Lincoln Riley took the torch at the L.A. Coliseum over another one
On The Riley Files, we learned that one source of the pain felt by the Oklahoma community in the wake of Lincoln Riley’s departure was this larger sense of a family having a divorce. A man broke from the school’s line of succession.
Oklahoma is famous for hiring gifted young coaches who stayed with the program for a long time. Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer, Bob Stoops, and Lincoln Riley were all hired before turning 40. Wilkinson, Switzer, and Stoops all stayed with OU for at least 15 years as head coach. When the relationship between Riley and Stoops is considered, the notion of Stoops passing the torch is an important one. It is related to Oklahoma’s sense of shock when Riley did leave for USC.
“It’s certainly a relationship that we’ve heard about to this day,” Reneau said. “They (Riley and Stoops) have had multiple conversations since Lincoln had left. If the reports (are true) from Carey Murdock of Sooner Scoop, the prominent beat writers covering Oklahoma football outside of Berry Tramel in this market, in what they said of those final meetings between Oklahoma and Lincoln Riley, guess who was a part of them? Bob Stoops.
“I do think that there is some stuff there: Bob handed it (the OU job) to Lincoln, I think Lincoln wanted to make Oklahoma his own. But you’re talking to an Oklahoman here, right? You’re talking to a person who has grown up listening to my aunts and uncles and my dad and my grandparents, and probably their grandparents told them the same thing about Bud (Wilkinson) and Benny Owen and all those guys.”
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USC football all-time roster: Defensive starters and backups
