Stuff has obviously been brewing with Lincoln Riley and South Carolina since yesterday morning.
As always, I didn't want to jump to anything until I started getting some more information other than just what is being widely reported.
Right now, the vibe I'm getting from all of this is that Riley is a candidate that intrigues South Carolina but he is far from any kind of leading candidate for them.
There are a lot of things that play into that, the fact that he's just, 32 years old, he's spent one year at a major program, he doesn't have roots in that part of the country, but here's another one that could play the biggest role.
That would be his ability to put together a staff around him. Riley is young, he has been around a solid defensive coordinator in Ruffin McNeal, but he's really getting his first taste of being around quality defensive coaches on a Power 5 level for the first time in his career.
I'm not saying Riley couldn't make a great defensive hire, but being that it's South Carolina, it's not like they'll have an open checkbook to hire the best defensive coordinator in the country. Can Riley make that type of shrewd hire at all these different defensive positions?
Riley has not been interviewed by South Carolina officials but we're being told that could come as early as today. If South Carolina was totally blown away with the interview, maybe he could jump up closer to the top of their list.
* When you deal with this kind of stuff, you're dealing with a lot of people that don't really know everything. You're trying to put together a picture. It's possible Riley is a bigger candidate than our sources and our South Carolina people are being led to believe. But it doesn't really add up when you put Riley's age and experience against this type of job.
* If he was offered the job, I'd feel fairly certain he would take it.
* But as to whether Riley would coach the Sooners if he took the job, I think we're not close enough to even worry about that right now. That could change after the interview process, but I don't think we're quite near that level of concern from what we know this morning.
As always, I didn't want to jump to anything until I started getting some more information other than just what is being widely reported.
Right now, the vibe I'm getting from all of this is that Riley is a candidate that intrigues South Carolina but he is far from any kind of leading candidate for them.
There are a lot of things that play into that, the fact that he's just, 32 years old, he's spent one year at a major program, he doesn't have roots in that part of the country, but here's another one that could play the biggest role.
That would be his ability to put together a staff around him. Riley is young, he has been around a solid defensive coordinator in Ruffin McNeal, but he's really getting his first taste of being around quality defensive coaches on a Power 5 level for the first time in his career.
I'm not saying Riley couldn't make a great defensive hire, but being that it's South Carolina, it's not like they'll have an open checkbook to hire the best defensive coordinator in the country. Can Riley make that type of shrewd hire at all these different defensive positions?
Riley has not been interviewed by South Carolina officials but we're being told that could come as early as today. If South Carolina was totally blown away with the interview, maybe he could jump up closer to the top of their list.
* When you deal with this kind of stuff, you're dealing with a lot of people that don't really know everything. You're trying to put together a picture. It's possible Riley is a bigger candidate than our sources and our South Carolina people are being led to believe. But it doesn't really add up when you put Riley's age and experience against this type of job.
* If he was offered the job, I'd feel fairly certain he would take it.
* But as to whether Riley would coach the Sooners if he took the job, I think we're not close enough to even worry about that right now. That could change after the interview process, but I don't think we're quite near that level of concern from what we know this morning.
