One didn’t lie, but didn’t tell the whole truth. The other didn’t say much at all.

Lincoln Riley sat at his post-game presser last Saturday night after falling to in-state rival Oklahoma State. For the first time since 2015, his Sooners weren’t going finish atop the Big 12. Their College Football Playoff hopes had been dashed.

When asked, Riley was short and sweet. He was not going to be the next to lead LSU.

Honestly, why would he have left?

He took the reins in Norman in 2017 and raised an already powerful program’s standards. Two of his triggermen—Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray—won the Heisman Trophy and were drafted into the pros first overall. His teams made three trips in a row to the CFP semifinals.

Yet, he didn’t mention anything to the media about the possibility of bolting for Southern Cal. Nobody thought to ask, after all. The very next day, he jilted Oklahoma for the sun and palm trees, becoming the first Sooners head coach to depart for another college gig since 1947.

With OU set to join the Southeastern Conference in the near future, Riley stepped onto what figures to be the path of least resistance. Who can blame him for not wanting to bump into Nick Saban or Kirby Smart every regular season, especially considering his hiring at USC might just be enough to wake a dozing colossus?

The Trojans won 34 consecutive contests from 2003-05. They’ve only been crowned conference champions once in the past dozen seasons.

As for another household program, Brian Kelly unpredictably ditched Notre Dame for the post that Riley told reporters he wouldn’t be taking, all while the Fighting Irish’s postseason fate is still yet to be decided.

In trading in a gold helmet for the purple and yellow, the winningest coach that South Bend has ever known made it clear that he didn’t really believe the fabled program could win a national title in the sport’s current climate.

Kelly is entitled to move on to what he sees as greener pastures but — whatever his reason for leaving — he could have given his players more than a text and a ten-minute speech the next morning.

Making it even more whacky was Kelly’s introduction at a men’s basketball game to part of the LSU fanbase, where he inexplicably took on a southern accent.

Crazy times in college football, I tell you.

Brendan Howe is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.