Sources: Three Oklahoma assistants expected to follow Lincoln Riley to USC

Lincoln Riley said in no uncertain terms Saturday that he would not be leaving Oklahoma to accept the LSU job, but as it later became clear, that’s because the 38-year-old head coach would instead fill the USC opening.

USC on Sunday night made the move official, and it appears as though Riley is already assembling the newest Trojans coaching staff. Riley will be bringing at least three Oklahoma assistant coaches with him to California in defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh and wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons, sources tell On3’s Matt Zenitz.

Grinch has been with Oklahoma since 2019, where he’s served as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach. A four-time nominee and two-time semifinalist for the Broyles Award, Grinch in 2019 led a Sooners defensive unit that led the Big 12 in total defense in conference play with 330.6 yards per contest. Prior to his arrival in Norman, he was a defensive coordinator at Washington State for three seasons, coaching under Mike Leach, and at Ohio State for one year, coaching under both Urban Meyer and Ryan Day. USC’s defense in 2021 allowed 447.1 yards per game, the worst in the Pac-12.

Bedenbaugh’s tenure at Oklahoma predates Riley’s arrival in Norman. The co-offensive coordinator first made the move from West Virginia to Oklahoma in 2013, coaching the offensive line at both universities. He was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2017, a position he’s held ever since. Bedenbaugh was a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2017, and he’s helped establish one of the top offenses in the country at Oklahoma; the Sooners rank first nationally in total offense over the past eight years, with 521.1 yards per contest.

In addition to his role at wide receivers coach, Simmons added the associate head coach title in 2019, before his promotion to assistant head coach and passing game coordinator in 2021. Simmons, like Grinch, brings Pac-12 familiarity to USC, as he previously coached for Washington State. He’s coached a number of Biletnikoff Award finalists, like CeeDee Lamb and Marquise Brown, and helped produce the award’s winner in 2016 in DeDe Westbrook.

Riley’s three assistant coach hirings at USC have not yet been made official by the university. The former Oklahoma head coach will officially be introduced as the Trojans’ head coach in a press conference Monday.

Lincoln Riley officially announced as USC head coach

 Riley turned the 2021 coaching carousel upside down on Sunday, as the Oklahoma Sooners head coach reportedly left Norman, Oklahoma for Los Angeles to become the next head coach of the USC Trojans.

On Sunday night, USC made it official with a Twitter post introducing Riley as the program’s next head coach.

 “We are ecstatic to announce Lincoln Riley as our new head coach and welcome his wife Caitlin and their daughters Sloan and Stella to the Trojan Family,” USC athletic director Mike Bohn said in a press release. “Lincoln is the rarest combination of extraordinary person and elite football coach. His successes and offensive accolades as a head coach the past five years are astonishing. Lincoln will recruit relentlessly, develop his players on and off the field, and implement a strong culture in which the program will operate with the highest level of integrity and professionalism.”

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.