Riley's defection actually makes it more likely "insiders" were truthfully sharing info

Pause and actually think about it for a moment.

It is indisputable now that Riley wanted to leave OU.

There is no question he and his agent were having secret meetings during the season.

There is little doubt that he and his agent would have entertained multiple suitors to maximize leverage.

A pretty clear picture emerges: Riley talks to LSU. LSU offers. LSU thinks it will hire Riley. Information leaks to recruits and some close to the program. Dellinger flies to Bedlam to cover the story. Riley uses the LSU offer as leverage to improve the USC offer, and to give himself options. Riley chooses USC. LSU is left at the altar. Dellinger reports that Riley chose USC over LSU (not that LSU never offered).

This is a completely plausible sequence of events that accords with human conduct and a thousand similar situations in the history of coaching searches. Anything else is an illogical contortion predicated on notions of nefarious conspiracies or coincidental mass delusion.