Play.
Lincoln Riley fought back tears during the USC news conference.
Lincoln Riley was the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. (0:38)
8:51 PM
Lincoln Riley had to say yes, take a three-hour flight, change the shade on his red tie, and be introduced as the 18th head at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Monday afternoon.
Is this real? Riley turned around to see the Los Angeles skyline on one side and the Hollywood sign on the other. It's a weird moment, to be honest.
The hire of Riley away from Oklahoma gave way to a celebration Monday. While Riley pinched himself, USC's administrators and power brokers basked in the glory of a statement hire while remaining surprised they found themselves here in the first place.
"Our goal was never to change the landscape of college football with one of the biggest moves in the history of the game," USC athletic director Mike Bohn said. We did that.
Throughout the ceremony and afterwards, Bohn's confidence was visible. USC was called the "sleeping giant" by him.
At Oklahoma, Riley has led a team that has had three College Football Playoff appearances, four Big-12 titles and four 10-win seasons, while developing two Heisman-winning quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. USC has failed to make the College Football Playoff, has only one Pac-12 title, and went 33-23 in that time.
"Our peers are telling us that when USC is good, it's good for college football," he said.
USC had been linked to several candidates since they fired Clay Helton. Riley's name wasn't mentioned once. On Saturday night, Riley was asked about the LSU rumors. He said he wouldn't be the next LSU head coach. USC was a different story.
Riley said it was difficult to leave Oklahoma. I knew this was the right thing. Riley said that the sentiment that he left Oklahoma because of their move to the SEC had no impact on his decision.
He said that people are going to say what they want to say.
The process to hire Riley was a high-wire act that involved months of work, multiple consultants, over a dozen candidates and a 50-slide presentation that USC showed.
Sosna was at the USC-BYU game when the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game was on one of the screens. They knew that if the game went down to the wire, it could swing Riley's decision.
It came together quickly. Riley said that in college football it kind of has to. USC made their final pitch to Riley after reaching out with real interest on Sunday morning. The move was made official within a few hours.
Riley said everything intrigued him. The history of the program, the location, the opportunities to recruit, and build a national championship level roster are some of the things that make this program unique. My family has the chance to live in a new place.
In his news conference on Monday, Riley announced that Alex Grinch will be the new USC defensive coach, as well as the director of football operations, wide receiver coach and head strength coach.
Riley said that the guys got on the plane without a contract.
The financial commitments include a competitive spirit that matches Riley's, according to the man. The competitive nature of the marketplace is something that we understand. Riley said the alignment USC exhibited made the decision easier for him.
Even though USC has one game left in its season, Riley said he will get to work in the shadows on recruiting right away with early signing day a few weeks away. Several 5-star Oklahoma commits with West Coast ties have decommitted from the Sooners in the past few days.
"We plan on building the best roster in the country, and inside that locker room, the best culture in the country," Riley said. This will be the epicenter of college football.
