Transition to Riley could reach perfection
Two seasons. Two Big 12 titles. Two Heisman Trophy winners. Two selections to the College Football Playoff. The adulation of a massive fan base that can grow prickly over things like unspeakably horrific defense and losses to Texas.
Could things have gone any better for the Sooners in the 19 months since Lincoln Riley took
the scepter from Bob Stoops?
Yes, says Riley himself. “We could’ve won the Rose Bowl.”
Didn’t happen, of course. OU lost to Georgia in a 54-48 double overtime classic, and now 51 weeks later the Sooners are on the opposite coast, against Alabama in the Orange Bowl, seeking to reach the national championship game that eluded them in Pasadena.
Rose Bowl. Georgia. Orange Bowl. Alabama. National semifinals. It’s all heady company and makes this Sooner transition capable of being the ideal in coaching changes.
In the company of the rare instances when an iconic coach’s successor has achieved virtually equal status.
Nebraska with Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne; Southern Cal with John McKay and John Robinson.
But Riley is right. The Sooners could have won the Rose Bowl. The Sooners could win this Orange Bowl, though mathematicians who have seen OU play defense might question just exactly how. And beating Alabama, regardless of what might happen in the finals back on the West Coast, would stamp the Riley transition as impeccable.
“It’s really worked out, no doubt,” Riley said. “As a coach, you always want to say it could’ve been better. and it could’ve been better. But it’s been really damn good, too. We’re having a lot of fun with it. The most exciting thing to me is we still feel like there is much better out there for us and that journey is gonna be as much fun as this 18 or 19 months has been.”
Optimism absolutely rules in Norman. Of course, optimism always rules in Norman. And in places like Los Angeles and Lincoln. In the former, Robinson won a national title in his third season after taking over for McKay.
In the latter, Osborne waited 22 seasons before his scaled the mountain.
It’s easy to forget now, but even the revered Dr. Tom went through some rough patches at Nebraska, all of them related to the Cornhuskers’ national title drought. It’s a drought the Sooners know well. Stoops, who did not succeed a revered coach, won in 2000, his second year with the Sooners, and the drought is getting worrisome.
But that’s the only flaw in a Sooner program that now ranks only behind Alabama and Clemson in frequency of reaching the five-year playoff.
Alabama has to worry what will become of its unparalleled success when Nick Saban retires. Clemson has to worry that Bama graduate Dabo Swinney might jump to Tuscaloosa. Ohio State is making the transition from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day in what it hopes is a Stoops/Riley facsimile.
But the Sooners have already made the jump, and it’s been seamless.
“I hope so,” Stoops said the other day. “I want it to be. That’s what I hoped for. That was the intent. Nothing’s changed from what I said. My reasons. I’m excited and proud for Lincoln and the team. What they continue to do. I want nothing but the best for them. The entire program and its continued success is what’s most important to me.”
Riley has proven to be his own man, from revamping OU’s recruiting tactics — think ultra-modern — to firing defensive coordinator Mike Stoops at midseason, a gut-wrenching decision for anyone close to the program.
But Riley was only following the wisdom of his predecessor.
“You've got to be yourself,” Riley said. “That was the best advice that I got from Coach Stoops when this happened.
“You're going to have a lot of great people around you, a lot of great opinions, but at the end of the day, they hired you because they believe in you, and so you need to be yourself. You can't try to be the guy that was there before you or what everybody thinks you're supposed to be. You've got to do it the way that you believe is right, trust your instincts.”
Riley’s instincts have landed the Sooners back in the national semifinals, and the transition has been smoother than anyone could have dreamed. But it can get even better, if Oklahoma beats Alabama.