Big 12 Football: USC pulls off shocking move to hire OU’s Lincoln Riley

A move that shocked not just the Big 12 football landscape late this weekend, but one that surprised the entirety of college football, involved the now-former Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley. Following a loss to the No. 7 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys and head coach Mike Gundy in Bedlam on the night of Nov. 27, Riley bolted from Oklahoma to be hired by the USC Trojans as their next head coach.

There were rumors that Riley could leave the Sooners for one of the multiple head coaching job openings at blue blood programs entering next offseason. But it was hard to see Riley leaving Oklahoma at the moment upon their departure from the Big 12 to the SEC by 2025. It seemed like Riley had a good thing going in Norman, OK.

Yet, USC was able to pull off the shocking move, confirmed by multiple sources on the afternoon of Nov. 28, to hire Riley away from the Sooners. Riley will now replace the departed Clay Helton with the Trojans.

Big 12 football landscape shaken by Lincoln Riley leaving OU for USC

USC parted ways with Helton earlier this season after spending bits and pieces of eight seasons with the program. He finished up his run as the USC head coach over eight years with a record of 46-24 (.657 winning percentage). But the Trojans let him go after just two games this season, where he rounded out with a record of 1-1.

Riley is definitely bringing a more proven winning pedigree on the field and successful track record on the recruiting trail to USC compared with what Helton did. Riley finished up with a record of 55-10 (.846 winning percentage) during his five years as the Sooners’ head coach.

We will dig more into this saga later, as the dominos that could fall as a result are monumental around college football. The impact of this will stem beyond the Big 12 and just the Texas football program with Riley headed for USC.