Lincoln Riley recalls message to Oklahoma players after accepting USC job

It’s not a stretch to say Lincoln Riley stunned the college football world when he decided to leave Oklahoma for USC. His name came up in connection to the LSU job, but he made it clear he wasn’t taking that position — and it turned out to be true.

That decision made for a tough conversation with his Oklahoma players. Some wanted to go with their coach, and some did. In that discussion, though, Riley said he encouraged them to stay in Norman.

But he also knew it wasn’t such a simple plan because of the relationships already in place.

“As far as with the players and players that come with you, it’s a difficult decision,” Riley told Graham Bensinger on In Depth with Graham Bensinger. “I mean, it’s like, you put yourself in the position of, ‘Do I want players to leave the place that I was at?’ Absolutely not. One of the things I told the players when I stood up there is, ‘I think every one of you should stay here and do it.’ … Behind the scenes – people probably wouldn’t believe it now – we helped keep a lot of players there that are still there.

“But if you have a player that you recruited, knew their family, you’ve been in there with and he says, ‘Coach, I wanna go with you.’ Do you say no? Do you say, ‘You were good enough to come with me to this place, but now I won’t take you here?’ It’s not easy.”

A look at which Oklahoma players joined Lincoln Riley at USC

Three players ended up going to USC after Riley left. Caleb Williams was the most notable name of the group. He was the No. 1-ranked transfer during the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings, and the decision worked out for him. Last year, he put up monster numbers as he went on to win the Heisman Trophy. Now, he finds himself the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.

Two other Sooners — wide receiver Mario Williams and cornerback Latrell McCutchin — also joined Riley in Los Angeles. Mario Williams proved to be an effective weapon for Caleb Williams as he finished third on the USC roster with 631 receiving yards along with five touchdowns. It was a big leap from his freshman year at Oklahoma when he had 380 yards and four touchdowns.

McCutchin, meanwhile, totaled 22 tackles with a sack and a tackle for loss in 14 appearances with USC one year after totaling nine tackles in nine games at Oklahoma. After the season, he transferred to Houston.

Riley put together an impressive first season at USC as he completely turned the roster around. The Trojans finished 11-3, losing to Utah twice — once in the regular season and again in the Pac-12 Championship — and to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl. This year, though, USC is off to a fast 3-0 start heading into this week’s bye.