Lincoln Riley addresses skepticism on timing of USC hire, negotiations

It seemed like a whirlwind when Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC. That’s because it was, and he opened up about how quickly everything came together earlier this week.

Riley joined FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt on “Breaking The Huddle” on Wednesday and was asked about the timeline of his decision. Monday night, Riley told Scott Van Pelt he didn’t hear from USC until Sunday — the day after Bedlam against Oklahoma State.

He provided more insight on things with Klatt.

“It didn’t feel real and I honestly never saw myself leaving OU,” Riley said. “The first conversation Sunday [at] probably 11:00 that morning, somewhere in there, was the first conversation that I’ve ever had with anybody else from another football team as long as I’ve been at OU. Some great opportunities from time to time came up, but I never had any desire to even explore it. But I did with this one. I did. As much as I almost didn’t want to, I couldn’t ignore how I was feeling and the true intrigue I had.

“Once we had the conversation, it came together so quickly, probably faster than … ideally, I would’ve liked. I’m thankful for how the leadership at OU handled it. They were gracious. No surprise, but they were phenomenal. Then the opportunity to tell my guys there. It sucked, it was terrible, but to have the chance to do that, I’ll forever be thankful for.”

Riley and Oklahoma played in the annual Bedlam game Saturday night and fell to Oklahoma State 37-33 in Stillwater. The next morning, reports surfaced that USC was interested in hiring him. By the end of the day, the news was official: Riley was headed to Los Angeles.

Lincoln Riley reveals toughest conversation during Oklahoma exit for USC

Lincoln Riley is the latest example of how quickly things change in the crazy, never predictable landscape of college football.

For the first time since the stunning news broke Sunday that Riley was leaving Oklahoma for the sunny confines of USC, the new Trojans head coach sat down with Joel Klatt from FOX Sports to address the decision, his mindset and feelings toward the program that helped propel him into the top-tier of collegiate coaches.

Klatt asked the former Oklahoma coach about the toughest conversations as he broke the news he was leaving Norman to accept the USC job.

“They were all tough,” Lincoln Riley replied. “The conversation with Coach Stoops was certainly tough because he’s obviously the one who brought me there. He’s guided me throughout my entire career so far. Probably the toughest one was with the players. We’ve been on an unbelievable run with those guys, I love those guys. They have given everything to that program and were so good to me. None of that was easy.”