Start of Lincoln Riley's USC tenure reverberated widely on recruiting trail
Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans made sure Sunday, Nov. 28, was a day most college football fans won’t soon forget.
The news trickled out that Riley was leaving Oklahoma for the Trojans around 3:30 p.m. EST, and people were shocked. The reaction across the college football landscape was seismic. People from the beaches of Southern California to the open expanses of Oklahoma to everywhere in between could feel the tectonic plates of the sport shifting right beneath them with nothing they could do about it.
While the players, coaches and staffers from the schools involved were obviously the people most impacted by the move. But the widest impact is felt on the recruiting trail, where both USC and Oklahoma recruit on a national level.
“No hire this silly season meant more from a recruiting standpoint for an entire state and region than the one at USC,” On3’s Jeremy Crabtree said. “USC athletic director Mike Bohn hit a home run, and it’s officially open season on every top prospect – committed and uncommitted – in California and throughout the Pac-12 recruiting footprint. Heck, the same could be said about top national recruits.”
The initial reactions from recruits were concise, but spoke volumes
The first tweets from recruits about the Lincoln Riley move came out very soon after the news broke on Twitter.
Most recruits didn’t need many words to express there opinions — and some felt words couldn’t do their feelings justice, electing to use emojis or gifs.
Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei four-star wide receiver and Oklahoma commit Raleek Brown was one of the first players to tweet following the news. His post summed up Oklahoma’s fears about losing recruits and USC’s hopes about once again winning on the trail in California.
But Brown hasn’t decommitted from the Sooners — yet.
Oklahoma has lost 6 recruits since Sunday
The Sooners entered Sunday morning with the No. 6 recruiting class in the 2022 On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking. By the time of nightfall in Norman, Okla., on Monday, the class fell to No. 9.
Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage four-star wide receiver Brandon Inniss, the No. 21 overall recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, was the first player to publically decommit, announcing his decision at 7:31 p.m. EST on Sunday.
Five players followed him. In the 2022 class, Orange (Texas) West-Orange Stark four-star interior offensive lineman Demetrius Hunter, Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances Academy four-star defensive lineman Derrick Moore and Lubbock (Texas) Lubbock-Cooper four-star linebacker Kobie McKinzie all decommitted, dropping the class to 14 commits.
The biggest player to decommit was Los Alamitos (Calif.) Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Malachi Nelson. Nelson is the No. 3 prospect and No. 2 quarterback in the 2023 class.
“I want to start by thanking all the coaches and staff at OU for seeing enough in me and recruiting me to be a part of Sooner Nation,” Nelson told On3’s Hayes Fawcett. “One of the things that attracted me most to OU, other than the rich history and amazing fans, was the stability in the coaching staff and their ability to develop the QB position.”
Jacksonville Trinity Christian Academy four-star running back Treyaun Webb also decommitted Sunday night.
Riley going to revive USC recruiting
There seems to be little doubt from people across the nation that Riley is going to revive a struggling Trojans team, at least on the recruiting trail.
The Trojans have only eight commits in its 2022 recruiting class, which ranks No. 37 in the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking.
That is likely going to change very quickly.
“This is a ‘holy shit’ moment,” a veteran Big 12 assistant coach told Crabtree. “Lincoln was already the best recruiter in California. Now he gets to do it for USC? He’ll have the five stars lined up ready to commit before the plane even lands in California.”
Riley likely won’t only focus on flipping California players with Oklahoma connections like Brown and Nelson. He will likely go after many, if not all, of the best players on the West Coast.
California’s top recruit, Five-Star Plus+ cornerback Domani Jackson of Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, decommitted from USC a few weeks ago and seemed on his way out to Alabama or Michigan. But WeAreSC’s Scott Schrader was told last week that a great hire could see Jackson re-committing to the Trojans.
Seattle (Wash.) Rainier Beach five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. is also excited about the new man in charge.
“The hiring of coach Riley definitely increases my interest in USC,” Conerly said. “They were getting an official visit before he was hired, so they are still getting one now.”
Which OU coaches stay on staff will be key for keeping certain recruits
Whenever a coach leaves a school, there is bound to be attrition in the recruiting class. Recruiting is all about relationships, and when those relationships move somewhere else, a lot of the time the recruits do as well.
One of the most interesting storylines of the last day-plus has been seeing which recruits have come out and said they aren’t decommitting or no longer considering the Sooners. Some of the players who have done so have cited specific coaches as reasons for staying.
Bellevue (Neb.) Bellevue West four-star tight end Kaden Helms — the best player from the state of Nebraska in the 2022 class — said he wants Oklahoma associate head coach Joe Jon Finley to be a part of his college experience.
“Trusting whatever Gods plan may be for me through the thick of the storm,” Helms wrote. “Praying (Joe Jon Finley) can be a part of it though!”
Jovantae Barnes tweeted Oklahoma would remain in his top three as long as Oklahoma running back coach DeMarco Murray stayed on staff.
And Los Alamitos (Calif.) four-star wide receiver DeAndre Moore — who was widely expected to decommit — tweeted that he was “still with” Murray and the Sooners.
On3’s Matt Zenitz reports that defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh and wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons are following Riley to California.
Whether Finley, Murray and the other coaches stay or go will be key in keeping at least some of the recruiting class together.
Bob Stoops hitting the road recruiting…
Bob Stoops took over as interim head coach following Riley’s departure, and made it clear Monday at a press conference he is going to hit the road recruiting.
And not only that, he would be on the road Monday night doing so.
“It’s an easy sell,” Stoops said of pitching recruits on Oklahoma. “You sell the university. You sell the leadership here that is in front of you. You sell the history of success. Not just in the last 23 years, decades of success. And it is going to continue to happen. We’ve got great leadership, great facilities, a great university to recruit to academically. All of it together is still here.”
…and so is Lincoln Riley
Riley was officially introduced as the Trojans head coach inside Los Angeles Memorial Colosseum.
He enters at a time when USC will finish its season with a losing record and is struggling on the recruiting trail.
But Riley is confident that he and his staff will turn the tides. He even alluded to the fact they have got some talented stars coming to Los Angeles soon enough.
“I think we will have a lot of opportunities to bring the very best here to USC,” Riley said. “That’s already started. We’re just doing the press conference, and it’s already started.”