College football’s allegiance to its version of the great man theory, to the idea that a single coach can prove transformative, has always been a matter of convenience. But rarely have the sport’s fickle feelings about it been so apparent as these past few days.
Lure a 38-year-old football wunderkind and crow, as Southern California did Sunday when it announced Lincoln Riley as its seventh coach since 2001, about “a testament to the strength of our brand” and a multimillion-dollar dash of gridiron hope. Lose that wunderkind and insist, as Oklahoma did upon Riley’s departure that a program that had freshly stumbled into turmoil “isn’t defined by any one individual.