Oklahoma football: Bob Stoops calls out Lincoln Riley on house floor

Former Oklahoma football head coach Bob Stoops took a shot at USC head coach Lincoln Riley on the floor of the state house.

While accepting a commendation from the Oklahoma House of Representatives, longtime Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops took the opportunity to jab at his successor, Lincoln Riley.

Sooners fans will no doubt enjoy hearing the legendary coach joining the pile on against Riley, who left Oklahoma at the end of the 2021 season to take over at USC.

Oklahoma football: Bob Stoops calls out Lincoln Riley on house floor

“Lincoln Riley didn’t invent Oklahoma football,” Stoops said per Storme Jones of KWTV.

Stoops is correct: the Sooners were great before Riley, and they’ll still be one of the blue bloods of college football despite his departure. It’ll be a relief when Oklahoma fans stop fixating on the former coach long enough to accept the reality that football will go on without him.

After spending years as an assistant coach under Stoops, Riley followed in his mentor’s footsteps in Norman, OK. He was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach after Stoops retired from coaching. Riley won the Big 12 in each of his first four seasons and coached two Heisman winning quarterbacks.

While Riley achieved much in his five years with the Sooners, Stoops set the tone for the program from 1999 to 2016. He won a national title in 2000 and led the program to ten Big 12 titles. He served as interim head coach for the 2021 Alamo Bowl game after Riley’s departure.

Ironically, Riley’s early departure to California created the circumstances that brought Stoops to the State House on Tuesday. The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a resolution celebrating and commending his service to the state of Oklahoma.

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