Lincoln Riley: on quarterbacks

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley talks about the Sooners' options for taking a transfer quarterback in 2020, and describes how Mike Leach used to pick a quarterback at Texas Tech.

John E. Hoover|

Lincoln Riley has had incredible success coaching Oklahoma's quarterbacks.

All three - Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts - came to OU as a transfer.

Going into this spring, the Sooners have just two scholarship quarterbacks: third-year sophomore Tanner Mordecai and redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler. Neither was a transfer.

Did Riley get any calls from quarterbacks who wanted to transfer in?

Also, with the competition wide open between Mordecai and Rattler, Riley doesn't have an established timetable for naming a starter.

Could he follow the philosophies of his old boss at Texas Tech - Mike Leach - in determining when to name a starting QB?

Published Mar 11, 2020

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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