Home Football I’m Feeling Less Negative about Mike Riley?

I’m Feeling Less Negative about Mike Riley?

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First off, I never cared that Riley “abandoned us” twice. Coaches all want money, prestige, challenges, etc. People in all professions want these things, and when opportunity knocks, the smart ones take it. That said, I’ve disliked Riley 3.0 for three main reasons:

1. He’s been a bad coach for five years.
2. Jonathan Smith won’t get credit. If the team is better next year, it’s because of Riley.
3. Riley is a symbol of mediocre football. Apathy is contagious. Even the “good Riley” wasn’t very good. And we now know that had nothing to do with OSU, given his failure at Nebraska.

That’s it. They’re all supported by facts, or at the very least (#2 above) reasonable deduction given the media’s past treatment of Sir Riley.

That said, after seeing Petras solidify his commit, Crocker saying that OSU is now his #1 school, and Hufanga granting us a visit, I have to believe that’s Riley’s influence. So maybe he still does hold some sway on the recruiting trail, and might be fine in some ancillary role. Moms like him, the recruit feels safe playing for a grandpa who’s a lifer, etc. Do I think that’s a recipe for great football? No. Would I rather someone else? Yes. But for now it might be alright to get us back to respectable. At least the guys Riley was recruiting at NE are now solid or leaning OSU, so he has to have some merit and weight with recruits, and for that he might be an asset is all I’m saying. And, frankly, I can’t believe I’m saying it.

194 COMMENTS

  1. I do appreciate the “if you……consider a donation” lines in each post.

    Since we’re talking recruiting potential, here are some of the bigger names we’re still at least having consider OSU.
    Nikko Hall- 4* WR or Safety
    Isaah Crocker- 4* WR
    Tyzhawn Henry- 3* RB
    Talanoa Hufanga- 5* any position he wants
    Halid Djibril- 3* LB/Safety
    Victor Terry- 4* LB

    Doubt we get more than 2 or 3 from that group, but those would be 2 or 3 good players to help cap off the class.

    Still, I’m not seeing much when it comes to lime recruiting. There are a few JC guys who may help on the DLine. Then on the OLine we have guys who are mostly gettimg offer from non P5 schools.
    As always, line recruiting will be out weakest area this year, it appears.

    • There’s a 3* OT named Joshua Gray(Arizona and Nebraska offers among others) who is planning to visit OSU after the dead period.
      Better put that out there now, so nobody accuses me of stealing that info later ;)

  2. Petras and Crocker are the keypins to the 2018 class. If OSU gets Crocker it has TJ Housh and Chad Johnson rolled up into one special player. OSU really needs a WR like Isaah. Pair him with Nikko Hall and with Petras as a starting QB soon and it makes for great potential for the offense when looking out a couple years. Both have potential to start for Oregon State in 2018.

  3. What is the hold up? Where is the defensive staff??

    This delay has to mean that people are saying “no” to Coach Niner, doesn’t it? Why hasn’t Bray’s hire been announced? What’s Hall’s status?

    Does anyone have insight on this? It feels like incompetence… help me change my opinion.

  4. If the Beavers are successful, Smith may yet receive credit. There will be major coaching points to clearly differentiate himself from Riley, some of the more obvious ones include fundamental soundness (blocking, tackling), run/pass balance, clock management, offensive strategy – is his offense simple for his offense while being challenging for the D to diagnose, in-game adjustments, attention to detail including “administrative” penalties, and importantly a fostering a culture where the team does not accept losing and does not view itself as an underdog hoping for an upset. Riley could end up helping with recruiting, but if Smith differentiates himself in these areas, it will be clear whose team it is.

    I think Riley’s influence on early recruiting may be overstated and we might need more time and examples. Petras was already a verbal, Smtih’s offenses had success at UW, and I could see Petras being sold on Smith, and Crocker liking the idea of playing with Petras. And given Riley’s unemployment, was Petras going to go to Nebraska and play for Frost? Seems unlikely if Frost wants a dual-threat QB(not sure he does?). Maybe Riley helped on Crocker – He could legitimately point to Hass, Rodgers, Wheaton, and Cooks as benefitting from his coaching and offensive philosophy.

    I think somebody suggested previously maybe Riley recruited Petras and Dukart not because Riley expected to be at NU next year, but because Riley knew his time at NU was coming to an end and having relationships with those kids might help him get another OSU gig. I wouldn’t put that past Mike.

    • Agree we need way bigger sample of Riley recruiting. Petras was solid but taking other visits, etc, and now he’s confirmed he’s enrolling early to try to win the job this Spring. Crocker. That’s it. But it’s a good start. “Less negative” doesn’t mean I view him as a positive. On a scale of 1-10 I view him as like a 3 now instead of a 0. I do feel better seeing guys he was interested in NE now interested in OSU and makes me think he might have some value.

    • Riley knew his time at NU was coming to an end and having relationships with those kids might help him get another OSU gig. I wouldn’t put that past Mike.

      That would be some fucked up manipulation that I didn’t think of before someone did bring it up. That it now sounds plausible is just wrong.

      • The more I look back at how this all went down it seems like this Smith/Riley thing was in the works the whole time. Barnes threw a nice payday towards his buddies at the search firm so they could complete the smokescreen and they just played it out the way they wanted.

        • I wouldn’t go that far. Scuttlebutt around town about Riley’s family undercutting the current OSU football team before the season ended looks like it is true.

          But I’m not buying the whole conspiracy thing that metastacized in a fraudulent search. There are too many different directions that could head. What if we found out everything bad about GA was true, and the Cult of Riley was using that info to extort this outcome from OSU?

          When anything silly is still a possibility, it’s not a good hypothesis.

          But that some of these things are possible is more than a little disturbing.

  5. I’d still like to know how/why Riley failed at Nebraska given all the resources in the World. From a Riley supporter. I watched it so I know why (bad coaching/apathy), but I want to hear it from the perspective of a Riley supporter who watched the NE games.

  6. PS. Source told me today former players still believe Keith Heyward winds up a Beav.

    Seems so improbable after the Heyward tweets, but I guess after the GA thing we have to realize anything is possible. We’ll know Sunday.

  7. Nicdbeaver:
    Any info on legit JC DTs on the recruit list?
    Aside from younger Hodgins are they recruiting beef for OL or DL?
    Do you expect the profile of recruits frame/build/height in the future to be similar to GAs or Riley 2.0?

    Will JS recruit low hanging fruit as RIley was thought to be doing late in his tenure last time?

    I’m trying to be positive and give the benefit of the doubt for a JS/MR combo for the vision and future of recruiting/talent pool for OSUs future. Should I be positive or hesitant?

    • Juco DTs: We just offered a new one tonight. Mustafa Johnson. Looks like Colorado is recruiting him too.
      Arizona Western has a couple DTs who we are trying to land.
      Tristan Nichols-DT
      Kevin Scott-DT

      Dont know their strategy yet for OL/DL. Probably just taking the best talent they can grt this year and then reassessimg for next year.

      Really way too early to comment on the last couole of questions. The fact that JS landed Jacob Sirmon and Dylan Morris speaks well for his ability to recruit top talent. Those guys weren’t low hanging fruit, but they also had UW ties and a good Husky team, which helped JS.

      I would suggest staying positive until you’ve been given a reason to be hesitant. Remember, we were 1-11 last year. That doesn’t do JS any favors in this cycle.

  8. Re: Angry’s original post, thank you for being reasonable about this. This is exactly what I said on the previous post.

    Riley knows how to be mediocre. We were FAR from mediocre last year. MR can help get this team back to .500, then ride off into the sunset and retire as a Beaver. Seems like a win-win.

    • “We were FAR from mediocre last year. MR can help get this team back to .500, ”

      GA was such a trainwreck. It seems like there ARE stronger, faster players on the team (except at center, ha!) and more legitimate DI bodies. I wonder what Mike Riley will think when he looks at the roster compared to how he left it.

      What a shitshow Andersen/McLovin were….awful football that didn’t have to be that bad or that winless with the players available.

      • This actually is one thing I look forward to seeing once the new staff is finally in place.

        What moving around they do with the current roster, if any.

  9. Thought I entered the wrong site with Angry’s comments. I believe Riley is an asset, at least in the short term, if he does not have an inordinate amount of influence.

    • There’s always the possibility that angry’s yanking chains, allowing the Cult of Riley to show how weak their position is from the outset.

  10. I think Riley would be a good high school coach in Corvallis. I don’t mean that to be a slight. He is 64, but in his press conferences he sounds much older and like he’s lost. Given his goals for being around his family and Corvallis, it would give him a chance to be around the game and relax, maybe help develop some high school coaches.

  11. I don’t think Riley will be given credit if we don’t see him. Hopefully JS is sensitive to this and doesn’t put him out there for interviews. Riley doesn’t strike me as an attention whore and he’s been an assistant at successful programs and knows the drill so my initial assumption is that we won’t see him except for the initial newsworthyness of the situation. We should see JS, Lindgren and the DC over the course of the season and that’s it.

  12. OT: Maybe this is obvious to you guys but I just thought of it. Is it possible that GA left the money on the table because he would have been fired for cause anyway? Was this was just a way for him to appear benevolent and save some face?

    • It was benevolent no matter what. It was for the best of his players. I wish more coaches would realize this instead of taking their lottery winnings. The old boys’ club has really run the coaching profession into the dirt while enriching themselves… OSU proving that more than anyone now.

      I don’t really care about his motivations. We would not have been able to fire him for cause.

    • Not sure if he would have been fired for cause, but it most definitely would help keep the rumored scandals out of the spotlight, at least for as long as it mattered. I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of it.

  13. I question your statement about apathy being contagious, but this thought seems to be driving the people shitting their drawers over the hire. Apathy can be contagious from the top, but since Riley isn’t head coach, he’s in a position where his apathy can be contained and isolated. One position coach who is okay with losing doesn’t carry over to an entire team and staff. If Smith knows what he’s doing, he’ll utilize Riley for his strengths, and keep him in a spot that minimizes his weaknesses. As fans, we may not like the hire, but what we didn’t like was Riley in a different role.

    • But why?

      Why put yourself in a position where you’re going to have to waste time and energy mitigating a quitter?

      Why not hire someone who deserves that executive level salary?

  14. Think of loyalty in the coaching world as a game.

    If you choose to play that game, you choose to burn that bridge. Burning a bridge, while common in coaching, is still burning a bridge. There is a consequence to that action that is accepted with wanting to move on to better opportunity.

    More power to the coach who does so. Good luck in the future. We hope you come back and visit, since we will remember you fondly. You will never get another job at this institustion… nothing personal… it’s just the decision you made came with certain bedrock consequences that someone with simple professional ethics would understand.

    Quitters quit. Quitters will quit again… and again… and again. People want to complain about the job Cory Hall did as head coach? Nebraska’s head coach did worse over the same span. And Nebraska’s head coach didn’t have the well known family of OSU’s head coach in Lincoln talking up Scott Frost’s impending hire and how it was going to be great that he was going to be on his staff.

    He also didn’t have that fucked up “Baldwin is hired at OSU” announcement that just killed whatever morale our team had left.

    Logistically, I have not much problem with Riley as a position coach. Personally, he’s a very nice guy. Professionally, he’s disloyal to OSU, and he’s a quitter. Someone who overlooks the latter has a very serious flaw in their evaluative skills as a manager.

  15. By that standard for defining a quitter we could only hire someone who had never had a job, otherwise as soon as they quit their job to be hired by us they are a quitter and therefore should not be hired. Every coach with experience is a quitter somewhere. Even if you are just holding it against people for quitting on OSU which makes no sense because a quitter is a quitter, then Michalczik has also quit on OSU and Heyward who everyone wants has also. There are good reason to not want MR on this staff, but him previously leaving OSU is not one.

    • Do you know the circumstances for anyone who has left OSU in the past? Did they give notice? That’s the only standard I’m adhering to right now.

      Most of the time, assistants will give notice… get this… because they don’t want to burn that bridge with their boss.

      Doesn’t that just blow your mind? Some of them even do it in person… like… face to face and stuff. It’s absolutely nuts to think about how some people actually respect their employers and leave open the opportunity for them to come back at a later date.

      Then there are those who just skip town.

      I can see that you are of the Cult of Riley, since you have no clue what all this actually means. Giving notice is far different than being disloyal. It gives your employer a chance to frame the circumstances of your departure in a good light for both you and your former employees. Anyone who quits on OSU then asks OSU to be his safety net is asking a morally wrong thing of OSU. I don’t want to ever hear anyone who supports paying Mike Riley hundreds of thousands of OSU dollars ever speak poorly of welfare recipients… in any way.

      • I don’t see in your original post anything about giving notice. You simply say there is a consequence that is accepted for wanting to move to a better opportunity which you indicate is never being able to go back to that program. Now you are backing off and saying there are exceptions. Are you suggesting a high likelihood that Smith knew weeks in advance before accepting this job and gave his previous employer adequate notice. Are you suggesting that Riley when leaving for Nebraska would be welcomed back if he had just given his two weeks notice before leaving, I doubt that.

        Also you clearly didn’t read my whole post since you think I am a Riley lover, but that is no surprise since it is the norm to just insult anyone who doesn’t agree with you. There are valid reason for not wanting Riley, like maybe all the loosing over the last 6 or so years, or the often mentioned apathy, but I just don’t think him previously leaving the program is one. Don’t you think LSU would take Saban back? I would think so because its about the quality of coach, not whether they have left the program in the past, because every coach has left a program.

          • I get that you post a lot so maybe saying “original post” was not the best term for clarity. I was talking about your post above at 7:52 am. The statements I pull from are in that post.

          • Maybe you’re confused because inherent in playing on the coaching carousel is the immediacy of each hire and leaving a current job. It’s nothing to really get upset about. But it is burning a bridge. And when you burn a bridge, you burn a bridge.

            Simplicity.

            When assistants go and give notice, the most common thing to happen is for the head coach to tell that assistant to pound sand (since they don’t want to be there anymore… or have a better opportunity… or would hinder the next hire by being a distraction to the team). But they give notice. If they’re smart, they give notice in writing for a month out, and the coach tells them to pound sand. Then they get that month’s pay for no work.

            Subtleties in HR practices are such for a reason. They have proven over time to be truisms that nobody escapes. But people keep thinking they know better.

            People are so stupid sometimes.

        • And not wanting Riley because he’s not a good coach is not a valid reason to disqualify him as an assistant. There are so many bad coaches in the good old boys’ club making bank off their friends and dumb fans who don’t demand professionalism in a high revenue business. One more is a drop in the bucket.

          If you had been paying attention, you would know precisely what I have stated regarding Riley and his disloyalty instead of suddenly playing ignorant.

          If you have been professional in your past employment, these would be intuitive. If you’ve simply not had that much experience in hiring, firing or leaving jobs, that would be more understandable.

          • Sorry, but I believe there is more merit in someone being hired or in this case thinking they shouldn’t be hired based on their ability or lack of ability to coach vs whether they have quit like every other coach has. Again even if Riley had given notice, I would rather we had hired someone else.

            I have had long tenure and have left professionally when I have changed employers, I also have plenty of experience hiring and firing, that said I also believe sports is a different thing, it is fast paced change where quitting without notice is the norm. Scott Frost staying on to coach the bowl game is the extreme exception. Again I doubt any of the coaches we just hired gave a two week notice to their previous employer.

            (Edit) – Just read your post above and yes I may be wrong about my last line. They may have given notice and were told to leave anyway. I just isn’t that big of a deal to me one way or the other.

          • Not every other coach has quit OSU. We’ve gone through this, but you want to pretend to be the densest person out there.

            Why?

            It doesn’t even appear to be clever.

  16. I wouldn’t trash on Collins. That health scare was very real last year and this year. He looked very frail when i saw him last. Like a very unhealthy frail. Hope he gets his body healthy again. Pretty sure he’s played his last football.

    • Agree 100%.

      Bravado that may have rubbed some the wrong way, but it wasn’t his fault the coaching staff decided he was the QB of the future and threw him to the wolves.

      Fiery competitor that gave his all whenever on the field. I seriously doubt if he was physically capable that he would willing not play.

      Wish him well. Hope his health improves and he gets some good luck headed his way. Been a brutal stretch.

  17. I wouldn’t care much about the Riley ditching us repeatedly stuff, if I didn’t have to hear about how loyal Mike Riley is, and have to watch the program keep taking him back!

      • “My gum habit gets expensive. Dee has to replace the carpet every couple months. Dang stuff always falls out of my yap with the mouth breathing and drooling. Thanks Husk..I mean Beaver Nation. I think we can win the Big Ten West next season.”

  18. Wow, just notices signing day is only 5 days away. Will be interesting to see if Smith or Lindgren can pull any nice surprise commitments.

  19. OT – has anyone yet read “The People’s School – A History of Oregon State University?”

    “William G. Robbins succeeds where so many other writers fail. He has produced a first-rate engrossing, smoothly written and revealing contextual history of Oregon State University, “The People’s School: A History of Oregon State University” (Oregon State University Press, 416 pages, $35).

    Robbins, an emeritus distinguished professor of history at Oregon State, puts his story of the university in high gear from the opening pages onward. Moving quickly through the founding years, the author keeps his narrative zipping along through international, national, regional and local contexts.

    ….

    Review Excerpt from Richard W. Etulain, The Oregonian

    Also, read (yes, actually read some of it) an article in the Oregon Stater about Ed Ray. Not a huge sports fan due to a lack of time, and he is always reading reports from the sounds of it. NY Giants Football, Yankees baseball fan though not an active follower…most time at OSU sporting event spent talking to people. Explains in part why his attempts to rally around the “A game” are so awkward.

    Hiring a good AD ought to be a priority, and then letting the AD do their job in a responsible manner while minimizing his (Ray’s) role in sports.

    Also, didn’t realize his wife passed recently. He refers to her frequently and tries to keep busy.

    • I’m not sure what you think university presidents do. Did you think they had it easy, watching cable news all day and laying golf on the weekends? Their jobs are intensive and non-stop.

      You should try speaking to the man sometime. He’s a pretty cool guy.

  20. I know it’s only been two weeks but correct me if I’m wrong, js hasn’t got a commitment yet from an uncommitted recruit. I’m sure most of his time has been spent with current recruits and players.

    But I kind of want to see some effect of the hiring soon in recruiting. Can he flip a recruit in the early signing period?

  21. From si.com (Judging coaching hires)

    OREGON STATE: JONATHAN SMITH (4.2)
    Splash quotient: 3
    Geography: 5
    Stylistic fit: 4
    Execution: 5
    Instant impact: 4

    After Gary Andersen’s unexpected midseason departure left the team in lurch, handing the program over to a former fan favorite was a welcome move in Corvallis. Smith quarterbacked the Beavers to a Fiesta Bowl win following the 2000 season and has spent his entire coaching career in the Pacific Northwest, having served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington since 2014.

    Smith is familiar with what Oregon State does well—and he affirmed that by bringing in two-time former Beavers head coach Mike Riley as associate head coach. What he did with Washington’s offense was nothing short of extraordinary, and if he can recreate some semblance of that at Oregon State, he’ll have success. Putting last year’s tumult behind it will give Oregon State an immediate boost, and getting back to its roots with Smith (and Riley in the wings) should set the tone for a return to better days. Plus, it’s not hard to improve upon 1-11.

    • So do we now see SEC and Big 10 dominating pre season polls to create and sustain the narrative for the season? Leading up to -gasp – the “unpredictable” playoff?

  22. I think it wil be interesting to see the difference in player evaluation just within the current roster and who sees the field vs who played last year. Can Luton even play again?

    Jim WIlson ended the year with the theory that the team isn’t actually too far off from a 6-6 at least team. Chemistry, QB play, line play, maturity on defense will lead to wins. But how will JS evaluate the players he inherits, how do the new staff put guys into advantageous situations?

    I’m warming up to the new era, but it has taken a couple of weeks.

    • I like him, but I don’t get why people get all excited about him as if he’s the only person now or ever who has ever played music.

      I’m not a fan of his voice that much, but he’s a guitar player. I can say the same about Bonamassa and Randolph.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsskXT0_eoc
      But all these guys can play some guitar.

      What I miss are the true double threats… T Bone, Hound Dog, Jimmy Reed, John Lee, Muddy, BB.

      The men had character in their voices as well as their instruments. There are a lot who do one or the other great and get to do the other because of it.

      Hell… most of the music industry has passed for music simply because the front man/women/dance troupe is pretty.

      So… I have to appreciate GCJ for what he chooses to do. I guess my biggest complaint about him is he often doesn’t look like music brings hi any joy.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbw5AX4CMlE

  23. He would’ve became a far superior qb at OSU. Oh well have fun playing in the corn fields or whatever the fuck they grow in iowa. Hopefully smith can get a grad transfer or something.

    • Why would he have become far superior here?

      He hasn’t even graduated, and you already have him not doing as well somewhere else where he has yet to sign, let alone enroll?

      Are we chasing dragons?

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