Lincoln Riley explains why he 'didn't take players from Oklahoma'

When Lincoln Riley decided to leave Oklahoma in favor of USC, it had a major domino effect across the college football world. Not only in the coaching carousel, but in the transfer portal as well.

There has been a lot of cross-over between the Sooners and Trojans ever since the move was made official. While there might be some upset people in Norman about Riley taking some star players with him, the head coach explained why that’s not the case on Tuesday.

“We didn’t take players from Oklahoma,” Riley said on The Herd. “We took players from the transfer portal. Those players and their families had to make a decision to stay at that university … or to enter the portal where they could be recruited by anybody.”

Heading into spring practice, three players who were on Oklahoma’s roster last season will now be wearing USC colors. Quarterback Caleb Williams is the highest-profile name, while wide receiver Mario Williams is not too far behind. Cornerback Latrell McCutchin was the first of the three to make the switch, teaming back up with defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.

Riley and the USC staff may have had a connection to all of the players but there was still other competition during the transfer process.

In the example of Caleb Williams, he was rumored to a few other schools besides USC. On3’s Gerry Hamilton reported the former On3 Consensus Five-star Plus+ quarterback was down to the Trojans and Wisconsin, while LSU and UCLA were names mentioned as well.

Mario Williams even went across the Red River to visit Oklahoma’s arch-rival, Texas.

Oklahoma governor take shot at Lincoln Riley

It’s evident Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is bitter regarding Lincoln Riley’s departure for USC. In his State of the State address, Stitt took a shot at Riley bolting for the Trojans.

“Can you imagine leaving a place like Norman, Oklahoma for a place like Southern California?” stated Stitt, per Reese Gorman of the Norman Transcript.

Many might agree with Riley’s preference of Southern California over Norman, but Stitt isn’t one of those people. While the Governor of Oklahoma appreciates the job Riley did over the last couple seasons, seeing him bolt for USC is something the state will hold against him.

At the least, Stitt can take pride in Brent Venables returning to Norman to lead the program he has so much respect for. With Venables at the helm and plenty of talent on the Sooners, the program is in good hands regardless.