Former Oklahoma football coach Lincoln Riley said his decision to quit OU and take the head coaching job at USC was “the hardest decision” he ever had to make.

Right.

It was so hard that it took him less than half a day to make up his mind. Riley would have you believe that following his embarrassing defeat to Oklahoma State, that he got a call “out of the blue” from USC to offer him their head coaching job.

Do you think it’s possible that Riley was planning his departure weeks before he stunned OU fans and the college football world?  What happened when he disappeared on a Tuesday in November when even his mother didn’t know where he was? Riley said he was attending to a “personal matter” but it seems like it could have been part of his search for a new job.

Oklahoma gave Riley his big break. He was the offensive coordinator at East Carolina when former OU coach Bob Stoops fired Josh Heupel (the former OU quarterback who is now head coach at Tennessee) and took a chance on Riley.

There’s no doubt that Riley is a talented offensive football coach. After two years at OU, other colleges were hot on the trail to hire him as a head coach. Stoops and the OU administration saw this and you have to think that keeping Riley was a factor in Stoops’ decision to retire early.

Riley was set up with the perfect job. OU dominates the Big 12. It is easy to recruit top players. It has a loyal fan base. The administration is pro-football. And it pays their coach top salaries.

So Riley took the job and later fired Stoops’ brother, Mike Stoops. So much for loyalty to Bob.

Then, earlier this year, Oklahoma and Texas announced they are headed to the Southeastern Conference (without Oklahoma State).

When David Boren was OU president, with all his faults, at lease he would consult with OSU before making such an earth-shaking decision. This time, there was no chance for public debate on whether this was a good idea or not.

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione indicated that Riley knew about the move to the SEC and liked the idea. Really? It looks more like it was made above his head and he perhaps reluctantly decided to go along with it publicly.

OU’s Athletic Department likes to keep secrets. They are very focused on public relations, mostly for national sports news outlets. They didn’t let OU fans (or state legislators) know about the switch to the SEC and now Riley didn’t let OU know about bolting to USC.

Here’s why Riley’s announcement about his “hard decision” sounds a bit hollow.

According to former coach Barry Switzer, Riley didn’t let OU make a counter offer. Riley was making about $7.5 million a year – one of the top 10 salaries in the nation. OU would have paid him more if that was the real issue.

He lost two of his last three games at OU. It was obvious that he was distracted and that winning the Big 12 title wasn’t his most important issue.

Riley met briefly with his players, who had no idea this was happening, and then left town. If he was really so brokenhearted about leaving, he would have met with players and coaches individually. But he didn’t.

And Riley couldn’t wait until after OU’s bowl game to make his decision to leave for USC.

And once he got to Los Angeles, he started stealing recruits from OU. Riley didn’t hesitate to betray OU just days ahead of a critical signing date. He gave OU no chance to have a replacement ahead of this important recruiting time. Since he doesn’t see a moral conflict in stealing recruits, he won’t stop damaging OU by talking some players into transferring to USC.

After all, it’s every man for himself in Riley’s world.

OU has hired former Sooner defensive coordinator Brent Venables away from Clemson. That’s a smart move. He will be successful and loyal.

Los Angeles is not Muleshoe, Texas, (Riley’s hometown) or Norman, Oklahoma.

At USC, Riley will face vicious fans with enormous expectations. Granted, OU fans have gigantic expectations (OU was supposed to win the national title this year but OU fans are forgiving if the Sooners fall short (which they did every year under Riley). USC fans won’t be so forgiving.

It’s a good bet that Riley will make more than $7.5 million a year at USC.  Maybe twice that. But if he doesn’t win the Pac-12 in the first year or two, they will be looking to replace him.

Chip Kelly was one of the top five coaches in the nation while at Oregon. He got hired by UCLA and guess what – he’s 18-25 and hasn’t won a Pac-12 title.

Let’s face it – Riley went to USC for more money, more prestige and to avoid the SEC, where he apparently believes OU will win fewer games than he did in the Big 12.

The SEC is a much greater challenge than the Pac-12. The SEC has had two teams in the College Football Playoff while the Pac-12 struggles every year to get even one in.

Loyalty is a lost cause in college football. Riley damages OU by going to USC. Brian Kelly dumped on Notre Dame to get more money at LSU.

It’s not just coaches who are disloyal. Colleges, including USC, LSU and Texas Tech, sacked football coaches during the season.

There is a reason why there is a statue of Bob Stoops in front of the OU Stadium and why there eventually will be one of Mike Gundy in front of the OSU stadium.

Riley’s departure wasn’t a “hard decision” – it was a cold-hearted business choice.

Loyalty was be a factor when OU hired Brent Venables. That was absent with Lincoln Riley.