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Oklahoma is so angry over Lincoln Riley it might rename a highway after him

There are messy break-ups, and there's what happens when a coach abruptly leaves Oklahoma for USC.

Criticism of Lincoln Riley has been coming in from all corners of Oklahoma and beyond since he made the decision to leave the Sooners for a shot at reviving the Pac-12's premier program. Sooners fans, simply put, feel wronged.

That includes at least one in the state legislature. Oklahoma state senator Bill Coleman reacted to Riley's exit by requesting legislation that will turn 3 inches of the westbound lane on Oklahoma's State Highway 325 into the "Lincoln Riley Highway" as a way to "properly honor" the coach.

Coleman described the stretch as "the tiniest section of our most desolate of highways."

Here's what that stretch of highway, which leads into New Mexico, currently looks like, via Google Street View:

A screengrab of Oklahoma State Highway 325 on Google Street View.
A screengrab of Oklahoma State Highway 325 on Google Street View.

The press release says Coleman would pay for any signage for the project. The requested bill could reportedly become law during the legislature's next session, which convenes Feb. 7.

Coleman's reasoning for the highway renaming also included a lament of Riley's supposed lack of "professionalism," an interesting complaint to make when you are a state legislator calling for 3 inches of a highway to be renamed after a football coach you don't like.

"While we are all free to pursue employment elsewhere, there is a level of professionalism that is expected to be adhered to," Coleman said. "From all indications, professionalism was pretty much absent in how this departure was executed."

Oklahoma has already hired Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who previously held the same job with the Sooners, as its next head coach, but it's looking like the name "Lincoln Riley" is going to be on the minds of the program's fans for years to come.