UPDATE 7:36 PM:
Spoke with people tonight. These are people familiar with a lot of things surrounding college football, agents, NCAA and the OU program.
From just a common sense standpoint, most sources don't believe Riley is serious about LSU or changing jobs. He already has an SEC job at a blueblood program. He's proud of what he's built here and he wants to win a national title before OU enters the SEC. He's committed to that.
But I think Riley needs some assurances about the way things are going to be moving forward. And from what I've been told, he deserves some assurances about how things will be moving forward in the future.
That's all I can really say at this point. I know you want more than that. But the leadership at OU has to work with Riley. They have to meet some demands. We'll see how seriously the university wants to commit to the OU football program as they head into the SEC from the very top down.
But as of tonight, I think Riley is committed to OU as long as they are committed to him and what he needs to succeed moving forward.
The one big mystery to me is the timetable here. How quickly both sides can come to a resolution. But this isn't about Lincoln looking to leave from what I'm told. This is Lincoln looking to secure a legacy for OU moving forward into a new era that he wants to be a part of.
ORIGINAL POST
I wanted to give an update that kind of encompasses the entire staff's work on the Riley stuff.
I have reached out to quite a few people quite consistently. But today is really the first day we've started hearing some cracks in the idea that this was all a one-sided love affair.
First off, lemme say this. I've talked to people who would know, who have heard from those close to this situation from an OU and an agent perspective.
The one thing I can tell you I feel pretty certain about is that there is no deal in place and Lincoln Riley has agreed to nothing at this point.
Not the best place to start is it?
I do feel pretty confident at this point that LSU has offered the job to Riley. But they could have offered the job to a lot of people as well.
We've just all heard a lot of wild stuff. A lot of it made no sense at all. Things like LSU's AD reaching out to high school coaches to tell them they had their coach offers being made with a new 'mystery coach's blessing...
Where things stand right now at this moment? I'm not sure. But I definitely know any report that Riley has agreed to anything is jumping the gun.
But I can tell you there is now legitimate concern at OU.
"Everyone is in the dark" is what one source just told me.
I'm expecting to have some more info tonight as I've hit up some of my sources who have close ties to the agent community.
I also checked in with the Tech coaching network today and Riley's former teammates and staff members haven't been aware of Riley and LSU being a serious possibility. So that revealed very little from turning over that rock.
So we'll keep turning over rocks and see what else we hear.
There is plenty of smoke. I'm hoping to know later tonight how much is smoke and how much is fire.
But we can say this is something we will no longer ignore as just online grifting. That is still going on. And it's got to the point it is now because a lot of people have jumped the gun. It's a little bit like Florida State and Stoops, but there appears to be a bit more to it than there was with Bob and FSU.
We're gonna continue to keep hearing stuff and we're going to keep reaching out to people. So stay tuned.
Spoke with people tonight. These are people familiar with a lot of things surrounding college football, agents, NCAA and the OU program.
From just a common sense standpoint, most sources don't believe Riley is serious about LSU or changing jobs. He already has an SEC job at a blueblood program. He's proud of what he's built here and he wants to win a national title before OU enters the SEC. He's committed to that.
But I think Riley needs some assurances about the way things are going to be moving forward. And from what I've been told, he deserves some assurances about how things will be moving forward in the future.
That's all I can really say at this point. I know you want more than that. But the leadership at OU has to work with Riley. They have to meet some demands. We'll see how seriously the university wants to commit to the OU football program as they head into the SEC from the very top down.
But as of tonight, I think Riley is committed to OU as long as they are committed to him and what he needs to succeed moving forward.
The one big mystery to me is the timetable here. How quickly both sides can come to a resolution. But this isn't about Lincoln looking to leave from what I'm told. This is Lincoln looking to secure a legacy for OU moving forward into a new era that he wants to be a part of.
ORIGINAL POST
I wanted to give an update that kind of encompasses the entire staff's work on the Riley stuff.
I have reached out to quite a few people quite consistently. But today is really the first day we've started hearing some cracks in the idea that this was all a one-sided love affair.
First off, lemme say this. I've talked to people who would know, who have heard from those close to this situation from an OU and an agent perspective.
The one thing I can tell you I feel pretty certain about is that there is no deal in place and Lincoln Riley has agreed to nothing at this point.
Not the best place to start is it?
I do feel pretty confident at this point that LSU has offered the job to Riley. But they could have offered the job to a lot of people as well.
We've just all heard a lot of wild stuff. A lot of it made no sense at all. Things like LSU's AD reaching out to high school coaches to tell them they had their coach offers being made with a new 'mystery coach's blessing...
Where things stand right now at this moment? I'm not sure. But I definitely know any report that Riley has agreed to anything is jumping the gun.
But I can tell you there is now legitimate concern at OU.
"Everyone is in the dark" is what one source just told me.
I'm expecting to have some more info tonight as I've hit up some of my sources who have close ties to the agent community.
I also checked in with the Tech coaching network today and Riley's former teammates and staff members haven't been aware of Riley and LSU being a serious possibility. So that revealed very little from turning over that rock.
So we'll keep turning over rocks and see what else we hear.
There is plenty of smoke. I'm hoping to know later tonight how much is smoke and how much is fire.
But we can say this is something we will no longer ignore as just online grifting. That is still going on. And it's got to the point it is now because a lot of people have jumped the gun. It's a little bit like Florida State and Stoops, but there appears to be a bit more to it than there was with Bob and FSU.
We're gonna continue to keep hearing stuff and we're going to keep reaching out to people. So stay tuned.
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