Lincoln Riley bolting Oklahoma makes sense — unless it’s about money
Former Oklahoma football coach Lincoln Riley is leaving Norman, Okla. for sunshine and fertile recruiting grounds in Southern California.
The move has sent shockwaves across the college football landscape, leaving the Sooners scrambling to find a new coach to lead their program into the final years of their Big 12 membership and into a new era once they move to the SEC.
Riley will likely have an easier path to a potential college football playoff berth from the Pac-12 than he will once Oklahoma is part of the SEC. Who can blame him for that — why work harder when you can work smarter?
Riley also has a nice recruiting base in California, having secured 5-star QB, Malachi Nelson, from Los Alamitos, Calif., and two 4-star wideouts from Los Alamitos (DeAndre Moore, Jr. and Makai Lemon), plus 4-star running back Raleek Brown from Santa Ana, Calif., according to ESPN.
The new USC coach is set to revive a program that’s never really been quite the same since Pete Carroll left after 2009. The Trojans have won 10 or more games just four times since Carroll left to become head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
Why former Oklahoma Football coach Lincoln Riley’s move to USC will cost him a fortune
To make this move to USC, Riley is going to be taking a massive financial hit. We all know things are more expensive in Southern California than they are in Norman, Okla. But, exactly how much are we talking?
A home with 6,300 square feet and 5 bed, 6 bath is listed for sale on Zillow at $8.5 million in West Hollywood. It’s about 11 miles from the USC campus.
Based on 2020 taxes for a person filing “married” in California with a salary of $7 million, Riley would expect to pay around $3.56 million combined in state and federal taxes, according to Smart Asset’s tax calculator.
Meanwhile, a home with 6,100 square feet and 5 beds, 5 baths is listed for sale on Zillow at $900,000 in Norman. It’s about 5 miles from the Oklahoma campus.
Based on 2020 taxes for a person filing “married” in Oklahoma with a salary of $7 million, Riley would expect to pay around $3 million in taxes, according to Smart Asset.
So, to recap, Riley would have to spend around $7.5 million more for a comparable house and more than half a million dollars more in taxes each year by making this move. He’ll be spending millions more in taxes by the time his new contract with Southern Cal is up.
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Riley must be using some sort of mantra to rationalize such a massive expenditure—look good, feel good. Feel good, coach well. Coach good, get paid good.
He’s going to need it.