Matt Leinart had epic reaction to Lincoln Riley leaving Oklahoma for USC

With news of Lincoln Riley leaving Oklahoma for USC, former Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart is ready for a new era to begin.  

It was a good day to be a Trojan.

Most of the eyes in college football were fixed on Gainsville, as Florida made a move to pluck a hire from the Nick Saban coaching tree by poaching Billy Napier from Louisiana. But attention quickly went out west, as the USC Trojans made perhaps the move of the college football hiring season by prying Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma.

An announcement is expected on Monday. That didn’t stop former USC players from celebrating the news.

Former Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart, who was a part of the last great era in USC football history, wasn’t subtle with how he felt about the news.

USC Trojans Football: Lincoln Riley heads west in surprise move

While the whispers of Napier heading to Florida weren’t really that quiet, the move of Riley to leave Norman for SoCal is a bit more surprising.

Oklahoma now needs to replace a guy who many thought would be the next great Sooners head coach, especially with the program moving to the SEC. Now it’s back to the drawing board, as one of the most notable programs in the country has a massive vacancy at a pivotal time.

For Riley, it’s hard to read this as him turning his back on being lumped into an SEC that already has its stalwarts in place. The question essentially was would Riley like to serve lunch to Nick Saban and Alabama for the next decade or would he like to get out now and rebuild an iconic program at USC?

The answer is a pretty easy one.

The Pac 12 isn’t a cakewalk, but Riley adds a prowess to the conference that it was sorely lacking. It could be argued that he instantly becomes the best coach out west, and that’s not a bad place to start rebuilding a program that could add an extra layer to his legacy.