Bob Stoops Shares His ‘Disappointed’ Initial Reaction To Lincoln Riley’s Decision To Leave Oklahoma

Legendary Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops handed the keys to the castle to Lincoln Riley after he retired due to health related concerns. And the young apprentice didn’t disappoint.

In Riley’s first four years at the helm, the Sooners dominated the Big 12, winning the conference championship in each season.

Due to Lincoln Riley’s uncanny ability to mold quarterbacks, he has been a hot commodity for other programs and NFL teams in recent years. And finally, someone was able to poach the young head coach out of Norman.

See more

Social Media Reacts To Lincoln Riley Signing With USChttps://t.co/rzSmwFGu6D

— SideAction (@SideActionHQ) November 28, 2021

[SideAction-ad-group]

After it was announced that Bob Stoops will fill in for Lincoln Riley to lead the Sooners through this year’s bowl game, he spoke briefly about his reaction to the USC move.

See more

Bob Stoops on his initial reaction when Lincoln Riley departed: "Disappointed, sure. The rest of that would be between Lincoln and I, as it should be." #Sooners

— Joey Helmer 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 (@joeyhelmer247) November 29, 2021

It would appear that Bob Stoops was in constant communication with Lincoln Riley before and after the decision to leave their beloved program.

Stoops also released a statement on the current job at hand.

“First and foremost, I’m a program guy and whatever I can do to help OU and to support the players, of course I’m glad to do it,” Stoops said in the statement. “I’ll do everything I can to help them finish the season in a strong and successful way and I look forward to that.”

The Oklahoma Sooners endured a difficult 2021 season, so it’s likely that Bob Stoops will lead the team through a minor bowl game while Lincoln Riley works on assembling his 2022 USC Trojans squad.

---

Welcome to the game outside the game! Follow us on our Sideaction Twitter handle, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest on sports and pop culture news across the web!