NORMAN — Lincoln Riley laughed off the question, perhaps to not appear complacent. He had been asked about ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit calling him the best offensive coach in college football.
“It’s, what does Saban say? Rat poison? That’s a nice compliment,” Riley said.
That was Sept. 3, 2018.
One year later to the exact Sept. 3 date, “rat poison” was repeated in Norman due to a sequence of decisions few could have anticipated. The phrase was voiced from the same podium Riley stood behind a year earlier, in the same room on the east side of OU’s stadium.