A+ trolling from Oklahoma State here.
If you’ve been keeping up with the coaching carousel in college football this year, you know that Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley is one of the top names being mentioned for the LSU coaching job after the Tigers announced they were parting ways with coach Ed Orgeron at the end of this season.
Earlier this month, after LSU announced that Orgeron was out, Riley missed a scheduled news conference and his weekly radio show, which set off chatter that he was interviewing for the LSU job.
Fans also threw fuel on the fire when they noticed a plane going from Norman, Oklahoma to Baton Rouge on the same day Riley was missing from his press conference.
The rumors surrounding the flight were debunked not long after though, when it was reported the Riley was actually at practice that morning and not eating gumbo and beignets on a flight to Baton Rouge.
Riley said that his absence was due to a “personal matter” that didn’t have anything to do with football.
The Riley-to-LSU talk seemed to die down for a little while after the plane turned out to be a dead end.
But the rumors got scorching hot again this week when somebody noticed that Riley had a bunch of interesting new followers on Twitter: Namely, LSU players, recruits, and coaches.
Riley has, of course, given the typical coach-speak when asked about the possible move. Your “I’m the coach at Oklahoma and we’re not focused on any of the rumors” bullshit, which is exactly what you’d expect even if the contract with LSU had already been signed.
But if he’s trying to ignore all of the speculation about his future, Oklahoma State did their best to make that hard on him during their rivalry week matchup with the Sooners this weekend.
Early in Oklahoma’s meeting with Oklahoma State in Stillwater, viewers quickly noticed the song playing in the stadium was none other than Garth Brooks’ “Callin’ Baton Rouge” – and Twitter was loving it.
“Callin’ Baton Rouge” is, of course, a staple for LSU and the Tiger football team at home in Death Valley (and one of the coolest traditions in college football).
The winner of the matchup between #9 Oklahoma and #7 Oklahoma State would get the opportunity to play in the Big 12 championship game, so if Oklahoma State was trying to get in Riley’s head to gain an advantage, it might have worked: The Cowboys came back from being down 33-24 in the fourth quarter to beat the Sooners 37-33.
With Oklahoma making the jump to the SEC, it could be the last time the two programs meet in Stillwater – and if the rumors are true, it may be Riley’s last game as coach at Oklahoma.
Riley did finally address the speculation head-on after the game, denying that he would be LSU’s next coach. But we all know that really doesn’t mean a whole lot these days.
And if he does take the job at LSU, at least he’s already familiar with “Callin’ Baton Rouge” – thanks to Oklahoma State.
