LOS ANGELES — Through two decades of friendship, Dennis Simmons felt he had a pretty good beat on Lincoln Riley. They met at Texas Tech when Riley was 19 and transitioning from quarterback to coach-in-training, supported each other through weddings and the early stages of fatherhood, and, after Riley took over for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, he eventually named Simmons his associate head coach.
And yet, Simmons was not remotely prepared for the phone call he got from Riley on a Sunday in late November, just hours after the Sooners lost to in-state rival Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
“Not gonna lie, extremely shocked,” Simmons said.
