I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Riley yet. In my opinion, he inherited a bit of a dumpster fire in regards to the "us versus them" mentality that the previous staff instilled in the team. It's also pretty obvious that there were huge recruiting problems (how does a BCS team ever have only 4 scholarship linebackers?). Having said that, I have been disappointed in the results thus far. Although we could be 5-0 or 4-1, we're not, and Illinois had no business beating us given the turmoil their program has been undergoing in the last couple months.
If Riley doesn't get this turned around in the next few years (again, he needs to be given time), I think that our brand will be further diminished and hiring a big name coach is going to be even more difficult. Let's be honest, it was already difficult when Osborne hired Pelini and when Eichorst hired Riley. If the Urban Meyers or Nick Sabans of the coaching world showed real interest in coming here, don't you think we would have hired them? Maybe I'm naïve on that point. Also, regardless of what some want to say, there are some real challenges that we face in recruiting that other top 10 all time programs do not. Are those insurmountable? Absolutely not, but they are challenges that I'm sure top tier coaches seriously consider when they are looking at the job.
Ultimately, I think that if Riley does not succeed we are going to have to go the way of Oklahoma when they hired Stoops and find a diamond in the rough who has never had a significant head coaching position before. Will that be Frost? Who knows, but I don't think that we will be able to hire a proven, top tier coach given our recent history and the diminishing of our brand.
If Riley doesn't get this turned around in the next few years (again, he needs to be given time), I think that our brand will be further diminished and hiring a big name coach is going to be even more difficult. Let's be honest, it was already difficult when Osborne hired Pelini and when Eichorst hired Riley. If the Urban Meyers or Nick Sabans of the coaching world showed real interest in coming here, don't you think we would have hired them? Maybe I'm naïve on that point. Also, regardless of what some want to say, there are some real challenges that we face in recruiting that other top 10 all time programs do not. Are those insurmountable? Absolutely not, but they are challenges that I'm sure top tier coaches seriously consider when they are looking at the job.
Ultimately, I think that if Riley does not succeed we are going to have to go the way of Oklahoma when they hired Stoops and find a diamond in the rough who has never had a significant head coaching position before. Will that be Frost? Who knows, but I don't think that we will be able to hire a proven, top tier coach given our recent history and the diminishing of our brand.
