very excited about as we continue to go forward. 

“I think that’s kind of why you get into this right, is for challenges like this and opportunities like this, and we’ve got one of the great ones and, you know, we’re looking from a long term perspective, looking forward to getting this thing back to where we believe it can be.”

In five years at Oklahoma, Riley won four Big 12 titles and went to the College Football Playoff three times. However, he never got too the national championship game and finished 55-10 during his time with the Sooners.

He is 18-8 ahead of the Holiday Bowl with USC, making it to the Pac-12 Championship last season.

Riley also acknowledged, prior to Christmas, all of the changes over the last six weeks since USC last played a football game.

“It’s even a bigger challenge,” Riley said on Sirius XM Big Ten Radio. “I mean, it’s kind of been almost six weeks for us since we played, you know, which is unprecedented. I mean, I don’t know that it’s ever happened in college football. So, ya know, it has been a challenge and on top of it with some of the coaching staff changes and all that’s gone on here. It has been, you know, that’s where you really rely on the leadership of the team, you know, rely on the excitement of these young guys being able to get that opportunity.”