Lincoln Riley, the former head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners and current head coach of the USC Trojans, faced significant setbacks this week with the departure of two key defensive commitments. First, five-star EDGE Isaiah Gibson retracted his commitment from USC on Tuesday. Gibson, recognized as the top edge-rusher in the 2025 recruiting class by On3, had initially committed to Riley and defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn in March.
Wednesday brought further disappointment for Riley as Gibson expressed his reasons for decommitting, stating, “I’m looking for a real deal football program that fits me.” This sentiment is not what any program wants to hear after a player withdraws their commitment.
The Trojans continued to be affected as five-star defensive lineman Justus Terry also decommitted on Wednesday. On3 ranks Terry as the second-best defensive lineman in the class of 2025. Like Gibson, Terry had committed to Riley and Lynn back in March.
When Riley departed in late 2021, Venables was brought in to address this issue, aiming to restore Oklahoma’s traditional identity. While Venables is still in the process of achieving this goal, he has adopted a more comprehensive approach to team building.
Venables has experienced setbacks; Oklahoma missed out on recruits like David Hicks and Williams Nwaneri. Nonetheless, recent successes such as securing Damonic Williams through the transfer portal and signing David Stone and Jayden Jackson in the 2024 recruiting class have been significant achievements for his staff. These are strategic moves that Riley may not have pursued.
Additionally, Venables’ policy requiring committed players to cease all recruitment activities has sparked controversy but is proving successful at OU, despite initial skepticism when he implemented it from his tenure under Dabo Swinney.
