USC's Lincoln Riley poaches another assistant coach from Oklahoma

It is official: Oklahoma inside linebackers coach Brian Odom is headed to the West Coast to join USC head coach Lincoln Riley in Los Angeles. 

Chris Vannini of The Athletic reported the move on Friday morning, and Odom has already changed his Twitter profile to reflect the change. New Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables did not retain any of Riley’s defensive staff.

Odom posted on Twitter on Thursday thanking Sooner nation for allowing him to be with them since 2019.

These are my guys. Each of them have a bright future ahead. So many great people in this program.
Very thankful for the last 3 years. It was an honor and privilege to be a Sooner. pic.twitter.com/VdTo4dFTp0

— Brian Odom (@CoachBOdom) December 30, 2021

In his last hurrah with the team, he served as the interim defensive coordinator for the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29. Oklahoma’s defense played lights out in the first half of the game, taking a 30-3 lead into the locker room at halftime. Oregon tried to mount a comeback, but the Sooners ultimately took a 47-32 win back to Norman under interim coach Bob Stoops.

The Oklahoma native was a redshirt freshman on Oklahoma’s 2000 national championship team, played special teams in 2001, and transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State in 2002. He became a three-year starting tailback for the Savage Storm.

Oklahoma produced some elite linebackers this season, including Brian Asamoah, Nik Bonitto and DeShaun White, despite an overall disappointing defensive performance. Asamoah had 80 tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles; Bonitto posted 39 tackles and seven sacks; and White had 61 stops and recovered a fumble. Asamoah was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s best linebacker.

Riley adds Oklahoma’s McQueen

Several Oklahoma coaches are making the move to Riley’s new staff, including offensive analyst Conner McQueen. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic and Fox was the first to report the news.

McQueen will join USC as a graduate assistant and will work with the quarterbacks for the Trojans, according to the report. During his college football career, McQueen played for Texas A&M. He also spent two years on the coaching staff at UCLA under Chip Kelly after spending a year as a quality control assistant for the Aggies. 

He’s lucky enough to already have an incredibly talented quarterback in Los Angeles, Jaxson Dart, the third-ranked quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class, according to the On3 rankings. Former USC quarterback Kedon Slovis has moved on from Southern Cal. He recently announced he would transfer to Pittsburgh for the 2022 season.

On3’s Wade Peery contributed to this report.