Lincoln Riley reacts to Oklahoma AD's 'get on with it' jab

Now at USC, Lincoln Riley responded to remarks made by Oklahoma's AD that seemed to criticize Riley over the SEC move.

Lincoln Riley doesn't want any part of remarks made by Oklahoma's athletic director that seemed directed at him. / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

At an event celebrating a move to the SEC this preseason, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione appeared to throw some shade at former football coach Lincoln Riley with his comments about who was and who wasn't enthusiastic about it.

Speaking at Big Ten Media Days now as the head coach at USC, Riley declined to offer any reaction to the remarks that appeared to be directed at him.

"I'm not getting into that," he said. "Next question."

"That" was in reference to when Castiglione said: "I will tell you, without reservation, every coach that we talked to was excited," referring to the SEC move. "And you know what? The ones that weren't aren't here anymore... You either gotta accept it or not. This is Oklahoma. Get with it, or get on with it."

In the moment, OU president Joe Harroz said in response: "We call that a mic drop."

Related: "It's over" for Lincoln Riley at USC, Paul Finebaum suggests

And... Riley leaving OU was "best thing ever," analyst says

Oklahoma and arch-rival Texas both accepted invitations to join the SEC in football and all other sports back in July 2021, when Riley was still the Sooners' head coach.

And there is still a section of OU football fans and even some media analysts who have speculated that Riley left the school in part to avoid having to play in the SEC.

Riley specifically denied that OU's looming conference realignment was a motivation for his leaving the school, shortly after arriving in Los Angeles to take the Trojans head coaching position.

But that does not appear to be the consensus of opinion at Oklahoma, whose higher-ups still sound a little irked that Riley up and left for the Trojans.

Maybe one day USC and Oklahoma can settle it on the field, but until then, despite whatever veiled trash talk comes out of Norman, Riley does not sound interested in talking about the Sooners.

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