5 inevitable Mike McCarthy replacements after Cowboys fire him in 2025

1. Lincoln Riley to Dallas feels like an inevitable hiring at this point in time

The story arc is not yet complete for both parties, so this needs to happen. USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley infamously ducked the SEC by leaving Oklahoma, only to find out that USC was joining almost as competitive of a college football league in the Big Ten. He was one game away from reaching the College Football Playoff in his first year, but regressed massively in year two last season.

Riley may be looking to revamp his porous defense at USC, but running the same Air Raid pop-gun offense is not going to hold up playing games on the road in harsh midwestern climates. The Trojans will still win around nine or 10 games next year, but will once again miss out on its chance of playing for a national championship. It is precisely when Jones won't be able to contain himself any longer.

Jones will sell the last little fragments of his soul to bring this Oklahoma sellout to Dallas. Riley is a native Texan, having first learned the ropes under Mike Leach at his alma mater of Texas Tech. The amount of spin that will be used by the national media on this coaching poaching from the Big Ten will resemble that of Spider Tack. The glorified hype machine will be careening off the rails at its full tilt.

Riley to the Cowboys will be bigger than Jim Harbaugh going back to the NFL because of the hype.