Muleshoe, Texas’ Favorite Son, Lincoln Riley, Buys a $17.2M LA Mansion

It’s a long way from Muleshoe, Texas, to the Los Angeles coastline.

But that’s the journey for Lincoln Riley, the new University of Southern California football coach who just bought a spacious mansion south of LA, in Palo Verdes Estates.

Dirt.com, a real estate website, dug up property records to show that Riley, the pride of the West Texas town of Muleshoe, and his wife paid $17.2 million for the 13,023-square-foot house on the Palo Verdes Peninsula. The seller knocked $2.4 million off the original $19.5 million asking price, Dirt.com found out.

Why should we care?

Riley, 38, caused a lot of anguish among University of Oklahoma football fans — and the Dallas-Fort Worth area has plenty of alums — for leaving Norman for the brighter lights of LA. It was the talk of college football-crazy Texas in the winter.

Riley can afford the place, even on a coach’s salary. Last year, he signed a reported $110 million contract with USC.

The new Casa Riley is a historic Spanish Revival-style residence built on a 3.17-acre bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It has seven bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. Dirt.com has a detailed view here.

Palo Verdes Estates has a population of 13,434 (2019 Census), and celebs like Rod Stewart, Liza Minelli, George Takei, and Joe Montana have bought homes there.

The locals, who trend older anyway with an average age of 47, might think of their new neighbors in a Beverly Hillbillies sense.

Riley has coached in Lubbock, Greenville, N.C., and Norman, Okla., before striking coaching gold and — in the inspiring words of the Beverly Hillbillies theme — move to Californy. Swimming pools, movie stars.

It’s a big move. In contrast, Muleshoe has a city budget of $3.4 million and only five Zillow listings.
So yeah, it’s a long way from Muleshoe to LA.