NORMAN, Okla. — Lincoln Riley sweeps his hand across his field of vision to acknowledge that the place where he speaks the next few sentences might make those sentences seem ironic. He walks through a hallway in Oklahoma’s slick new football complex. Beneath strategically dim crimson and cream lights are reminders of one of the nation’s richest football histories. Trophies, photos, jerseys and other memorabilia connect Bud Wilkinson to Barry Switzer to Bob Stoops to Riley himself.
“You want all these guys to know about the history here, because the history here is as good or better than anywhere,” Riley begins.