UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOOTBALL

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, tornadoes are normal, and Lincoln Riley traded all these things for the beach, hanging out with celebrities, living it up in Hollywood, and leaving behind a stunned football program in Norman.

Yup, he’s no longer coaching the Sooners, and just two days after the 28-24 loss in Stillwater to Oklahoma State, he was up, up and away to his new surroundings as head coach at Southern California. No sweeping winds, no tornadoes, but he sure left behind a mess.

But don’t fret, you Sooner Boomers, it isn’t like your team is going out of business. It isn’t like a new head coach will install a whole new system after a number of recruits have recommitted from putting on a crimson and white uniform and committing to another campus or after a number of its present players have decided to enter the transfer portal and try on a new uniform.

Yes, it sure was a surprise and a bummer for sure. And Trojan fans were undecided on what this will or can bring to a program that isn’t the gridiron threat it once was.

No matter, Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione says he’s in the sooner than later mold of finding a new head coach, and he’s got a rather long list of some who would want to coach his Sooners, and some who are still under contract elsewhere and will be coaching in bowl games.

But Bob Stoops, the former Oklahoma head coach who will be coaching the Sooners in whatever bowl game they are invited to, has answered the call, has refused to accept money for this and he will have the joy of coaching his son, Drake, in the senior wide receiver’s final game.

Is this one of those who might unretire to return to the sidelines, probably not, but it’s no secret that a long line is out there for Castiglione to choose from, and who knows if those on his list can answer the call for the perennial Big 12 champions and a national power for decades.

Let’s start with those still coaching, preparing their teams for bowl games.

There’s Matt Campbell, the Iowa State head coach, there’s Luke Fiskell, the Cincinnati head coach, there’s Ole Miss head coach Lane Kriffen, there’s Brent Venables, the defensive coordinator for Clemson, there’s Baylor head coach Dave Aranda.

There’s also National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals present head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who previously was head coach at Texas Tech and now has his starting quarterback and Heisman Award winner, but he also says he has a 9-2 team thinking maybe Super Bowl, and would not want to discuss anything else.

Then there’s present Sooners defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, and a familiar name to Oklahoma fans in Josh Heupel, the last Sooner quarterback to win the national championship, and who has been coaching football for quite some time, and some say he’s been an asset wherever he’s been.

As for those who might not be coaching right now, well that’s up to Castiglione, who has also interested athletes to Norman from his high school in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., St. Thomas Aquinas, which has a nationally-ranked program. But to bring in a new head coach who’s been out of the loop is not on his list.

Then there’s the recruits, and although some have already recommitted after verbally committing to Oklahoma, some already making the switch to USC, and others just fielding their way around after this sudden turnabout.

But there’s plenty who want to be a Boomer Sooner, who want to play before capacity home crowds, who have decided on Oklahoma, and that’s where they are headed.