SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 23: Drake London #15 of the USC Trojans runs the ball during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on October 23, 2021 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
USC wide receiver Drake London has declared for the 2022 NFL draft.
To the best University in the world, Thank you for everything! Fight on forever!
The 6'5", 210-pound junior out of Moorpark, California, dominated the 2021 campaign with 88 catches, 1,084 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. He amassed 130 or more yards in six of eight games.
London's season ended abruptly after he suffered a fractured right ankle upon being hit while scoring a six-yard touchdown during the second quarter of a 41-34 win over Arizona on Oct. 30. Medical personnel placed an air cast around his ankle before London was carted off the field.
NFL draft analyst Matt Miller provided an update two days later.
London will have surgery on Thursday. Source tells me there is no ligament damage and the expectation is he will be able to test pre-draft. https://t.co/DBCH0ogHxe
London also reached out to his fans that day on Twitter:
Trojan Family,
Thank you all so much for the outpouring of love and support. It has been truly humbling. While this was unexpected, it’s just a minor set back. I can’t wait to hit the field again soon, stronger than ever!
The B/R NFL Scouting Department recognizes London's talents as well, listing him as the No. 9 overall prospect and No. 1 wideout in the 2022 NFL draft class.
London's athleticism has enabled him to find success in other sports. He notably played basketball during his freshman year at USC, one season after averaging 29.2 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists for Moorpark High School during his senior campaign.
Now he'll look to light up the NFL on Sundays.
5-Star ATH Prospect Makai Lemon Commits to USC After Decommitting from Oklahoma
Dec 3, 2021
The wave of college football recruits decommitting from Oklahoma to join ex-Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley at USC continued Friday, with 5-star class of 2023 athlete Makai Lemon announcing that he will be joining the Trojans.
Lemon told the news to Hayes Fawcett of On3 Recruits:
BREAKING: 2023 ATH Makai Lemon has Committed to USC, he tells @On3Recruits
The 6’0 180 ATH from Los Alamitos, CA decommitted from Oklahoma on Tuesday
Five-star class of 2023 quarterback Malachi Nelson and 5-star class of 2022 running back Raleek Brown have already decommitted from Oklahoma to join USC.
Five-star class of 2023 wide receiver Brandon Inniss has also decommitted from Oklahoma but has not announced his college destination.
Losing Lemon is a tough one for the Sooners. The Los Alamitos High School star is 27th overall in the 247Sports composite rankings for the class of 2023 and fourth among prospects in California.
Gabe Brooks, who is 247Sports' Midlands Region recruiting analyst, wrote the following about Lemon:
Requisite size for receiver or defensive back with a lean, athletic build that can add some more mass. Dynamic playmaker at the high school level with outstanding junior year production at receiver and cornerback. Also provides a dangerous return game option. Excels in the short area with terrific lateral twitch and explosion, which fosters separation, whether at the line of scrimmage or the top of the route. For the same reasons is dangerous as a run-after-catch threat. Also uses suddenness to close on the catch point as a defender. Elite body control in his routes and when the ball is in the air. Football IQ combines with functional athleticism to provide great feel for tempo as a route runner.
Brooks also wrote Lemon looked like a receiver in the "long run" but that he could have a higher ceiling as a cornerback.
Either way, Brooks called him one of his class' best two-way prospects, with the potential to ultimately hear his name called in an early round of the NFL draft.
Now he'll be joining what appears to be a loaded USC class of 2023 as the Trojans look to return to past glory under Riley.
5-Star RB Raleek Brown Flips Commitment from Oklahoma to USC After Lincoln Riley Hire
Dec 2, 2021
High School Football: Mater Dei HS Raleek Brown (4) in action, rushing vs St. John Bosco HS at Santa Ana Stadium.
Santa Ana, CA 4/17/2021
CREDIT: John W. McDonough (Photo John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X163587 TK1)
Five-star running back Raleek Brown has committed to USC, the class of 2022 recruit announced Thursday.
Brown was previously committed to Oklahoma but decommitted following the announcement that Lincoln Riley had left Norman and become the head coach at USC.
Brown had been committed to the Sooners since February but announced his decision to decommit from the program on Wednesday. It's assumed that was related to Riley's departure.
Before Riley was hired as head coach of the Trojans on Sunday, Brown told ESPN later that day that the coach's decision would impact his recruitment.
"That changes everything," he said. "I had a good relationship with all [the Oklahoma coaches], so that will really change everything."
The 5'8", 185-pound running back is the 34th-ranked prospect in the 2022 class, per 247Sports' composite rating. He's also the second-ranked running back behind Emmanuel Henderson, an Alabama commit, and the second-ranked player out of California behind uncommitted cornerback Domani Jackson.
Brown is the second 5-star to commit to the Trojans this week, joining 2023 quarterback Malachi Nelson, who was also previously committed to Oklahoma. The California resident announced his decommitment from the Sooners on Sunday.
In addition to Brown and Nelson, Oklahoma has also lost commitments from 2023 5-star wide receiver Brandon Inniss (No. 10 in 247Sports' composite rating) and 2023 4-star running back Treyaun Webb (No. 109 in 247Sports' composite rating) over the last week.
Riley had been head coach of the Sooners since 2017 and compiled a 55-10 record in his five seasons. Oklahoma won the Big 12 in his first four seasons as head coach, and he also led the team to three College Football Playoff appearances.
During his introductory USC press conference on Monday, Riley told everyone that the school "is going to be the mecca of college football." With commitments from several 5-star players, he is well on his way to making that statement a reality.
Matt Leinart Heard Matt Campbell Would Be USC HC 'Day Before' Lincoln Riley Hire
Dec 1, 2021
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: Fox college sports anchors Matt Leinart and Urban Meyer a college football game between the Utah Utes and The USC Trojans on September 20, 2019, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
USC landed Lincoln Riley as its next football head coach, but Iowa State coach Matt Campbell was apparently also a top candidate for the job.
Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart broke down the situation with the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday:
"USC made it a point to get a lot of feedback from former players such as myself.. I was shocked when they got Lincoln Riley because I heard days before it was gonna be Matt Campbell" ~@MattLeinartQB#PatMcAfeeShowLIVEpic.twitter.com/nk938Mc11Z
"I was shocked, to be honest with you," Leinart said. "I thought it was going to be Matt Campbell. I was hearing the rumors the day before that Matt Campbell was probably the guy."
Leinart said he discussed the opening with USC officials, who also reached out to former players Carson Palmer, Willie McGinest, Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott, among others, to discuss what they wanted in the next coach.
Riley joins USC with an impressive resume after going 55-10 across five seasons with Oklahoma. He has never lost more than two games in any year as a head coach and has consistently produced some of best offenses in college football.
It was clear the Trojans moved quickly to hire the 38-year-old with Campbell obviously on the radar.
Campbell has a 77-48 career record as a Division I coach, including a 42-33 mark in six years at Iowa State.
The production is even more impressive considering he took over a team that went six straight years without a winning record before he arrived in 2017, including three straight seasons with three or fewer wins. The Cyclones have now clinched their fifth straight season with a winning record in 2021.
Campbell could remain a top candidate for other openings around the country, including recently vacated positions at Oklahoma and Notre Dame.
5-Star QB Malachi Nelson Commits to USC After Decommitting from Oklahoma
Nov 30, 2021
MISSION VIEJO, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Quarterback Malachi Nelson (7), of Los Alamitos, during a game against Santa Margarita in the first half at Saddleback College Stadium on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021 in Mission Viejo, CA. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Two days after 5-star quarterback Malachi Nelson decommitted from Oklahoma, he announced publicly that he would be following head coach Lincoln Riley to USC.
Nelson is considered the No. 2 player in the class of 2023, the No. 2 quarterback prospect and the top player from the state of California, per 247Sports' composite rankings.
Nelson's decision doesn't come as a huge surprise, considering he plays for Orange County's Los Alamitos High School, about 25 miles south of Los Angeles. Riley's departure from the Sooners to the Trojans surely made staying close to home all the easier.
And 2022 5-star running back Raleek Brown, currently an Oklahoma commit, might be the next high-profile recruit to leave Norman behind.
"That changes everything," he told ESPN this week regarding Riley's move. "I had a good relationship with all [the Oklahoma coaches], so that will really change everything."
As for Nelson, his switch in allegiances is huge for USC. Greg Biggins of 247Sports wrote in his scouting report that Nelson "has all the physical tools you could want in a next level signal-caller."
He also wrote Nelson has "an athletic body with plenty of room to grow" and is "a very fluid athlete in everything he does," adding that "no quarterback in the class has a higher ceiling right now than Nelson."
The 6'3" and 180-pound Nelson threw for 2,690 yards, 39 touchdowns and nine interceptions as a junior in 2021. USC and Riley have pulled off a coup flipping his commitment.
Lincoln Riley Hire Changed Landscape of College Football, USC AD Mike Bohn Says
Nov 29, 2021
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 29: A large screen at the Los Angeles Coliseum display a photo of the new USC football head coach Lincoln Riley, with downtown Los Angeles as the background, before he is introduced by university president Carol L. Folt and athletic director Mike Bohn in the 1923 Club at the Los Angeles Coliseum on November 29, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
It's safe to say USC is pretty excited about its hiring of former Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley.
"It was never our goal to change the landscape of college football with one of the biggest moves in the history of the game, but we did exactly that," USC athletic director Mike Bohn told reporters on Wednesday at Riley's introductory press conference.
While Riley's contractual terms with USC haven't been released publicly, it's a safe bet that he's receiving a healthy raise over the $7.6 million per year he would have received from Oklahoma through Jan. 2026 had he remained in Norman.
Listen to Bohn on Monday, however, and it became abundantly clear that the Trojans believe he's worth every penny.
"The fact we landed our top candidate and one of the top coaches in all of college football was not an accident," he told reporters.
USC AD Mike Bohn on hiring Lincoln Riley: "It says that USC is the premier destination for the best and brightest. It sends a loud and powerful message to the college football world that this sleeping giant is wide awake."
Riley sounded equally excited about the opportunity.
"We came here because we believe in what this place can be, and that will be done with the players on the field," he told reporters about his decision to leave Oklahoma for USC. "To win championships, to get this program where we know and believe it should be, it's going to take all of us."
Lincoln Riley says USC returning to glory can "happen quickly. There’s a lot of good things going on in this program right now that we can build on. You can turn over rosters in a lot of ways, and we’ll be very creative and intentional about that."
Riley, 38, will be going from an Oklahoma program where he had consistent success—and a school that will be joining the SEC in 2025—to a proud USC program that has fallen out of relevance nationally since Pete Carroll departed for the Seattle Seahawks following the 2009 season.
Under Riley, Oklahoma has gone 55-10 in five seasons, won four Big-12 titles and played in three College Football Playoffs.
"He made a personal decision," Oklahoma president Joe Harroz told reporters regarding Riley's departure. "Were we disappointed? Absolutely. And that disappointment lasts until you realize you've now got to move forward. I mean, we'd like more notice."
Former head coach Bob Stoops will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2021 season.
USC, meanwhile, has never appeared in a CFP game, has won just one Pac-12 title since the Carroll era and has only appeared in three Pac-12 title games.
USC has also recycled head coaches at an alarming rate in the last decade, including Lane Kiffin (2010-13), Steve Sarkisian (2014-15) and Clay Helton (2015-20). Ed Orgeron and Helton also served as interim head coaches in the 2013 season.
The hope is that Riley will end that trend and return USC to the sort of prominence the school enjoyed under Carroll, which included six conference titles and two national championships.
USC's Lincoln Riley Says LA Coliseum Will Be 'The Mecca of College Football'
Nov 29, 2021
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley before the start of a game against Tulane during an NCAA football game on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in Norman, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
Lincoln Riley has high hopes for his tenure at USC.
During his introductory press conference Monday, Riley told reporters he wants to turn Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum into the "Mecca of college football."
Lincoln Riley as he looks at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: “This place is going to be full. This is going to be the mecca of college football.”
Given how much the program stagnated under Clay Helton—the Trojans are 4-7 entering their season finale against California on Saturday—USC will likely need a year or two before it's competing with the elite of college football. Riley is optimistic about speeding that process along:
Lincoln Riley says USC returning to glory can "happen quickly. There’s a lot of good things going on in this program right now that we can build on. You can turn over rosters in a lot of ways, and we’ll be very creative and intentional about that."
While Riley had been linked with a possible move to LSU, his decision to head westward was largely unexpected.
Coaches typically don't leave a perennial national title contender when they have plenty of job security. Jimbo Fisher was the last when he ditched Florida State for Texas A&M, but a layer of internal friction preceded that move. There was no such drama in Norman, Oklahoma, leading everybody to wonder why Riley left.
The 38-year-old said he relished the challenge coaching at USC provided:
More Riley: "We're not scared to take a jump. This was the right time. Everything about it makes sense."
He also talked about how he went from leading Oklahoma in a rivalry game against Oklahoma State to being announced as USC's coach less than 24 hours later:
Riley says he found about USC's interest late Saturday night/early Sunday AM, got a couple hours sleep, hopped on a Zoom call with USC that morning.
"It came together quickly, but in this day and age of college football, it kind of has to."
There's bound to be more reporting on the inner workings at Oklahoma this past season and the series of events leading up to Sunday's bombshell. Riley may have dropped a hint at his press conference:
Fourth time Lincoln Riley has mentioned USC administration’s commitment and vision… 🤔
No factor is weighing on fans' minds more than Oklahoma's impending move to the SEC.
The Sooners won 10 Big 12 titles under Bob Stoops and that success carried on under Riley with four straight conference championships. Life in the SEC promises to be more difficult against tougher competition and probably won't come with a coinciding lowering of expectations in Norman.
The ousters of Ed Orgeron and Dan Mullen at LSU and Florida, respectively, show how high the standards are for upper-tier SEC programs. Riley was untouchable right now, but a few eight- or nine-win seasons down the road might have changed that.
USC's administration will obviously want Riley to deliver, but he's likely to have a lot of leeway. Helton wasn't fired until he was into his seventh season as the permanent head coach.
For now, Riley's arrival should provide an injection of excitement into a fanbase that began voting with its feet.
Lincoln Riley Is a Virtual Lock to Succeed at USC
Nov 29, 2021
NORMAN, OK - OCTOBER 30: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners greets his players before a game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on October 30, 2021 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma won 52-21. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
The announcement was so jarring and unexpected, it didn't feel real. It couldn't be. But it took only a few hours after Lincoln Riley was officially named the next head coach at USC—leaving Oklahoma after five wildly successful years—for the potential to start to take shape.
One after the next, the Sooners' recruiting class came undone with a slew of decommitments. Given what Riley meant to that offense and that school, perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised.
Five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson, the No. 2 football player in the country according to 247Sports, quickly decommitted. Nelson stars at Los Alamitos High School, a short drive from the USC campus. That last part feels important.
"One of the things that attracted me most to OU, other than the rich history and amazing fans, was the stability in the coaching staff and their ability to develop the QB position," Nelson wrote.
That, more than anything, is why Riley has a chance to succeed in his new football home. It's why USC, a program that has been seemingly lost at sea after such a dominant run, should be incredibly optimistic about a potential revival.
Sure, the pressure will be enormous. Given how unprecedented this moment feels, anything less than massive, sustained success will be deemed a failure.
Winning won't be good enough. USC must win at the level it has once before.
It must win the Pac-12, something it has done just once since 2008.
It must make the College Football Playoff, something it has never done.
And it must win playoff games—the one achievement that has eluded Riley in recent years.
USC has the infrastructure to accomplish all those goals. It makes the recent stretch of lackluster seasons that much more perplexing. The facilities are excellent. The history is superb. The location and brand loyalty, despite the recent run, still mean something to multiple generations.
Everything is still in place for the Trojans to be a dominant force on a national level; they simply needed the right person to do it. Riley is that right person.
There's a simple reality to all of this. Winning football games at the expected level is anything but simple. But the path to get there is clearly defined.
Kirby Smart knows what it takes. The head coach of the nation's best football team has assembled a slew of incredible recruiting classes since arriving in Athens. Weeks ago, when asked about the importance of recruiting, Georgia's head coach didn't cite his dazzling philosophies or a secret sauce that helped trigger success.
"There's no coach out there that you can out-coach recruiting," Smart said. "No coaching is going to out-coach players. Anybody will tell you our defense is good because we have good players."
Imagine if Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, currently the favorite to win the Heisman, was handing the ball off to superstar Texas running back Bijan Robinson. That could've been USC's reality this past season and the one to follow.
Young, who grew up in California, fell in love with the school at a young age. Robinson, who nearly committed to the Trojans, loved watching Reggie Bush dazzle as a child. He had been intrigued by the Trojans ever since.
This pair, two of the best stars in the sport, are just the latest in a growing trend of players to stray from USC because of the program's inconsistencies. In particular, the Trojans' inability to dominate recruiting in the state of California in recent years is most troubling.
In the 2020 recruiting cycle, USC landed only two of 247Sports' top 40 players in the state of California. That is not a recipe for sustained success. Young and D.J. Uiagalelei, 5-star California QBs in the class, both left the state to begin their football careers elsewhere.
That changes now. It doesn't matter that Riley doesn't have ties to high school coaches around the state. He will.
His reputation, especially on offense, should make that seamless. He's coached two Heisman-winning quarterbacks. He's sent a wealth of skill talent to the NFL. In a short period of time, he's made an impact that will be too attractive for hungry, gifted high schoolers to turn down.
NORMAN, OK - OCTOBER 16: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners congratulates quarterback Caleb Williams #13 after a touchdown against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs in the fourth quarter at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Oklahoma's recruiting was largely excellent. At USC, if things go as they should, Riley has a chance to inject the program with an abundance of talent quickly.
He doesn't have to sell the opportunity and what his arrival means. That should sell itself just fine. Around California high schools this week and beyond, a movement will begin. And a splash this large will likely be felt well outside the state.
It doesn't hurt that Riley will inherit QB Jaxson Dart, a true freshman this season and a former 4-star recruit who has shown promise early on.
Dart committed to USC through one of its most turbulent times. Outside of Riley, who likely just secured one of the largest contracts a coach in the sport has ever been gifted, Dart might benefit more than anyone.
Having a young, gifted quarterback already on the roster is a wonderful perk for Riley, who will now look to add pieces around the player. And given new transfer rules and a suddenly robust transfer portal filled with new options, the Trojans will likely get plenty of looks from college athletes in search of change.
For Jim Harbaugh, who felt like the perfect hire for Michigan at the moment, it took seven years for a true breakthrough to occur. For Scott Frost, that breakthrough might never happen at Nebraska. We'll know soon enough. And for Steve Sarkisian, who started the year with such promise at Texas, we saw how quickly things can go sideways.
There are no slam dunks when it comes to hiring a football coach. The only guarantee is the money guaranteed in the contract Riley just inked, which is likely significant.
This is, however, the closest thing we've seen to a sure thing in some time. And not just because Riley is taking his brilliant offensive mind to Los Angeles. That will certainly help.
But because the talent and the pieces necessary for USC to win at the level it once normalized are destined to follow.
Lincoln Riley Says Leaving Oklahoma For USC Was 'Most Difficult Decision of My Life'
Nov 29, 2021
LAWRENCE, KS - OCTOBER 23: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners talks to players during warmups before taking on the Kansas Jayhawks at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on October 23, 2021 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)
Lincoln Riley addressed his decision to leave Oklahoma and become the head coach at USC, calling it "probably the most difficult decision of my life."
Riley added that he accepted the Trojans' offer "based on my willingness to go take on a new challenge, and I felt like it was the right opportunity for me and my family to do that."
USC is planning to hold a press conference Monday at 6 p.m. ET, which will potentially see Riley face pointed questions asking for more insight into his thinking.
This move isn't necessarily unparalleled, but rarely does a head coach leave what Riley had in Norman, Oklahoma, for any other position at the college level.
They won 12 games in each of Riley's first three seasons and qualified for the College Football Playoff in 2018 and 2019. Before the 38-year-old arrived, Oklahoma failed to reach 10 wins just four times in Bob Stoops' 18 years at the sideline.
While Norman isn't the biggest draw in terms of recruiting, Riley basically had everything a coach could ask for. When he said he was "not going to be the next head coach at LSU" after OU's loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday, that seemed to be the final word on the matter.
Instead, the Texas native is leaving Oklahoma behind for what is effectively a rebuilding job at USC. The Trojans stagnated under Clay Helton, and they're likely at least two years away from being a serious national power again.
The one question on everybody's mind—and surely something he will be asked about on Monday—is how much the Sooners' eventual move to SEC motivated his decision.
Perhaps Oklahoma will continue to be a perennial playoff contender when it begins playing an SEC schedule, but the road to CFP will undoubtedly be more difficult. USC provides Riley with a more clear path if he can succeed where Helton failed in terms of bringing the best in-state talent to Los Angeles.
Lincoln Riley is a genius. Don’t go to the SEC and be little brother to Alabama and Georgia. Go to the PAC 12, revive the USC Juggernaut and further cement your coaching legacy.
The Trojans might also provide more job security given how quickly things unraveled for Ed Orgeron and Dan Mullen at LSU and Florida, respectively.
That’s not even to say Riley specifically doesn’t want the SEC. I don’t know.
But the manic culture of the SEC churning through so many coaches isn't tenable long-term. Now you see coaches passing on LSU, despite it being a clear national title job.
Oklahoma is in a far better overall position, but it only needs to look to Nebraska to see how aligning with a more competitive conference and abandoning geographic rivalries can backfire in a big way.
5-Star QB Malachi Nelson Decommits from Oklahoma After Lincoln Riley Hired as USC HC
Nov 29, 2021
MISSION VIEJO, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Quarterback Malachi Nelson (7), of Los Alamitos, during a game against Santa Margarita in the first half at Saddleback College Stadium on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021 in Mission Viejo, CA. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson announced his decommitment from Oklahoma on Sunday following the news that Lincoln Riley has taken the head coaching job at USC.
Nelson, a 6'3", 180-pound quarterback out of Los Alamitos, California, said in his announcement that he's not opening up his recruitment and just wants "to see how everything transpires."
Nelson committed to Oklahoma in July. He said one of the things that impacted his decision to join the Sooners was the coaching staff and "their ability to develop the QB position."
Oklahoma has become a hot spot for 5-star quarterbacks over the last few years. Spencer Rattler entered in 2019, followed by Caleb Williams in 2021, and Nelson was the next in line for 2023. It's unclear what the future holds for the Sooners at the position.
The quarterback is the second overall recruit in the class of 2023 and the top recruit out of California, per 247Sports' composite rating. He is also the second-ranked quarterback behind Isidore Newman's Arch Manning.
In addition to Oklahoma, Nelson considered USC, Alabama, Arizona and Arizona State. It's reasonable to believe he'll reconsider joining the Trojans given Riley's hiring.
The news of Riley's shocking decision to become the next head coach at USC broke Sunday afternoon. He had been head coach of the Sooners since 2017 and compiled a 55-10 record in his five seasons at the helm. Oklahoma won the Big 12 in his first four seasons as head coach, and he also led the team to three College Football Playoff appearances.
In addition to Nelson, Oklahoma lost commitments from 2023 5-star wide receiver Brandon Inniss (No. 9 in 247Sports' composite rating) and 2023 4-star running back Treyaun Webb (No. 96 in 247Sports' composite rating) on Sunday. Inniss said he was reopening his recruitment, while Webb said his decision to decommit from Oklahoma was "due to the recent changes."
As well, 2022 5-star running back Raleek Brown told ESPN on Sunday, before Riley was announced as head coach of the Trojans, that the coach's decision would impact his recruitment.
"That changes everything," he said. "I had a good relationship with all [the Oklahoma coaches], so that will really change everything."
Like Nelson, USC was also of interest to Brown before he committed to Oklahoma, ESPN noted.
With several decommitments and other recruits likely weighing their options, Oklahoma is in for one of its biggest head coaching searches in school history, and a lot will ride on who the program selects to replace Riley.
