College Football HQ

Oklahoma AD throws shade at Lincoln Riley as Sooners make SEC debut

Oklahoma enters the SEC officially this football season, and the Sooners' athletic director appeared to fire a little parting shot at Lincoln Riley on the special occasion.

James Parks

Lincoln Riley's exit still bothers many Oklahoma football fans, but the Sooners' AD seems more than pleased with the situation heading into the SEC.
Lincoln Riley's exit still bothers many Oklahoma football fans, but the Sooners' AD seems more than pleased with the situation heading into the SEC. / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
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The departure of head coach Lincoln Riley for USC two seasons ago still bothers many Oklahoma football faithful, but they must have found some pleasure in recent comments made by Sooners athletic director Joe Castiglione on the day the school officially entered the SEC.

Castiglione appeared to take a subtle shot in Riley's direction with his remarks about OU coaches and their enthusiasm about making the move to the SEC this season.

"It's an enormous investment," Castiglione said on SEC Network.

"We get that. We've been, like everybody else in the country, continuing to invest a lot in our programs. We have areas where we want to grow...

Then he added: ".. But I will tell you, without reservation, every coach that we talked to was excited. 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."

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.

Oklahoma responded to Riley's exit by hiring Brent Venables, widely regarded as the best defensive strategist in college football after winning two national championships as Clemson's DC.

Venables' debut season resulted in a meager 6-7 record, but Oklahoma improved to a 10-3 mark last year, in large part thanks to key improvements on the defensive side of the ball.

And while the Sooners lost key personnel like quarterback Dillon Gabriel and experience on the offensive line, the core of that defense returns in tandem with promising skill threats on offense, led by quarterback Jackson Arnold.

But OU faces a tough schedule in its SEC debut this fall, one ranked 11th most difficult nationally when combining its opponents' records from a season ago.

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.

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