Lincoln Riley's move to the USC football program was not initially received well by Sooners fans. Some members of the Oklahoma football faithful barged into his home. Others pleaded with him to stay while others had their blood boiling because the Trojans poached the centerpiece of their program. But, the NCAA coach kept it classy and asked his players to stay with the program despite his departure — a classy move instead of bringing the squad with him.

Typically, a college coach's transfer would also mean an exodus of players. This is often because they have a bond with the NCAA coach. Such was not the case for Lincoln Riley. He unveiled how the Oklahoma football program remained intact despite his departure, via In Depth with Graham Besinger.

” One of the things I told the players when I stood up there is, ‘I think every one of you should stay here and do it,” he said about the Sooners squad that had been left behind. However, there was a massive dilemma in his sight, “But if you have a player that you recruited, knew their family, you've been in there with and he says, ‘Coach, I wanna go with you.’ Do you say no?”

Overall, his speech to make the player stay and not join him in the USC football squad worked. The only big turnover was his departure and the arrival of their current coach, Brent Venables. His heart was still with fan base and players who wanted to see continuity.