Former Oklahoma football coach Lincoln Riley made some interesting comments a few months before the season about how his rosters at Oklahoma were “not the same” as the other participants when his Sooner squads made it to the College Football Playoff.
That’s despite the 2017 Oklahoma roster being one of the most stacked rosters when it comes to NFL talent and sporting a 17-point advantage in the Rose Bowl game against Georgia.
"“I’ve walked into 4 playoffs, and I’ve never had better than maybe the third-best roster [of the four teams],” Riley said. “Every other year, we were 4 of 4. We had really good rosters, but they weren’t the same. … I can’t imagine that there could be a setting that we could build a better roster than we can here.”"
Well, as it turns out, not only could you get better-recruiting results at the University of Oklahoma than the ones Riley turned in during his tenure in Norman, but while having a decent class, USC did not come close to measuring up, at least according to the recruiting rankings.
Riley’s 2023 class at USC ranks 15th, according to the 247Sports composite, and only a +8 in true blue-chip rate (the number of four or five stars according to any service, compared to unanimous three-star or below prospects). The Sooners are sitting at fifth in the 247Sports composite, signed the best defensive class in school history, and has a staggering +21 true blue-chip ratio. It simply wasn’t close.
Within the modern recruiting era, Oklahoma had never signed more than five top-100 prospects in a single cycle.
— Parker Thune (@ParkerThune) December 22, 2022
They’ve got five top-100 signees in their 2023 class — on the defensive side alone. And Peyton Bowen is the highest-ranked DB signee in school history.
📈📈📈
USC had more success on the field this year, as the Trojans went 11-2, while Oklahoma had a measly 6-6 record. However, that only further proves how elite the recruiting is by the staff in place right now in Norman.
Riley took Heisman trophy winner Caleb Williams with him to Los Angeles from Norman, how differently could the results have been if the Sooners had the best player in college football on their side? A question that won’t be answered.
The staff will need to step up its game in 2023, but recruiting? Not broken at Oklahoma; it’s better than ever.