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Is Roy Manning Recruiting for Both Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma?

The social media timeline and media reports show that Manning was talking to recruits on behalf of USC before going on recruiting visits with Bob Stoops for Oklahoma.

John E. Hoover

It seems the Lincoln Riley era at USC might be getting off to a rough start — at least when it comes to NCAA rules.

A paper trail on social media shows that Roy Manning, who coached cornerbacks under Riley at Oklahoma, appears to have made recruiting efforts for both schools.

That’s not permitted by the NCAA. Recruiting personnel are highly regulated and restricted to a small number of active coaches designated by the school for the role.

Manning hasn’t been formally hired yet by Riley, but on Monday night, he was welcomed back to “the blue skies and sunshine of LA” by a California junior college assistant coach in a tweet that was deleted by Tuesday.

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Manning, however, was still recruiting for the Sooners.

On Monday night — opening day of the current recruiting period — Robert Spears Jennings, a 3-star defensive back from Broken Arrow, OK, thanked Manning, OU assistant coach Cale Gundy, recruiting analyst Chip Viney and interim head coach Bob Stoops for stopping by on a visit.

On Tuesday, Xavion Brice, a 3-star wide receiver from Seguin, TX, thanked Manning, OU assistant Cale Gundy and interim coach Bob Stoops for visiting.

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Meanwhile, USC recruit Domani Jackson told 247 Sports’ Greg Biggins that Riley was “blowing up my phone” and said Riley “wants to send in coach (Alex) Grinch and then he’ll come in later. I’ve heard from coach Grinch too and also Roy Manning, who was the DB coach at OU. I’ve been texting back and forth with coach Manning, and looking forward to meeting those guys in person.”

According to Jackson, Manning is recruiting him as a representative of USC. Jackson told 247 Sports that he’s now cut his list of schools down to Alabama and USC.

As of Wednesday morning, Manning’s Twitter bio still indicates he’s still cornerbacks coach at Oklahoma, but that’s not official. As late as Tuesday night, Riley’s Twitter bio said he was still head coach at OU even though he was formally introduced at USC Monday afternoon. (As of Wednesday morning, Riley’s bio has been changed to reflect his new employer.)

The OU compliance department’s Twitter account — which hadn’t posted since Nov. 11 — sent a public tweet that they were watching.

Several OU defensive backs, including Joshua Eaton, Jaden Davis and Jeremiah Criddell, also chimed in on Tuesday, sounding somewhat in disbelief.

Finally, Spears-Jennings posted a gif showing his surprise — and his sense of humor.

So far, Riley has formally brought Grinch, receivers coach Dennis Simmons, strength coach Bennie Wylie and director of operations Clark Stroud with him to Southern Cal. Other OU coaches could still join him in LA.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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