Mike Riley to Nebraska

[Screw_Michigan]

Bwahah. Mike Riley???? Looks like Schmick was right. Will mvscunt come clean now?

[At Large]

I've often admired Oregon State's playing style, so I'm very pleased with this hire. People are looking at his WL record and moaning, but the guy wasn't even making 1mil per year, which means assistants were making crap. If you guys think NU is hard to recruit to, compared to OSU, NU is way easier with the facilities and the commitment to success.

[WolverineSteve]

Wow. It might be a solid hire, but does anyone else think it was a quick process?

Michigan is on the clock.

[mvscal]

...but does anyone else think it was a quick process?

I think it was understood locally anyway that Eichorst had somebody lined up and that it would be a quick hire. I don't think anybody had Riley in mind, though. Lots of head scratching going on in the office today.

[WolverineSteve]

Does Hoke get a call from CSU or Oregon St?

[Left Seater]

Interesting hire. Dude will certainly make a bit more coin.

Dude is a pretty good recruiter. He has 19 former players in the NFL right now. I actually met him on three different occasions, twice when he was in the Houston Area recruiting at games I was doing play by play on the radio. Have an old halftime interview somewhere as well. Then I shook his hand and got a tour of his office and the football facility when I was up there for the USC vs OSU game. He prolly rolled out the red carpet for me because he was doing everything he could to keep recruiting the greater Houston Area.

That said, none if it means he will be successful at NU. Only time will tell that.

[Killian]

I would be surprised if Waller ended up playing QB at Oregon.

[At Large]

I've often admired Oregon State's playing style, so I'm very pleased with this hire. People are looking at his WL record and moaning, but the guy wasn't even making 1mil per year, which means assistants were making crap. If you guys think NU is hard to recruit to, compared to OSU, NU is way easier with the facilities and the commitment to success.

Ore State is easier to recruit kids from California to because those kids will get to play in California a couple times a year

So Cal has about 12 of the top 15 QBs in the nation in this years recruiting class, USC and UCLA cant keep all of them, Riley has been good at developing QBs and has connections to California players. Plus he will no longer be in Nike's shadow

Ore st is easier to recruit kids from California because they can play in California? Is that a good pitch? "Come to Oregon State! You can play in California!"

Some NU fans can't look past his record and see the bigger picture. I'm excited to get a coach that seems to be far away from the headcase Pelini is. I doubt we'll see the sideline antics we've come to expect from Bo. Plus he's actually recorded some big win against top 5 teams, unlike Bo.

[matteric]

Children of the Corn, get use to some bizarre losses to Prarie View.

[matteric]

...and then follow it up with a top 10 win.

[Dinsdale]

Well, that kind of blew me away this morning.

I think OSU is thanking Nebraska, bigtime -- the "boosters" (not that OSU has many) have been calling for his head, since he appeared to be burned out, but his ridiculous contract (traded money for long term job security) made it just about impossible to buy out with their available resources.

Frankly, he's a shitty recruiter. He'd better get some very good recruiting assistants. But where he excels is in player development, particularly QBs (and always produces some good DBs, too). But now, instead of developing 2-star guys (if he's lucky), he's going to be training Nebraska-quality talent.

Cornfan should remember that he took THE worst program in D1, and made them an occasional winner (made a BCS bowl, which I'm sure ND fan remembers... then again, that was with Erikson's thugs... though Riley isn't above recruiting thugs). In a big-boy conference, at a school that cares little about football (or at least doesn't put much into it), playing .500 ball was a pretty good achievement.

Just a matter of whether the old guy (into his 60's) can find the fire of his younger days. Remember, this guy turned down jobs at USC and Bama to stay in his hometown, and if the fanbase/boosters hadn't have turned on him, I'm sure he would have stayed.

Going to be interesting to see what he can do at a school with some real football resources.

And now the hunt for a new OSU coach begins -- Nick Alioti's name has already been thrown around (he was just on the radio, and said if they call, he'd be interested). It's not like they're willing to pay anyone anywhere near the going rate (but maybe more open to it now, what with the TV money pouring in), so we'll see what they can come up with. Watch them go with Nigel Burton, who just got fired by Portland State (I thought dude was pretty good, but PSU is the very definition of a "shitty football school" -- fuckers focus on academics, or something stupid like that).

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Apparently Bielema was their Plan A guy but he shot them down, so they settled on Riley. I like Nebraska's plan at least. I said the other day that I think they should move to more of a pro-style philosophy.

So much of coaching is about cultural fit. If Riley fits in Lincoln, gets what he needs and has support of his administration, he'll be fine.

But my question is this. Pelini was fired because he couldn't win the "big game" (0 conference championships). How long will Riley be given to win a ccg then? Two years? Three years? Four years?

[Dinsdale]

In addition to Alioti, rumor around here has it (like same day "rumors" are worth a shit) that the replacement OSU has their eye on is none other than former OSU assistant...

Brady Hoke.

Way to aim high, Beavs.

They'll go with whoever will take the job for cheap, is my prediction.

[mvscal]

So much of coaching is about cultural fit. If Riley fits in Lincoln, gets what he needs and has support of his administration, he'll be fine.

I think he'll fit in quite well. He's a likable and easy going guy. Even when he was canned from the Chargers gig, nobody had anything bad to say about him personally. If anything he's too laid back. Eichorst was saying that he wanted a teacher not a screamer or words to that effect. Riley fits the bill and brings a more pro-style offense which will make NU a more attractive destination.

But my question is this. Pelini was fired because he couldn't win the "big game" (0 conference championships). How long will Riley be given to win a ccg then? Two years? Three years? Four years?

Pelini was fired because he couldn't win the "big game" and he's a raging dickhead who has pissed off just about everyone associated with the program at one point or another. Even after all of his antics he still got seven years. Riley will be 68 in seven years....so, I'm thinking four maybe five years. This will be Riley's retirement nest egg and you can't really blame him for looking for a big payday.

That's the biggest question mark to me. The only way this move makes much sense is if they also bring in a coordinator (not named Muschamp) to groom as his successor.

[SunCoastSooner]

This hire makes my head hurt.

[Left Seater]

That's the biggest question mark to me. The only way this move makes much sense is if they also bring in a coordinator (not named Muschamp) to groom as his successor.

Scott Frost??

[mvscal]

Husker fans would be dancing in the streets if that happened. They were talking it up on the radio yesterday afternoon. I don't put much stock in it personally. They've been fantasizing about the return of The Prodigal Son since last year if not longer. It's hard to separate the wishful thinking from actual possibility.

[Dinsdale]

Oregon AD Rob Mullins has asked the suitors of Frost to wait until he has a bit more free time before they come-a-courtin', and says the University won't hamper him from pursuing any job he wants.

That said, if the next month goes well, there's no way Oregon won't match or exceed any offer that Nebraska would make.

Funny that Corn is touting the "pro-style offense," since PAC teams can't get away from it fast enough. USC recruited enough great athletes to make a go of it, and even they have shied away for a more "modern" offense. The last holdouts besides USC were OS, Wazzu, and Cal... lots of conference championships among that crew in recent years.

[At Large]

Riley said today that he was wanting to hire people better than him as assistants, which based on his salary, which is less than Bo was making, they're going to open the checkbook to hire quality assistants that he knew he couldn't afford at OSU.

The Beliema rumors were just that: rumors. NU's chancellor said that when public record's are disclosed, it'll show that the first and only person they went after was MR.

Pro style doesn't thrill me, but we'll just have to see. NU's chuck and duck passing attack the last few years didn't thrill me either. If he lines the QB under the center when they're right on the goal line, that'll be a big step in the right direction.

NU fans wanting a big splash hire need to remember that a lot of those can backfire drastically: just ask Michigan with Rich Rod.

I realize OreSU didn't have consisten success. I don't know if you can chalk that up to the lack of consistent talent or coaching, but his track record on QB development has me optimistic. The last time NU has a QB drafted into the NFL that played was Bruce Mathison way back in 1983. Even golden boy Frost never played the position in the NFL.

NU fans who hate this hire would have hated anyone but Frost or the unbelievable rumored Tressel were dreaming.

AD EC wanted someone that fit into all aspects of the program: demeanor, experience, reputation, values, etc. You weren't going to get that with a hired gun hire that may leave the place pissing everyone off. The talent is not bare at NU. They have consistently been third in the recruiting rankings ahead of Wisconsin, Minnesota, NW, Iowa: teams that were thorns in Bo's side. Bo won a lot of games by virtue of great players making great plays, from what he was doing. This years win against Iowa is a great example. They went down 24-7 and QB Armstrong starts making plays that were scramble plays. Tie in Iowa's idiotic strategy to kick punts to the most dangerous return man in the conference and suddenly NU's back in the game. Watch any of Bo's games against so-so opponents and you see a team winning while also getting in the way of winning. 4Way too many mistakes for a team lead by a supposedly great teacher. I don't know why that's hard for people to understand about Bo.

[Dinsdale]

Now the dust is settling, the names being dropped for Riley's replacement are...

June Jones. Portland boy (believe he lives here now, always had a house here), but I thought he was having health issues? I guess they don't mind hiring a one-time Duck (the 3-deep at QB when he was there was Fouts, Norv Turner, and Jones... and they still couldn't win the conf.).

Bronco Mendenhall. Played for the Beavs. Great track record, can obviously keep a job.

Justin Wilcox. Schmick is praying for this. Another Duck (although after taking a job at UDub, he's dead to us). Grew up not far from Corvallis.

Jonathan Smith. QB in their only BCS bowl and only 11 win season. Seems to be a rising star in the coaching world.

Brady Hoke. Former assistant.

Rocky Long. Former DC.

Matt Wells. No ties.

Beau Baldwin. U&L, but no ties to OSU, except his Eastern Washington FCS team took out the Beavs.

And my favorite... Dennis Erikson. Worked once before, right? Awfully old to take a new HC job.

[At Large]

I never for one minute felt it was a good idea to hire Frost as OC or even HC. It's chasing ghosts of success's past. I've never been a fan of chasing a coach solely on their NU ties. It hasn't worked the previous two times. Bo was DC one year here and hired several NU guys as coaches: all but one, Marvin Sanders, were mediocre coaches IMO.

I doubt MR goes with an OC he hasn't worked with before. Rumor is MR may go for his former OC who is an NFL QB coach now.

[SunCoastSooner]

I never for one minute felt it was a good idea to hire Frost as OC or even HC. It's chasing ghosts of success's past. I've never been a fan of chasing a coach solely on their NU ties. It hasn't worked the previous two times. Bo was DC one year here and hired several NU guys as coaches: all but one, Marvin Sanders, were mediocre coaches IMO.

I doubt MR goes with an OC he hasn't worked with before. Rumor is MR may go for his former OC who is an NFL QB coach now.

Forget that Scot Frost is an NNU grad . . . he still needs to be on teams radar.

I still don't get this hire and I've been over it over and over again. It makes my head hurt.

[Dinsdale]

Forget that Scot Frost is an NNU grad . . . he still needs to be on teams radar.

He's now 23-3 as an OC.

I still don't get this hire and I've been over it over and over again. It makes my head hurt.

Food for thought:

http://cfbmatrix.com/current-coach-effect-ranks-p5s/


Riley comes out as better than average, according to Bartoo's formula. Pellini was below average.

[King Crimson]

Dins, is it not true that you used to post *a lot* that no one continually does more with less than Mike Riley? but, i agree, a weird and lackluster hire. seems like another way to win 9 games a year: pelini schizo, riley competent but unexceptional.

[Dinsdale]

Except Wilcox would end up taking a pay cut to go to OS.

[Dinsdale]

I think your argument defeat itself, Schmick.

Wilcox (who didn't play DB for Oregon :winky:) was brilliant in first quarters, but suddenly forgets his job later in the game?

We've both commented on USC's lack of bodies this season. Maybe 11 guys playing every down has something to do with the dropoff late in games? Maybe?

Let's see what Wilcox can do with say, maybe 40 guys of USC caliber.


Sidenote: assuming Wilcox stays, USC will be the 5th team he's coached for that faced Oregon (BSU, Kal, Tenn, Udub), where he didn't play corner and safety in the late 90's (take a job with UDub, all memory of you is erased).

[Dinsdale]

And in case anyone didn't know -- the Webfoots and the Bugeaters have a H&H in 2016-2017. Good theater there.

It was a result of Tennessee realizing that Lincoln was in a different time zone, and required a flight on a plane, which hasn't gone well for them of late, so they cancelled.