Lincoln Riley Continues to Insist the First Call He Took From USC Came After the Oklahoma State Game
If you ever expect to get more details on how Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma and USC, don’t hold your breath.
Riley sat down for a lengthy interview with ESPN this week and he was asked about his Oklahoma departure, and he went on to say, “I never had one year at Oklahoma where people didn’t call in-season. I never subjected myself to it. It’s never rocked me. It’s never had anything to do with me doing my job. I’ve taken one phone call in seven years at OU, and it was the USC phone call after the Oklahoma State game. That’s the only phone call I’ve ever taken — ever. I didn’t take one NFL call. I didn’t take any of them.”
Sure, there could have been several calls with his agent playing middle man leading up to that conversation after the Oklahoma State game, but it sure doesn’t come across as genuine that somehow Lincoln Riley made a life-altering decision in 12 hours after a loss to Oklahoma State.
Riley also appeared to re-write history quite a bit, when he added, “Nobody ever said a word about it when the NFL teams were calling, and we were winning a bunch.”
I seem to recall plenty of conversation around if he might end up at the next level and what that would mean for OU. Regardless, Lincoln Riley is now projected to be the highest-paid college football coach in the country this season, with a contract that is reportedly worth $110 million over the life of the deal.
