Lincoln Riley’s move to USC sparked a ton of speculation about why he felt the need to leave Oklahoma. One theory was that he was “running from the SEC.”
Oklahoma has a deal lined up to join the SEC in 2025. However, that didn’t play a factor in Riley’s decision.
Riley recently opened up about his departure from Oklahoma in an interview with ESPN. During this wide-ranging conversation, he shut down the idea that he was trying to avoid the SEC.
“Oh yeah, I knew that was out there,” Riley told ESPN. “Football is football. I wasn’t running from the SEC. I was running to USC. That’s probably the best way I could answer that.”
So, why did Riley leave Oklahoma for USC? He believes the Trojans just had so much to offer – on and off the field.
“The combination here of the elite academics and you’ve got a proven football history – it’s been done here – and then that big L.A. market, all of that … I just don’t know of anywhere else that has those three,” Riley said.
There’ll be plenty of pressure on Riley to make USC a national title contender.
USC will kick off the 2022 season at home against Rice.