ESPN Analyst Says He Wouldn’t Be Surprised If Lincoln Riley Is LSU’s Next Coach

Will Lincoln Riley be the next head coach at LSU? ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill, appearing on The Next Round, said it’s sounding more and more like the successful Oklahoma head coach could be the high-profile head coach to take the head job in Baton Rouge.

“There’s something going on at Oklahoma right now, and I would not be surprised one bit if the next LSU coach is Lincoln Riley,” Luginbill said during Tuesday’s appearance.

Riley, who is 54-9 at Oklahoma, has a contract that runs through 2025. That contract calls for an annual salary of $8.05 million this season, $7.565 million in 2022, $8.275M in ’23, $7.585M in ’24 and $7.585M in ’25.

"There's something going on at Oklahoma right now and I would not be surprised one bit if the next LSU coach is Lincoln Riley."

–@TomLuginbill just now https://t.co/qOl02dOyx3

— Ryan Brown (@RyanBrownLive) November 16, 2021

Is someone from Riley’s camp leading on Luginbill as a way to gain leverage against Oklahoma? It’s possible when you consider Ed Orgeron will make just over $9 million in 2021 before being sent packing with a $17 million buyout.

But the rumors of Riley to LSU have been swirling, and the media outlets have been hammering away. When asked last week about his absence from the team, Riley was ready to go with an answer.

“My mom text me and asked if I was okay. I promise what I was doing is way more boring than whatever rumors are out there.”

How crazy were the Lincoln Riley rumors this week? Enough for his mom to text and check up on him. #Sooners pic.twitter.com/xgcB5JVaYZ

— SportsTalk1400 (@Sportstalk1400) November 12, 2021

Your move, Luginbill. Let’s see what else you have in the rumor bin.