Lincoln Riley is now the youngest head coach in Power 5 football

A quiet afternoon in the college football world was turned on its ear Wednesday when news broke that Bob Stoops was stepping down as Oklahoma head coach and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley would be taking over.

While the headline is certainly the legendary frontman stepping aside, it cannot be overlooked that Riley is now the youngest coach in the Power 5 conferences at just 33 years old.

It was only 14 years ago that Riley joined Mike Leach's staff at Texas Tech as a student assistant. After seven seasons with the program, he moved to East Carolina where he served as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. A successful five-year run with the Pirates saw him take the Oklahoma OC position, and after two years he's now in charge of one of the biggest programs in the country.

Stoops brought a defensive mentality to Oklahoma when he took over prior to the 1999 season, but Riley's calling card is an explosive offense. That has been on full display with his exceptional work with star quarterback Baker Mayfield the past two seasons. With the Heisman finalist back for one more campaign, expect the offense to be firing on all cylinders during the 2017 schedule.

There will certainly be questions regarding Riley's ability to lead a football program the size of Oklahoma with no previous head coaching experience. While those concerns may be valid, learning under Stoops the past two seasons is as good a training situation as there is in the country.

Stoops was just 39 years old when he made the move from defensive coordinator at Florida to Oklahoma, and that move immediately paid off with a national championship in his second season as head coach.

Expecting that type of result out of Riley is certainly a stretch, but his past results suggest he's certainly capable of keeping Oklahoma among the nation's elite without Stoops at the helm.