USC Coach Lincoln Riley Says He Didn't Take Players From Oklahoma

Sooners fans, you might not like this one!

When former Oklahoma head football coach Lincoln Riley announced he would take the USC head coaching gig in November, a few Sooners followed him to Southern California at the end of the season. Among those new transfer portal entrances were quarterback Caleb Williams, wide receiver Mario Williams and cornerback Latrell McCutchin. Williams, a true freshman, was the No. 1 player in the transfer portal and is an early Heisman Trophy favorite, according to ESPN.

Riley denounced the coincidence Tuesday on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. Here's what he said when asked about bringing Oklahoma players to USC, according to 247Sports:

"I think so, (it was a little sensitive). But I think the transfer portal kind of handles that. We didn't take players from Oklahoma. We took players from the transfer portal. Those players and their families had to make a decision to either stay at that university, just like any other player has to make, or to enter the portal where then they can be recruited by anybody in the country. That's up to those players and their families and we have nothing to do with that. But once a player gets into a portal where they are open to any school in the country, we would be crazy not to take a look at and try to help our football team. Then on top of it for me, the maybe the more emotional tie for me is these are guys that we recruited. We got to know their families, we were part of the entire process. And all of a sudden they were good enough for us to take at Oklahoma, but now we wouldn't give them a chance just because we're in a new spot? That part never really made sense to me. We are certainly excited to get those guys here along with all the other players. It's literally players in a portal. These are guys that we feel like can come into USC and help us get this program to where it needs to be."

It's no surprise that Sooners fans (and college football fans, in general) are upset about Riley's remarks Tuesday. Seth Emerson, writer for The Athletic, said, "What luck for Lincoln Riley, he thought they'd be starting from scratch and just happened to check the transfer portal one afternoon and discovered, Whoa, Caleb Williams is in there! And two other guys he knew from Oklahoma! Whoa, what are the chances?!?!"

Jason Kersey, Oklahoma beat writer for The Athletic, said, "That's certainly one way to look at it."