By GLENN GUILBEAU
Tiger Rag Editor
LAS VEGAS – Late on the night of Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021, and early into the next morning, Lincoln Riley could have left his Oklahoma head coaching job for LSU, some very close to LSU believe.
“There was already a release written about Riley accepting the LSU job,” an LSU-related source said this week.
In the end, Riley, then 38, was not as interested in LSU in Baton Rouge near Denham Springs as much as he was in USC in Los Angeles near Hollywood, and took the USC job over that weekend. The story broke on that Sunday, Nov. 28.
LSU Hired Brian Kelly After USC Nabbed Lincoln Riley
And on the next Monday, news broke that Brian Kelly, then 59, was leaving Notre Dame for LSU. Both coaches begin their third seasons at USC and LSU, respectively, tonight when No. 23 USC plays No. 13 LSU (6:30 p.m. central, ABC) at Allegiant Stadium here.
“No, I’m not going to be the next head coach at LSU,” Riley said after Oklahoma lost, 37-33, at Oklahoma State on that Saturday night, Nov. 27, 2021.
Earlier that day, though, rumors were flying that Riley was LSU bound. So much so that the LSU athletic department’s then-director of strategic communications Cody Worsham contacted one of his highest superiors in the athletic department.
“I remember that Saturday game LSU was playing,” Worsham said on Tiger Rag radio this week of LSU’s 27-24 win over Texas A&M in Tiger Stadium in 2021, at the same time Oklahoma was losing to Oklahoma State.
“And Twitter was going wild with Lincoln Riley being the next coach (at LSU),” Worsham said. “And I remember sending a text at the time and saying, ‘Hey, do we need to start getting something ready?’ And I got no response. So, I figured it probably wasn’t the most substantial rumor.”
Could Cody Worsham Be LSU’s Next AD?
Or, perhaps, Worsham was not “substantial” enough at the time to be in the clandestine search loop? Worsham soon moved up to assistant athletic director and chief brand officer at LSU and later became an associate athletic director in 2022 before spearheading LSU’s successful Heisman Trophy marketing plan for quarterback Jayden Daniels in 2023. USC, ironically, then hired the fast rising Worsham last May to be its senior associate athletic director for brand advancement.
Some view Worsham now as substantial enough to possibly replace LSU athletic director Scott Woodward, 61, eventually decides to retire.
“It’s what makes Scott Woodward one of the best athletic directors in the country, if not the best athletic director in the country,” Worsham said of LSU’s quiet head coaching search in 2021. “That thing never got out – even internally. We didn’t know where it was going. They kept it close to the vest and ran a really professional search and got a great coach in Brian Kelly. They kept that thing tight.”
Scott Woodward Had Targeted Brian Kelly Earlier
Woodward did not just jump on Kelly when Riley showed no interest in LSU, though. He had been very interested in Kelly as early as late October and early November, Lee Brecheen of Louisiana Football Magazine reported.
Still, Riley was an extremely hot and much younger candidate than Kelly in 2021, and it is hard to believe that Woodward did not show interest. Maybe Woodward was turned away before he could even show much interest in Riley to Riley, much like then-Houston coach Tom Herman dissed then-LSU athletic director Joe Alleva in 2016 and took the Texas job instead.
Riley guided the Sooners to three straight College Football Playoff appearances from 2017-19 with a 36-6 overall record over that span and 24-3 mark in the Big 12. He followed that with 9-2 and 6-2 and 10-2 and 7-2 seasons in 2020 and ’21.
“I remember there being a lot of excitement about Lincoln Riley, and rightfully so,” Worsham said. “He’s one of the best offensive minds in college football – scored a bunch of points at Oklahoma. Brian Kelly, he’s talked of LSU being his last stop. He’s in his 60s. Lincoln is just getting going. His future is super bright.”
Riley would have also been the first passing and progressive offensive coordinator to ever be made head coach at LSU. Les Miles and Gerry DiNardo had offensive coordinator titles at Oklahoma State and Colorado, respectively, but they were still run-hungry, glorified offensive line coaches.
LSU executive deputy director of athletics Verge Ausberry denied any strong interest in Riley from LSU in 2021.
“He (Lincoln Riley) never was communicated with from any of us,” Ausberry told Tiger Rag on Sunday morning after arriving in Las Vegas for the game.
Asked if LSU’s people contacted Riley’s people (agents) or if there was other communication in back channels, Ausberry said, “Nope.”
We may have to wait for the book to come out. Perhaps that of Cody Worsham, who was an award winning writer and editor of Tiger Rag from 2015-18 before becoming a digital media reporter in LSU’s athletic department in 2018 and later rocketing to associate athletic director stardom.
“I’ll always be a Tiger at heart,” said Worsham, who graduated from LSU and met his wife Claire at LSU. “It’s where my kids grew up going to LSU games and gymnastics meets. When I left, I wrote, ‘Forever LSU,” on a note. It’s ‘Forever LSU’ always. I’ll be obviously a bit torn up from the inside during the game, seeing two places I care about going after it. USC is home for now.”
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