Lincoln Riley and Mike Gundy came into the 2024 college football season as celebrated coaching figures poised to make a big splash in their respective new-look leagues.
Riley was lauded as an offensive prodigy at Oklahoma, hailed as the mastermind behind explosive offenses who seemed destined to do the same at USC.
Gundy, entering his 20th season at Oklahoma State, had crafted a borderline elite reputation, with a resume boasting a conference championship, a few Big 12 division titles and a Fiesta Bowl win in a career-best 2011 season.
Both appeared on the cusp of reaching even higher — but as the season winds down, each finds himself struggling through a rare losing season and an even rarer test of personal accountability.
Lincoln Riley: The Lamborghini That Stalled
When Riley arrived at USC, expectations were sky-high. In his first season, he brought in eventual Heisman winner Caleb Williams and led the Trojans to 11 wins, nearly capturing a playoff spot. By 2024, however, Williams has moved on to the NFL, and Riley’s Trojans have limped to a 4-5 record.
The shine has worn off of USC head coach, Lincoln Riley, in Year 3 leading the Trojans.
This includes losses to Minnesota, Maryland, depleted Michigan and Washington teams, and Penn State — all by one score — despite a much-improved USC defense under new coordinator D’Anton Lynn.
Riley's once-electric offense is now stalling at the worst moments, and his ongoing refusal to replace the turnover-prone Miller Moss with the mobile and promising transfer Jaden Maiava has frustrated USC fans. This is the same fanbase that once mocked Oklahoma fans for their criticisms of Riley, but they are now equally relentless in calling out the Trojan head coach for his failure to advance the program.
Riley’s excuses about facilities, NIL resources, and the schedule the team faces in the Big Ten — which doesn’t even include top contenders Oregon or Ohio State this season — are even falling flat with those in the USC fan base who used to stand as the coach’s staunchest defenders, with former Trojan players openly mocking Riley on Social Media at an increasingly high rate.
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In one tweet, White lamented that USC "can't even get in the Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles Bowl" after dropping to 4-5 on the season, and the scathing critique also extended to Riley’s play-calling and Moss’s three-interception performance against the Huskies, with White arguing that Riley’s hefty contract hasn’t brought the results USC fans expected.
White’s tweets echoed sentiments of Riley’s growing list of detractors claiming the coach’s success is inflated, calling him a “glorified QB coach” who “ran” from Oklahoma and even claiming Riley is “stealing” money from USC, with his massive 10-year, $110 million contract. White went on to suggest Riley “donate [his] salary to help recruit that coaching job” since he “ain’t helping s***” in his current role.
Frustrated by the state of USC football, White went so far as to campaign to replace Riley himself, saying, “Pay me to be mediocre. I swear I can do it.”
Critics point to his tenure at Oklahoma, where he inherited a powerhouse program from Bob Stoops. His initial success — three Big 12 titles and playoff berths in as many seasons — masked deeper issues. Under Riley, Oklahoma’s defense and strength and conditioning program became notorious liabilities, and his last season saw the Sooners finish a disappointing third in the Big 12 with late-season losses to Baylor and Oklahoma State leaving OU fans questioning Riley’s effort to win the program’s 7th straight conference title (5th under Riley).
Rather than adapt to the challenges faced by Oklahoma in an impending move to the SEC, Riley left for USC, presumably hoping for a softer path to success. Now, he faces the same issues he left behind, with fans and media questioning whether his high-flying offense can withstand the pressure of elite defenses in one of the country’s two power conferences, with the Trojans, crosstown-rival UCLA, Washington and Oregon entering the Big 10 this season.
Riley’s refusal to diversify his play-calling was perhaps most evident in his overreliance on star quarterback Williams during the eventual Number-1-overall pick’s two years with the Trojans – when the coach criminally underutilized dynamic running back Marshawn Lloyd’s eight-yards-per-rushing-attempt average and instead relied on a pass-heavy scheme and Williams’ ability to thrive off-script.
Riley’s quick-strike attack, while often devastating for opposing defenses, has often been criticized for the strain it puts on his own defense. When the Riley attack is firing on all cylinders, it leads to single-digit-play drives and often severely lopsided time of possession for the opposing offenses – especially those who play at a moderate pace and utilize a balanced or run-heavy attack like the majority of teams in the Big 10. When the offense sputters, the same issue can occur, as three-and-out drives often take less than a minute off the clock.
But Riley, a disciple of Mike Leach, has never concerned himself with playing “complimentary football,” utilizing a more methodical and balanced attack with a goal of shortening the game with longer drives taking precious time off the clock – keeping the opposing offense on the sideline and allowing your defense time to recuperate.
In the Big 12, Riley rarely found himself in danger due to the Sooners’ clear personnel advantage against the rest of the league and the pair of Heisman-winning quarterbacks he inherited, not to mention the elite coaching and support staff – and recruiting machine that was set on autopilot thanks to the culture of success Stoops fostered in his 17 seasons in Norman.
To put it plainly, Stoops left a meticulously maintained super car and the team of mechanics to keep it running at peak condition long after he was gone. In SoCal, Riley was left a project car, and he arrived without the mechanics that could help him do something he never had to do, put the pieces together himself to recreate the Ferrari he drove in Norman.
USC supporters, once thrilled by Riley’s arrival, are now echoing sentiments familiar to Oklahoma fans: Lincoln Riley can scheme offense and help already elite talent flourish, but he is clueless about how to promote and cultivate a program that thrives in playing complimentary football. Even worse? The coach is not only failing to adapt, but he’s an excuse machine who refuses to take accountability for his own failures.
Mike Gundy: The Cowboy Who Lost His Way
If Riley’s success story is marred by excuses and strategic rigidity, Gundy’s has been worn thin by complacency. With a career record of 169-85 entering his 20th season in 2024, Gundy’s reputation as a Big 12 stalwart rested largely on the goodwill of a fanbase that has for so many years appreciated his gritty, homegrown persona.
But that goodwill is waning of late as Gundy’s Cowboys have stumbled to 3-6 in 2024, winless in the Big 12, and without traditional rivals like Oklahoma to blame.
Head coach at Oklahoma State, Mike Gundy, is under fire with his Cowboys at 3-6.
Gundy was just 4-15 against Big Brother Oklahoma — his in-state rival that he’s since refused to schedule, claiming OSU’s non-conference slate is “full for 15 years,” even as the Cowboys added other Power 5 opponents who pale in comparison.
Oklahoma State’s peak season under Gundy was 2011, when the Cowboys captured a Big 12 title and a Fiesta Bowl victory over No. 4 Stanford. But since taking over at OSU in 2005, his record against Power 5 teams with ten or more wins has been a dismal 14-34.
Most of those losses came in conference, so, similar to Riley, Gundy adopted a strategy for scheduling tough non-conference foes – essentially avoiding the practice as often as possible since his Cowboys have just three wins at home against Power 5 opponents with winning records in the previous 19 seasons.
This lack of competitiveness in high-stakes games is a glaring hole in his legacy. And yet, rather than acknowledge the program’s shortcomings, he’s chosen to lash out, labeling disgruntled fans “losers” and blaming social media for the team's woes as a projected season of glory crumbled right out from under OSU.
Gundy’s disdain for criticism has only fueled his reputation as a coach more interested in self-preservation than evolution. His offensive schemes have grown stale, and his hiring practices for assistants reflect his disinterest in taking the program to the next level. OSU’s recruiting is stagnant, and Gundy’s dismissiveness toward criticism suggests he’s increasingly out of touch with the fanbase that has adored him.
Gundy’s decision to criticize fans on Monday for questioning him and his staff came across poorly, especially to those who have defended him through increasing criticism in recent years. His brief, two-sentence apology on Twitter the next day, claiming he didn’t “intend to offend” fans “who have supported us and this program through the years,” failed to resonate with many. Some questioned the sincerity of his words, while others doubted he even wrote it himself.
Linked by Hubris and Fraudulent Coaching Legacies
The absence of accountability is the Achilles’ heel that has exposed the fatal flaws of Lincoln Riley and Mike Gundy as coaches. Their hubris in refusing to confront their shortcomings — instead attempting to blame everyone and everything but themselves — has laid bare the myths of their status as two of college football’s supposed “elite.” Their failure to compete with the sport's top programs is no longer just an anomaly; it’s a reflection of where they truly stand in the coaching fraternity.
Both Riley and Gundy have shown the ability to leverage inherent advantages and thrive within them, but their successes have been built on circumstances rather than their own brilliance. Riley, for instance, was handed the keys to the Oklahoma Ferrari at a time when Bob Stoops had meticulously tuned the program to attract elite talent and establish a culture of excellence.
This made it relatively easy for Riley, a first-time head coach, to step into a ready-made machine and enjoy immediate success, without having to truly build from the ground up. His offenses were explosive, but the real heavy lifting — establishing a sustained winner — had already been done for him.
Gundy, meanwhile, built a respectable program at Oklahoma State by leveraging his coaching acumen and, more importantly, his personality to align with the deep pockets of billionaire donor Boone Pickens. This combination raised the expectations for OSU football, bringing it up from the Big 12 basement to a level of consistency rarely seen in Stillwater.
But let’s not confuse “respectable” with elite. Gundy’s accomplishments, impressive as they might seem within the context of OSU's history, were built against a low bar.
The Cowboy program was always compared to a bigger, stronger, and more consistent Oklahoma, and fans were conditioned to settle for just enough success to feel hopeful but not enough to be genuinely competitive.
Much of Gundy’s success was aided by a carefully crafted narrative — he was the coach who did more with less. This was enough to placate fans and keep them satisfied, even as OU continued to assert its dominance over OSU. Gundy’s ability to manipulate his non-conference schedule — avoiding tough opponents and picking favorable matchups — enabled him to keep the program ranked just highly enough to regularly finish near the top of a Big 12 conference that was shrinking in both size and national prestige.
But for all the smoke and mirrors, Gundy’s program never reached the peak. The Cowboys won just one conference title in his tenure, and that came in a season when the conference as a whole was at a low ebb.
What Gundy never truly addressed was his consistent failure to beat Oklahoma or Texas, and instead of conducting the necessary self-reflection, he developed a sharp ability to point the blame elsewhere — at media, rivals, and, more recently, OSU fans.
His refusal to assess his own weaknesses — particularly in terms of recruiting, development, and coaching adjustments—has prevented him from taking the necessary steps to elevate his program beyond mediocrity.
Now, with OU no longer a member of the Big 12 and the Cowboys expected to take on a more prominent role in a conference still searching for its identity, Gundy can no longer hide behind excuses. The landscape has changed, and his once-coveted “straight-shooter” persona is now being exposed as a cover-up for his program's glaring deficiencies. His ability to win against top-tier competition has been revealed as a product of his ability to exploit a shrinking Big 12, not a reflection of his coaching genius. And as his team falters this season, it is clear that the reputation Gundy carefully constructed for himself is unraveling.
As Oklahoma State prepares for the future, Gundy will be forced to confront the truth: the “power program” he has claimed to build is nothing more than a house of cards, propped up by convenience and a lack of accountability. The cracks are no longer hidden by the shadows of Texas and Oklahoma. If Gundy is to remain relevant in the Big 12’s new era, he’ll have to own his failures and make real changes — something he has stubbornly avoided throughout his tenure.
In reality, both Oklahoma State and USC must demand more — insisting that these coaches, or perhaps new ones, are fully accountable for both success and failure in their programs.
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JASON WATKINS is the founder and publisher of HOF Media. Find more of his content at HOFMedia.us and contact him at jw@hofmedia.us
The SEC transition has been harsher on Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners than anticipated, with a tough 1-4 start sparking fan concerns over Venables’ leadership.
Despite glimpses of offensive progress in their latest 26-14 loss at Ole Miss, Oklahoma’s 4-4 record has fueled doubts about Venables’ ability to steer the program through the SEC’s relentless competition. While injuries to key offensive players have created challenges, Venables’ hesitance to address coaching issues and poor communication within the offensive staff have only deepened the Sooners' struggles.
The failure of the offensive staff to communicate effectively and Venables’ hesitance to manage his coaching staff proactively have compounded the difficulties presented by mounting injuries.
Hesitancy on Display: The 4th-Down Decision
Venables' hesitation was encapsulated on Saturday, just six days after finally relieving Littrell of his duties as offensive coordinator: the 4th-and-4 timeout against Ole Miss late in the third quarter. Trailing by two scores, Oklahoma needed a jolt to stay in the game.
The situation was critical, but hardly complex. Coaches make these calls instinctively, often without a second thought. Instead, Venables used a timeout — only to ultimately bring out the punt team, a decision that deflated the offense and left fans scratching their heads.
If the choice was to punt, Venables could’ve delayed the game for a mere five yards instead of burning a precious timeout. If he intended to go for it, why not get his new play caller’s best play for the situation and make the call confidently?
Even if the Sooners fail to pick up the four yards, it would have signaled a willingness to take a chance — or give one — to an offense that has been less-than-inspiring all season.
In that one instance, Venables’ hesitation was as costly as a missed play. With the momentum squarely in favor of Lane Kiffin’s Rebels, burning that timeout only to punt sent the wrong signal to a young group on offense that is in serious need of someone who believes in them. Instead, he proved he didn’t trust them to get a measly four yards and extend a drive to get back into the game.
OU’s Identity Crisis on Offense
What we’re witnessing with OU’s offense is not merely a slump — it’s an identity crisis. Oklahoma fans are accustomed to high-powered, fast-paced offenses that can score almost at will. Littrell’s offense was anything but explosive for seven weeks, and Joe Jon Finley had a lackluster, scoreless latter half of Week 8, too.
To say the Sooners struggled to establish consistency would be an overwhelming understatement.
OU has struggled with untimely penalties and turnovers and suffered through a complete lack of innovation and creativity. The plays feel uninspired, lack direction and are devoid of explosive results.
As a unit, this offense is drawing comparisons to the infamous John Blake era, and has the numbers to back the comparison up. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
There’s no other way to say it but bluntly … OU has no clear identity with its offense on the field.
The offensive woes go beyond play-calling; they’re structural. Reports from inside the Switzer Center suggest that there have been significant communication breakdowns within the offensive staff. Coaches have reportedly been on different pages regarding even the most fundamental elements, like blocking schemes. If those rumors are reaching the public, it’s safe to say Venables has known about these issues for some time.
A head coach — even a defensive-minded one like Venables — cannot allow such dysfunction to persist. These aren’t minor misunderstandings; they’re symptoms of a team struggling to find cohesion. Venables needed to address these issues early, before they became embedded in the team’s culture, but his delay in doing so has turned what might have been small fires into an inferno.
Mailed-In Hire: The Problem with Littrell
When Venables hired Seth Littrell, it felt like a placeholder decision. It wasn’t the bold, visionary hire that programs like Oklahoma should be making. Littrell’s track record showed some promise, but he had yet to prove himself as the kind of offensive mind that could elevate a program to championship contention.
Looking back on the decision to elevate Littrell and Finley, the hire seems more like an afterthought, a half-measure rather than a commitment to offensive excellence.
The results have been glaringly obvious. The offense lacks explosive creativity that OU fans are used to seeing, and that lack of energy has translated into downright unacceptable performances on the field, as evidenced by the Sooners’ historically bad statistical rankings in FBS football.
In just ten months on the job, Littrell and his offensive staff failed to the tune of numbers nobody in their right minds would have predicted following the Sooners’ 2023 season that saw the offense rank in the Top 5 in both Total Offense and Scoring Offense, and alone at the top of the Big 12 Conference in Points, Yards and Yards Per Play.
This despite having two of the most electric quarterbacks from their respective recruiting classes in the fold:
2023 5-star and Elite 11-winning Jackson Arnold of Denton Guyer, the 2023 Gatorade National HS Player of the Year and twice a Class 6A State Finalist in Texas.
And former Allen and Frisco Emerson (Texas) superstar Michael Hawkins, Jr., a Sooner legacy trained by Kyler's father Kevin Murray, and who, as a senior, accounted for 55 touchdowns and just three turnovers, leading Emerson to within a game of playing for a Texas State Championship in Class 5A.
Neither were able to sustain success under Littrell's tutelage, and rumors have swirled this week about none of OU's QBs feeling as though been properly developed by the now-fired Littrell as the QBs coach.
Both started a games after being inserted for the other following ineffective play, and both came into their first appearances under Littrell with confidence and swagger that appeared missing by the time they were pulled from games after committing three turnovers and allowing the Sooners to fall behind teams they likely could have beaten were it not for the turnovers they committed.
In other words, Seth Littrell had to go.
Saturday’s loss leaves Oklahoma at 4-4, staring down a potential losing season -- the second for Venables since he arrived after the abrupt departure of Lincoln Riley to USC.
These are unacceptable at Oklahoma, a school with one of the richest football traditions in the country. What makes it even more alarming is that no longer can OU fans blame the losses on a ineffectice, suoddr defense — OU seems to have mostly turned the corner on that side of the ball — but to say the fan base is frustrated, would again be a massive understatement.
Oklahoma fans don’t want excuses; they want results. And for a head coach like Venables, the time for excuses is running out.
The Next OC Hire: BV’s Defining Moment
After Finally punting the Littrell experiment — once again needing more time than most believe he should have — Venables again finds himself in the market for a new offensive coordinator — for the third time in three seasons.
This time, though, the choice Venables makes will ultimately define his second tenure in Norman, possibly his entire future as a head coach in college football. Mailing it in would be tantamount to a dereliction of duty in the eyes of Sooner Nation.
Venables MUST get this one right. He has to bring in someone with a proven track record of offensive success, someone who can bring energy, innovation, and a clear identity to the offense. Anything less than a home-run hire will only deepen the cracks in Venables’ foundation as head coach.
If Venables fails to find the right offensive coordinator, his job security will slip through those cracks, and his tenure as the Head Ball Coach of the Sooners will die in a whimper. Even if he builds a defense that resembles the ’85 Bears, it won’t matter if OU’s offense can’t score points.
The OU fan base is patient to a degree, but they expect excellence. For Venables, this is a make-or-break moment.
Either he finds the right offensive coordinator and proves he can lead a balanced, championship-caliber team, or he risks being shown the door in a year or less.
The Venables Paradox: Championship Defense, JV Offense
The irony of Venables’ situation is that, in many ways, Oklahoma has become Lincoln Riley’s reverse image. Under Riley, the Sooners fielded prolific offenses but were plagued by a porous defense that could never quite get them over the championship hump.
With Venables, it’s the opposite: the defense has shown promise, but the offense is currently in full-on spiral.
The head coach role, especially at Blue Blood OU, requires more than defensive expertise or recruiting prowess. It demands a complete vision, a well-rounded team, and an unwavering commitment to excellence on both sides of the ball.
For Venables to truly establish himself as a championship-level head coach, he has to be willing to delegate offense to someone who can make people forget he’s a defensive guru and simply call him “Coach.” To reach the heights that Oklahoma fans demand, Venables needs to be remembered not as a defensive mind but as a leader who fields a complete team. That requires taking risks, making tough decisions, and, most importantly, holding his staff to the highest possible standard.
It requires a decisive, confident vision for a championship future. The clock is ticking on Brent Venables’ tenure in Oklahoma, and his window for turning things around is narrowing.
Being the head coach at Oklahoma is an honor, but it’s also a responsibility. Venables needs to rise to that responsibility, or he and Lincoln Riley might both be in the job market this time next year.
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Jason Watkins is the Publisher at HOF Media Group and the Host of the HOF College Football Podcast. Reach him at jw@hofmedia.us