A Little about Mike Riley from an Outsider:
I was born in California and raised throughout the West Coast, where I met my wife (a Nebraska grad), who eventually dragged me to the Midwest to raise a family.
I am familiar with Mike Riley for 3 reasons: 1) I’m a lifetime PAC10 fan, 2) my wife is an avid Husker fan, which makes me a fan, 3) a conversation I had with Mike Bellotti circa 2011 at a fund-raiser. (and a Mike Riley handshake in a hotel lobby in 2005)
Having lived in the PAC10 footprint most of my life, I knew of and always found Mike Riley intriguing, but my knowledge of Riley only really increased both after my conversation with Bolletti and again when he was named head coach of Nebraska
For those that don’t know Mike Bellotti, he is Oregon’s winningest Head coach of all-time, mentor to Chip Kelly and Chris Peterson, and coached directly against Mike Riley in 97/98 and again from 2003-2009. Upon meeting Bellotti, short on time, I awkwardly asked – “who is the greatest coach you ever coached against?”. While he did not answer my question directly, he did offer up the following 2 nuggets: 1) that he knew of nobody that could do more with less than Mike Riley, and 2) that he felt Riley would have been a national household name and won a national championship if he would have been willing to leave his home state of Oregon earlier in his career.
Why was Bellotti so easy with his praise of Riley that day? I think to understand, one has to dig a little deeper……
The common refrain I hear from Husker fans when I am out w/ my wife watching a Nebraska game goes something like this: “Riley is just a mediocre 500 coach who has never won a thing”. Does that represent the majority of what people think? Like a rushed national writer trying to hit a deadline, does the average Nebraska fan do a 10 second google search of his record at Oregon State, draw a conclusion, and then call it a day?
How many people know that at the age of 24, Riley became the defensive coordinator of Linfield College and over the next 6 years coached them to a 52-7-1 record, 5 conferences titles and a NAIA National Championship at the age of 29.
How many people know that at the age of 33, Mike Riley become the 2nd youngest head coach in the 75 year history of the Canadian Football League (the legendary Bud Grant being the youngest), and in his very first season became the youngest coach to ever win the Grey Cup, only to turn around and do it again 2 years later at the age of 35.
How many people know that at the age of 38, USC hired Mike Riley to be QB/Assistant Head Coach and then immediately won 2 Pac10 titles, with QB Rob Johnson braking numerous NCAA QB records.
My favorite: How many people know that in 1997, Mike Riley inherited a Jerry Pettibone wishbone triple threat Oregon State football team (the undisputed 30yr doormat of college football, Avg 2 wins a season). In his first year he installed a pro-style offense. By year 2 he came within 1 point (twice) of breaking a streak of 27 consecutive losing seasons. By year 4 (having handed the team over to Dennis Erickson in Year 3), Oregon State won the PAC10 title, the Fiesta Bowl, and finished the season ranked 4th in the country. To this day, Erickson credits Mike Riley for laying the foundation for that miraculous season.
How many people know that upon his return from the NFL to Oregon State in 2003, with the worst talent (per recruiting services), facilities and resources in the PAC10, that over the next 7 seasons, the only 2 teams that had a better conference record were USC (Carroll) and Oregon (Bellotti). - the same record as Cal, and significantly better than Arizona, ASU, Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Washington State.
How many people know that over those 7 seasons only 3 PAC10 coaches retained their jobs: Pete Carrol, Mike Riley and Tedford, and that Oregon State went 5-1 in bowl games.
How many people know that the following are Oregon State’s football winning % before, during and after Mike Riley was head-coach:
- Before / Doormat of College Football: 19% winning percent (2 wins/year)
- During / 2003-09: 64% winning percent
- During / 2010-14: 47% winning percent (see below)
- After / Gary Anderson Era: 24% winning percent
How many people know that he has been named, NAIA assistant coach of the year, Pac10 assistant coach of the year, Pac10 Coach of the year, CFL Coach of the year (twice), and in 2014 his Power 5 head coaching peers voted him the most underrated coach in College Football?
So that leaves just 2 relatively short periods of his 40 year coaching career where Riley saw limited or no success:
Three unsuccessful years in the NFL (think Saban, Spurrier, Holtz, Petrino, Chip Kelly, etc.) and five very average years (2010-14) at Oregon State where he went 0-10 against Oregon and Stanford (think Phil Knight-Oregon/John Arrillaga-Stanford $150+ million arms race) but a respectable 29-23 against rest of PAC10 (again with the least amount of talent). This widening un-level playing field was ultimately a key factor in him leaving OSU and coming to Nebraska.
Except for the NFL, Mike Riley has had an immediate and positive impact that resulted in either championships or significantly higher performance at every step of his career (NAIA, CFL, USC, and Oregon State twice). Every place he went got significantly better, every place he left got significantly worse.
As an outsider, who admittedly is not quite as emotionally attached as you all, my only thought about the situation is pretty simple. Based on Riley’s past, I think the odds are significantly greater of winning a BIG10 Title sooner if you stick with Riley, rather than blowing it up and starting all over again. (lest we forget in year 2 he came within one play on the road of winning the BIG10 West with an” island of misfit toys” and a dumbed-down modified scheme).
Mike Riley has overachieved in almost every endeavor he has ever undertaken. If given the right amount of time, Riley will win at Nebraska and win consistently. If Riley can win 2 state championships (player), a NCAA football national championship (player), an NAIA championship (coach), two Canadian Football League Championships (coach), and two PAC10 championships (assistant head coach), and nearly win a PAC10 championship as a head coach with lesser talent (imagine Illinois), then he will win a BIG10 Championship with Nebraska’s resources.
There are many more Riley stories (his association w/ Tom Brady, Bear Bryant, Major Ogilvie, etc..) but let me leave you with one last thought.
How many people know that Mike Riley has coached in College football for 38 years, (held numerous positions, turned down numerous positions) and not once in those 38 years, not a single time, has he ever been fired. I guess there’s always a first time for everything though. Be careful what you wish for.
Go Big Red!
I was born in California and raised throughout the West Coast, where I met my wife (a Nebraska grad), who eventually dragged me to the Midwest to raise a family.
I am familiar with Mike Riley for 3 reasons: 1) I’m a lifetime PAC10 fan, 2) my wife is an avid Husker fan, which makes me a fan, 3) a conversation I had with Mike Bellotti circa 2011 at a fund-raiser. (and a Mike Riley handshake in a hotel lobby in 2005)
Having lived in the PAC10 footprint most of my life, I knew of and always found Mike Riley intriguing, but my knowledge of Riley only really increased both after my conversation with Bolletti and again when he was named head coach of Nebraska
For those that don’t know Mike Bellotti, he is Oregon’s winningest Head coach of all-time, mentor to Chip Kelly and Chris Peterson, and coached directly against Mike Riley in 97/98 and again from 2003-2009. Upon meeting Bellotti, short on time, I awkwardly asked – “who is the greatest coach you ever coached against?”. While he did not answer my question directly, he did offer up the following 2 nuggets: 1) that he knew of nobody that could do more with less than Mike Riley, and 2) that he felt Riley would have been a national household name and won a national championship if he would have been willing to leave his home state of Oregon earlier in his career.
Why was Bellotti so easy with his praise of Riley that day? I think to understand, one has to dig a little deeper……
The common refrain I hear from Husker fans when I am out w/ my wife watching a Nebraska game goes something like this: “Riley is just a mediocre 500 coach who has never won a thing”. Does that represent the majority of what people think? Like a rushed national writer trying to hit a deadline, does the average Nebraska fan do a 10 second google search of his record at Oregon State, draw a conclusion, and then call it a day?
How many people know that at the age of 24, Riley became the defensive coordinator of Linfield College and over the next 6 years coached them to a 52-7-1 record, 5 conferences titles and a NAIA National Championship at the age of 29.
How many people know that at the age of 33, Mike Riley become the 2nd youngest head coach in the 75 year history of the Canadian Football League (the legendary Bud Grant being the youngest), and in his very first season became the youngest coach to ever win the Grey Cup, only to turn around and do it again 2 years later at the age of 35.
How many people know that at the age of 38, USC hired Mike Riley to be QB/Assistant Head Coach and then immediately won 2 Pac10 titles, with QB Rob Johnson braking numerous NCAA QB records.
My favorite: How many people know that in 1997, Mike Riley inherited a Jerry Pettibone wishbone triple threat Oregon State football team (the undisputed 30yr doormat of college football, Avg 2 wins a season). In his first year he installed a pro-style offense. By year 2 he came within 1 point (twice) of breaking a streak of 27 consecutive losing seasons. By year 4 (having handed the team over to Dennis Erickson in Year 3), Oregon State won the PAC10 title, the Fiesta Bowl, and finished the season ranked 4th in the country. To this day, Erickson credits Mike Riley for laying the foundation for that miraculous season.
How many people know that upon his return from the NFL to Oregon State in 2003, with the worst talent (per recruiting services), facilities and resources in the PAC10, that over the next 7 seasons, the only 2 teams that had a better conference record were USC (Carroll) and Oregon (Bellotti). - the same record as Cal, and significantly better than Arizona, ASU, Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Washington State.
How many people know that over those 7 seasons only 3 PAC10 coaches retained their jobs: Pete Carrol, Mike Riley and Tedford, and that Oregon State went 5-1 in bowl games.
How many people know that the following are Oregon State’s football winning % before, during and after Mike Riley was head-coach:
- Before / Doormat of College Football: 19% winning percent (2 wins/year)
- During / 2003-09: 64% winning percent
- During / 2010-14: 47% winning percent (see below)
- After / Gary Anderson Era: 24% winning percent
How many people know that he has been named, NAIA assistant coach of the year, Pac10 assistant coach of the year, Pac10 Coach of the year, CFL Coach of the year (twice), and in 2014 his Power 5 head coaching peers voted him the most underrated coach in College Football?
So that leaves just 2 relatively short periods of his 40 year coaching career where Riley saw limited or no success:
Three unsuccessful years in the NFL (think Saban, Spurrier, Holtz, Petrino, Chip Kelly, etc.) and five very average years (2010-14) at Oregon State where he went 0-10 against Oregon and Stanford (think Phil Knight-Oregon/John Arrillaga-Stanford $150+ million arms race) but a respectable 29-23 against rest of PAC10 (again with the least amount of talent). This widening un-level playing field was ultimately a key factor in him leaving OSU and coming to Nebraska.
Except for the NFL, Mike Riley has had an immediate and positive impact that resulted in either championships or significantly higher performance at every step of his career (NAIA, CFL, USC, and Oregon State twice). Every place he went got significantly better, every place he left got significantly worse.
As an outsider, who admittedly is not quite as emotionally attached as you all, my only thought about the situation is pretty simple. Based on Riley’s past, I think the odds are significantly greater of winning a BIG10 Title sooner if you stick with Riley, rather than blowing it up and starting all over again. (lest we forget in year 2 he came within one play on the road of winning the BIG10 West with an” island of misfit toys” and a dumbed-down modified scheme).
Mike Riley has overachieved in almost every endeavor he has ever undertaken. If given the right amount of time, Riley will win at Nebraska and win consistently. If Riley can win 2 state championships (player), a NCAA football national championship (player), an NAIA championship (coach), two Canadian Football League Championships (coach), and two PAC10 championships (assistant head coach), and nearly win a PAC10 championship as a head coach with lesser talent (imagine Illinois), then he will win a BIG10 Championship with Nebraska’s resources.
There are many more Riley stories (his association w/ Tom Brady, Bear Bryant, Major Ogilvie, etc..) but let me leave you with one last thought.
How many people know that Mike Riley has coached in College football for 38 years, (held numerous positions, turned down numerous positions) and not once in those 38 years, not a single time, has he ever been fired. I guess there’s always a first time for everything though. Be careful what you wish for.
Go Big Red!
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