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5 realistic replacements for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma

By Ethan Lee

Caleb Williams looks likely to reunite with Lincoln Riley at USC. (Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Caleb Williams looks likely to reunite with Lincoln Riley at USC. (Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
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Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch talks with Oklahoma players during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Oklahoma won 52-31.
Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch talks with Oklahoma players during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Oklahoma won 52-31.Ou Vs Tcu /

With Lincoln Riley leaving the Oklahoma Sooners for the USC Trojans, who will end up replacing him in Norman? Here are five coaches the Sooners should consider.

The Oklahoma Sooners will need to make some tough choices as they look to replace Lincoln Riley. With Riley headed out west to coach the USC Trojans, the Sooners are now tasked with finding his successor.

This is a weird year for college football for a lot of reasons, but it seems to be an especially odd season to try and replace a head coach. Unfortunately for the Sooners, that’s exactly what they have to do right now.

But, even though this year’s crop of potential coaching candidates seems odd, there are a few names that could potentially work out for Oklahoma.

Here are five candidates the Sooners must keep in mind.

5 potential candidates Oklahoma Sooners must consider for replacing Lincoln Riley

5. Alex Grinch

Why not go with a coordinator to replace your insanely successful head coach? That’s the formula that worked out with the transition from Bob Stoops to Riley. It could theoretically work once again with moving on from Riley and on to Alex Grinch.

Grinch’s defense hasn’t been spectacular this season, but it’s been good enough to help the Sooners get a few wins earlier on in the year when the offense was struggling and he’s an assistant coach who has learned from several big names, including Gary Pinkel, Mike Leach, Urban Meyer, and now Riley.

So, why not stick with a guy who is already familiar with the way things are going in Norman? Well, there are a couple notable reasons.

Let’s start with the most important: Grinch doesn’t have any head coaching experience on his resume and this is a huge job leading arguably one of the best college football programs around. In addition to that, Grinch’s defense has left a lot to be desired in some pretty big games for the Sooners, including that recent Bedlam loss.

But Grinch isn’t the only coach worth considering. There are a few other names worth looking at.

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