BREAKING: Oklahoma Sooners coach departs the club after moving to SEC.
Oklahoma is headed to the SEC as college football realignment becomes official, and one observer believes Lincoln Riley’s departure from the team was a significant help.
Oklahoma is making a significant leap today by formally joining the SEC in college football’s historic conference realignment change, but not having Lincoln Riley oversee the football team at this critical time may be a net gain, according to one analyst.
“I think it might be the best thing that ever happened to Oklahoma football,” said On3 Sports analyst Eddie Radosevich of Riley’s departure. “Revisionist history, obviously.”
Riley departed Oklahoma after the 2021 season to lead USC, and he believes new coach Brent Venables’ adjustments to the Sooners program were ideal for the transfer.
Venables returned to OU as probably the best defensive strategist in NCAA football, having helped Clemson win two national championships as coordinator behind fierce, physical play on that side of the ball.
Riley, on the other hand, is considered as more of an offensive innovator and quarterback expert.
Playing stronger defense is a more advantageous position in the SEC, a conference recognized for great defensive performance.
“In terms of where this was heading under Lincoln Riley, there [were] a lot of holes that I think were covered up in terms of roster management, or, obviously, the defensive side of the football, by great quarterback play, because they had all these great quarterbacks,” Radosevich told ESPN.
“… They lost games that they shouldn’t and really the only reason they won as many games as they did is because Caleb Williams was so special and that offense was so special,” according to him.
That trend looked to follow Riley to USC, a squad that played excellent offense under Williams following his transfer, but sloppy, porous defense directly lost the club a College Football Playoff spot when it was all but guaranteed.
The defense struggled again last season despite Williams’ return, ranking 116th in total production, and the Trojans stumbled to an 8-5 mark.
Venables is just 16-10 after two seasons at Oklahoma, going 6-7 overall and 3-6 in conference play in his first season before improving to 10-3 (7-2) a year ago.
That improved record came while the Sooners’ defense ranked 77th nationally, a significant improvement from its No. 99 overall ranking in Venables’ debut season.
“We’ll see with Brent, because I think there’s still some skepticism there,” Radosevich told the audience. “… The leaps they’ve made on defense and everybody expects them to have a very good defense this year.”
He went on to say, “I believe as a program and as a club, you’re seeing top to bottom that it’s simply a superior culture, one, and two, roster in terms of how many elite guys they have on both sides of the ball… The jury is still out on Brent, but I believe they’re in a better position than they were under Lincoln.”
