Riley ranks low as a coach (per CBS Sports panel)

[inWV]

In a series of rankings by CBS Sports published Wednesday, NU's Mike Riley was ranked 48th out of 66 football coaches - the Power Five teams plus BYU and Notre Dame - based on a criteria of past accomplishments combined with who a four-person panel would "want coaching our team right now."

Is MR a "coaches coach" that many tried (and failed) to lure away from Corvallis? Or a middling coach past his prime who got out in front of the sheriff? Which is it?

Riley

 

[nebcountry]

I guess the media people have gotten over the deer in the headlights look that they had after the Riley hire was announced.

 

[AdaminLincoln]

Mike Riley is a coach that made Oregon State competitive with some powerhouse programs in the Pac-12. He was highly enough thought of to be hired by the Chargers and welcomed back to OSU when things didn't work out in the pros. Only time will tell if he works out at NU, but I don't believe he would be ranked at #48 after he has been at Nebraska with all the resources he has now.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Just the opinion of a handful of people at CBS. Who cares? Ask the same question over at ABC and Riley might be in the top 20. But once again, who cares? Time will tell and not the rather superficial musings of a few sport's journalists.

 

[hamneggs53]

Originally posted by Pennsyhusker:
Just the opinion of a handful of people at CBS. Who cares? Ask the same question over at ABC and Riley might be in the top 20. But once again, who cares? Time will tell and not the rather superficial musings of a few sport's journalists.

No big surprise. Riley was on nobody's radar except Eichorst's when he was hired. Anyone who feigned excitement over the hire at the time was not being genuine IMHO. Time WILL tell, but I'm not optimistic. Sorry. Prove me wrong Mike. (please)

 

[Tulsa Tom]

Who cares about these pundits? It's crazy to get overly excited either way about what a bunch of guys trying to fill air-time say.

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

So you are crazy Trollsa? Careful, mental cases like yourself doing self-evaluations can be VERY dangerous.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[Truehuskerfan]

It's pretty hard to fairly judge somebody whose only job was at a low-level Power 5 school. Any list that has Kirk Ferentz that far above him is ridiculous on its face.

 

[Bugeater]

I expect that Riley will do ok at UNL, but I figure the win loss column to be about like the past few years. If he's better than expected, it will still take a few years of solid recruiting to approach an 11 win type season. I'm wondering if he'll stay beyond his five years, or will he be content to call it a career? Time will tell.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Originally posted by hamneggs53:

Originally posted by Pennsyhusker:
Just the opinion of a handful of people at CBS. Who cares? Ask the same question over at ABC and Riley might be in the top 20. But once again, who cares? Time will tell and not the rather superficial musings of a few sport's journalists.

No big surprise. Riley was on nobody's radar except Eichorst's when he was hired. Anyone who feigned excitement over the hire at the time was not being genuine IMHO. Time WILL tell, but I'm not optimistic. Sorry. Prove me wrong Mike. (please)

Riley will kill it here an you will look stupid.

 

[huskerbux]

Originally posted by hamneggs53:

Originally posted by Pennsyhusker:
Just the opinion of a handful of people at CBS. Who cares? Ask the same question over at ABC and Riley might be in the top 20. But once again, who cares? Time will tell and not the rather superficial musings of a few sport's journalists.

No big surprise. Riley was on nobody's radar except Eichorst's when he was hired. Anyone who feigned excitement over the hire at the time was not being genuine IMHO. Time WILL tell, but I'm not optimistic. Sorry. Prove me wrong Mike. (please)

I'll give you the fact nobody was head over heels at the time of his announcement but to say he wasn't on anyone's radar is not true. Riley was a top 15 coach according to at least one publication IIRC so even though the average Joe wasn't up to speed....the guys that do this for a living had him on the radar.
Only one thing can answer the question of whether this was a good hire or not. 4-0 going into conference play will be an excellent step in the right direction!

 

[RedCap]

Well honestly, I for one was not impressed when he was announced as the new coach (primarily because his long, past W-L: record wasn't all that great). But at this point he is our coach and we'll see what his record is like at the end of next season before we can really start to judge. I hope he surprises all of us in a very good way.

I do think it is already clear that he is great at personal and media relations (huge upgrade from the previous coach in that regard obviously). But what counts in the end are the results on the field. That is NOT clear at all right now.

 

[Husker.Wed.]

He has a bully pulpit to prove these pundits wrong. If he does, good deal. If he doesn't it will be a long 5-6 years for us fans. If he doesn't work out then we will hire someone else and look forward to the future. The folks between the mid 1930s and 1960s had a long wait save for the Rose Bowl year. Nebraska football will go on, it is bigger than one coach.

 

[StretchLimousine]

We got our "nice" coach. Let's see if he can improve upon his 58.3% head coaching record. I'm behind him and rooting for him, but winning 58.3% of games at NU isn't going to cut the mustard. No mulligans, either, like Callahan was given (5-7 his first year).

 

[jeans15]

Originally posted by Husker.Wed.:

He has a bully pulpit to prove these pundits wrong. If he does, good deal. If he doesn't it will be a long 5-6 years for us fans. If he doesn't work out then we will hire someone else and look forward to the future. The folks between the mid 1930s and 1960s had a long wait save for the Rose Bowl year. Nebraska football will go on, it is bigger than one coach.

He shouldn't sniff 5 years if significant improvement isn't seen by year 2.

 

[phoenix4nu]

Originally posted by jeans15:

Originally posted by Husker.Wed.:

He has a bully pulpit to prove these pundits wrong. If he does, good deal. If he doesn't it will be a long 5-6 years for us fans. If he doesn't work out then we will hire someone else and look forward to the future. The folks between the mid 1930s and 1960s had a long wait save for the Rose Bowl year. Nebraska football will go on, it is bigger than one coach.

He shouldn't sniff 5 years if significant improvement isn't seen by year 2.

He won't be fired after year 2 unless he has a losing record or maybe a .500 record in that year. Eichorst isn't going to pull the trigger on a guy he hired that quickly unless things fall apart.

 

[swissticuffs]

Originally posted by phoenix4nu:

Originally posted by jeans15:

Originally posted by Husker.Wed.:

He has a bully pulpit to prove these pundits wrong. If he does, good deal. If he doesn't it will be a long 5-6 years for us fans. If he doesn't work out then we will hire someone else and look forward to the future. The folks between the mid 1930s and 1960s had a long wait save for the Rose Bowl year. Nebraska football will go on, it is bigger than one coach.

He shouldn't sniff 5 years if significant improvement isn't seen by year 2.

He won't be fired after year 2 unless he has a losing record or maybe a .500 record in that year. Eichorst isn't going to pull the trigger on a guy he hired that quickly unless things fall apart.

Eichorst will be heading to Wisky faster than people realize.

 

[hamneggs53]

Originally posted by litespeedhuskerfan:

Originally posted by hamneggs53:

Originally posted by Pennsyhusker:
Just the opinion of a handful of people at CBS. Who cares? Ask the same question over at ABC and Riley might be in the top 20. But once again, who cares? Time will tell and not the rather superficial musings of a few sport's journalists.

No big surprise. Riley was on nobody's radar except Eichorst's when he was hired. Anyone who feigned excitement over the hire at the time was not being genuine IMHO. Time WILL tell, but I'm not optimistic. Sorry. Prove me wrong Mike. (please)

Riley will kill it here an you will look stupid.

I hope you're right, but I think you'll be wrong.

 

[Mike402]

These lists are a dime a dozen. Last summer, Riley was listed as the 14th BEST college coach on NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/photoessays/0ap2000000360745

 

[steelclaw]

He will be up for B1G coach of the year after this season.

 

[z28craz]

IMO the thing that made Bo a failure here, will be that which makes Mike Riley a success. Bo failed because he surrounded himself with "yes" men who were below average coaches. Mike Riley has surrounded himself with above average coaches, with proven track records in many instances. The Mike Riley staff are true students of the game. They respect the game, they respect the institution, and they want to teach this game to the young men in their charge. I don't think Bo's staff taught the game. Sure they taught a scheme, but never really communicated WHY they use that scheme or got the buy in of the players for that scheme. And when it got shot to hell they had no way to adjust because they didn't know how. The Riley staff seems to have a much more holistic approach to teaching the game of football to create buy in as to why they do what they do and how to do it more efficiently and effectively. That is the essence of truely being the CEO coach and having the guts to surround yourself with people who are probably better than you are. IMO that will be the differentiating factor between failure and success.

 

[hddude55]

I'd bet on this coaching staff outcoaching the last one easily. But it remains to be seen if they have the ability to recruit at an elite level.

 

[red rover 70]

It doesn't matter because what counts is when the ball is snapped. Rings are on the way boys and girls!

 

[500mileRadius]

Originally posted by Truehuskerfan:
It's pretty hard to fairly judge somebody whose only job was at a low-level Power 5 school. Any list that has Kirk Ferentz that far above him is ridiculous on its face.

16. Bill Snyder, Kansas State: College football's lovable grandfather, Snyder is also one of the best coaches in the country. He took a Kansas State program that was nonexistent to anybody outside the state of Kansas and created a respectable power. He has only won two Big 12 titles, but he has also won at least 10 games in eight of the 16 seasons the Wildcats have been in the Big 12 (he has nine 10-win seasons in 23 years at K-State).

 

[spincity58]

The one thing Riley will bring that Bo didn't is he will win some of the big games even in a down year. When he has things rolling he will beat anyone. OSU was one win away from the Rose Bowl two years in a row and just couldn't get past Oregon, in very close games. Beat USC twice, once when they were ranked #1 and again when they were in the top five, doesn't have a problem with the big games, has sometimes lost the games you should win. Overall you should have a great few years with an exciting offense (had tow Belitnekof (sp) winners) and has the all time passing leader in the PAC 12 over Elway, Luck etc.
This post was edited on 4/3 3:49 PM by spincity58

 

[jawatkins]

Your mom ranks low as a coach.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Originally posted by spincity58:

The one thing Riley will bring that Bo didn't is he will win some of the big games even in a down year. When he has things rolling he will beat anyone. OSU was one win away from the Rose Bowl two years in a row and just couldn't get past Oregon, in very close games. Beat USC twice, once when they were ranked #1 and again when they were in the top five, doesn't have a problem with the big games, has sometimes lost the games you should win. Overall you should have a great few years with an exciting offense (had tow Belitnekof (sp) winners) and has the all time passing leader in the PAC 12 over Elway, Luck etc.

This post was edited on 4/3 3:49 PM by spincity58

You want to compare Bo to Riley this is a great way to do it. You think Bo could have beaten any of those teams with the same roster Riley had? No freaking way. Go back and look at the coaches that have been in the Pc 12 during Riley's time. Riley was always outgunned on the field, and held his own and then some. Bo wouldn't have lasted 3 season in the Pac 12 at Oregon State.

 

[Truehuskerfan]

Originally posted by 500mileRadius:

Originally posted by Truehuskerfan:
It's pretty hard to fairly judge somebody whose only job was at a low-level Power 5 school. Any list that has Kirk Ferentz that far above him is ridiculous on its face.

16. Bill Snyder, Kansas State: College football's lovable grandfather, Snyder is also one of the best coaches in the country. He took a Kansas State program that was nonexistent to anybody outside the state of Kansas and created a respectable power. He has only won two Big 12 titles, but he has also won at least 10 games in eight of the 16 seasons the Wildcats have been in the Big 12 (he has nine 10-win seasons in 23 years at K-State).

Bill Snyder is the exception, not the norm. Just because he has been able to succeed as well as he has at a low-level Power 5 school doesn't mean every other coach who coaches at one should be expected to have the same level of success.

 

[nebcountry]

Originally posted by Truehuskerfan:

Originally posted by 500mileRadius:

Originally posted by Truehuskerfan:
It's pretty hard to fairly judge somebody whose only job was at a low-level Power 5 school. Any list that has Kirk Ferentz that far above him is ridiculous on its face.

16. Bill Snyder, Kansas State: College football's lovable grandfather, Snyder is also one of the best coaches in the country. He took a Kansas State program that was nonexistent to anybody outside the state of Kansas and created a respectable power. He has only won two Big 12 titles, but he has also won at least 10 games in eight of the 16 seasons the Wildcats have been in the Big 12 (he has nine 10-win seasons in 23 years at K-State).

Bill Snyder is the exception, not the norm. Just because he has been able to succeed as well as he has at a low-level Power 5 school doesn't mean every other coach who coaches at one should be expected to have the same level of success.

We as Husker fans love to pick on Iowa and Kirk Ferentz. We just need to remember that Ferentz has had 11-win seasons at Iowa (note the plural). That's why Ferentz got that 10-year contract (at least in my opinion).

Bill Snyder is #16 on the list because he is a good coach.

As far as Riley's ranking on this list, he could have been 1st or 66th, it doesn't matter. He hasn't coached a game for NU yet.