The coaching carousel swirled around and around for the USC Trojans’ head coaching job. This twisting, turning journey lasted for months, not mere weeks. A ton of names popped up throughout the process, and Lincoln Riley’s name was not among them the entire time.

That is, until Oklahoma lost to Oklahoma State on Saturday night, if you believe Lincoln Riley.

It was a total shock seeing Riley as the Trojans’ new head coach, and it turns out that, at least as far he saw it, the path to Los Angeles began to form Saturday night.

After the Sooners lost to the Cowboys, USC hopped on the opportunity to hire Riley and things moved very quickly, as Riley mentioned in his introductory press conference on Monday.

It sure did happen quickly, and Riley is excited to step in and get to work at USC with equal speed.

As Riley stepped up to the podium, he turned around to look at the grand and venerable L.A. Coliseum and couldn’t believe this was real.

Now, Riley gets to work right away with recruiting. It was a total shock for everybody, and the world of USC Twitter was quick to fire off some reactions. 

Lincoln Riley, new USC Trojans head football coach: That will take some getting used to for everybody. The roster might change a lot with Riley, and players who once committed to Oklahoma have already backed out.

The Trojans finish up their season with a game against Cal on Saturday, but this is Lincoln Riley time in Southern California.