Home Football Mike Riley Seems Completely Lost at Nebraska

Mike Riley Seems Completely Lost at Nebraska

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He sounds like a forlorn immigrant who misses his homeland.

“We had such a routine and a simple life in Corvallis. You miss that,” he said. “You’re hoping and learning more about how you will find that in Lincoln.”

“It’s not going to go away immediately, my thoughts about Oregon State, my thoughts about all the guys we coached and recruited there and how the team is going to do,” Riley said. “That doesn’t just disappear.”

Earth to Mike: maybe you should have tried to recruit and win games if you liked the town so much? The fact his wife is still in Corvallis and he’s been visiting is also odd. I don’t see how this can end well for Riley or Nebraska fans.

142 COMMENTS

  1. If he puts the same effort into the project in Lincoln as he put into it in Corvallis, it won’t end well for either him or the school. I would imagine he will find it easier to recruit to Lincoln than Corvallis but that guarantees nothing. He’s still going to have to figure out a way to beat Harbaugh and Michigan, Urban and tOSU, and Wisconsin on a regular basis. No clue how Wisconsin will fare with Paul Chryst but even still Harbaugh and Meyer will run circles around Banker’s D and then laugh all the way home.

    • Depends on if they’re getting pre-2010 Riley or current Riley. Pre-2010 Riley could do well (as far as effort, not talking about dealing with the spread.) 2010 and later Riley? Err uhhhh not a neat deal for Nebraska.

      • There’s a reason he’s referred to in some circles as RiLLLLey. Guaranteed 4 losses every year. That shit won’t fly in Lincoln. Go look at his track record. His best years (even pre 2010) were 10-4 and 9-4

  2. this is why the “luck of the beavs” trope has run its course. Yep, at times over the last five years it has appeared that if we didn’t have bad luck we didn’t have any luck at all, but that changed with the big equalizer in December when Riley left. The new “luck of the beavs”–we’re so very fortunate.

    • I think it all started last year. The Lady Beavs made it to the tourney, Hoops canned CR and brought in Tinkle (I admit I was skeptical of the hire at first), Baseball got the overall number 1 seed to the tournament (regional flame out not withstanding), football season mostly sucked but then Nebraska gave us a golden ticket. Then OSU athletic department hit a grand slam by getting GA the hell out of Madison. Bigger and better things are on the horizon. Women’s hoops team will be strong again next season, Men’s team will get better, baseball team should be better next year, we won’t have to hear Opie stammer on about identities, etc this fall and they should be better prepared. I’m looking forward to the game in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh will have only had one spring practice, fall practice and one game under their belts as well. If Utah can beat them in the big house, no reason the beavs can’t

  3. What is amazing is how lost he is. I wonder how Nebraska fans feel reading about their coach’s inability to move on from little ol’ Corvallis.

      • I don’t know where his family members live, but I haven’t heard him mention that he misses his family and wants to visit them. I do hear him say he misses the town, lifestyle, and implies he’s lost in Lincoln. Deduction tells me this is more about lifestyle than family. If he wants he can easily move his family. His wife is still in Corvallis last I heard, so it seems like nobody wants to move. Everyone suspects Riley was given an ultimatum to fire Banker and then ran off to Lincoln. Things like this make that seem true.

          • One of the better comments post firing:

            Fake Bo Pelini
            ?@FauxPelini
            LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT YOU ARE PAYING ME NOT TO LIVE IN LINCOLN NEBRASKA AND I AM SUPPOSED TO BE SAD

        • Is Mrs. Banker still in Corvallis, as well? If she got upset about Coach Banker’s bad press at OSU, (o-live somewhere) I can’t imagine what she’ll hear in Nebraska. Interesting how both Tinkle and Andersen liked Corvallis/OSU and – perhaps jumped at the chance is a bit over the top – but there they are.

          • The press coverage for the Neb. football team is more like that for an NFL team. They are the total focus for the Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, and all small town papers. There is no offseason there. The football coach is the biggest celebrity in the state. Total fishbowl.

        • The article says they are still house hunting in Lincoln so it doesn’t surprise me his wife isn’t there yet.

          “For football coaches … you recruit and then you coach,” Riley said. “The comfort level there is pretty good, although you are learning about doing it in a new place, so you’re always gathering information.

          But the toughest thing is the routine of life. Our family is not yet settled here. We’re still house-hunting. It’s that unusual routine of living that I have right now that is probably the biggest part of the transition.

          • Well why doesn’t she go to Lincoln and look at the houses? Riley said on the radio she is house-hunting from Corvallis. Clearly she doesn’t want to move. Riley didn’t sound like he wanted to move. We will never know the facts, but listening to Riley speak combined with reading between the lines you can draw probable conclusions.

  4. funny he miss OSU but he sure left in a flash; grass is not always greener life time contract big buy out still had a fan base and media that loved him money is not everything and by the end of the year he’ll see this. I almost feel bad for him almost

  5. I believe it’s a symptom of folks with dementia to be lost.

    Imo with the hiring of WT and GA the luck of the Beavs has changed.

    • I’m picturing Biley in a giant corn maze. Riley has his trademark staring off into the distance expression, is chewing gum and asking Banker how they escape. Banker frantically hand-jives in response and scares away the crows perched on Riley’s head (which he is of course oblivious to.)

  6. I am so confused with this site. I can’t figure out how to actually make a post. Anyone want to help me out? I don’t see any area where I can write a post.

  7. Hope Riley does well in Nebraska. I think he is kind of irrelevant to the future success at OSU at this point. He can always come back to Corvallis, just not as a coach.

    • I still don’t understand why this guy is considered a head coaching candidate. The way he speaks, he seems slow…his defenses were not great. Just saying. Obviously I will wait to judge, but I’m just not super impressed with him, like I feel I should be with a guy who is supposed to be a hot head coaching prospect.

      • Statistically speaking for 2014. Every category Utah was better than OSU with the exception of Forced fumbles where they had the exact same number. Statistics wise Utah > Oregon St. Sitake > Banker. I’ve always felt Utah’s defense was very physical. Just my opinion

        Utah OSU
        Sacks 1 49
        Tackle for loss 10 47
        Interceptions 55 70
        Forced Fumble 69 69
        Fumble Recovered 68 89
        Opp 3rd down 39 60
        Opp Red Zone 81 92
        Pass D 93 94
        Rush D 41 53
        Scoring D 43 98
        Total D 60 76

        http://www.cfbstats.com/2014/national/index.html

        • I never said he isn’t an upgrade over Banker, so it’s no surprise their D has had better stats. But my argument is that he doesn’t strike me as a top head coaching prospect in waiting, which is what he’s been made out to be. He also doesn’t even strike me as extremely bright on the D side. But obviously these are first impressions and open to changing as we watch the next few seasons.

          • I only heard his name mentioned as a head coaching candidate by media, never heard of him being mentioned by ADs or that he had HC job interviews. So, I think it was a bit of a lazy media narrative when they would just round up names for a new opening.

            As I’ve mentioned in the past, I think he benefited from the halo effect under Whittingham. Almost any DC is going to look good under Whitt, IMO. The exact opposite is true for OCs.

  8. Former CR asst. Nate Pomeday will get the full time asst. coaching gig at MN. He was the DOBO last year.

    Former Beav volleyball asst. coach Laura Benzing also lands in MN after two years at tOSU.
    If the bio pic is accurate, she is a babe.
    Laura Benzing Bio – GopherSports.com
    http://www.gophersports.com/…/laura_benzing_94...
    Minnesota Golden Gophers
    Laura Benzing is set to begin her first season with the Golden Gophers in 2015. Staying within the Big Ten, Benzing comes to Minnesota after a two-year stint at …

  9. This guy at the Daily Nesbraskan seems to be giving Riley 2 seasons to be in the playoffs:
    http://www.dailynebraskan.com/sports/kelly-coach-riley-needs-to-win-games-immediately-to-keep/article_bac3ed3e-e3d1-11e4-abcd-4fedcebb759b.html

    The pending collision in Lincoln will be interesting: A fan base acting like they just got out of an abusive relationship and Riley was there with a safe place to rest their head, combined with high expectations and the eventual losses as a result of slow development and blown in-game management.

    • “The expectation for Riley is to compete for conference championships, and to do it quick. Then Nebraska can worry about competing for a national championship.”

      LOLOLOLOLOLOL :-D :-D :-D

      I love Nebraska!

      • Do Husker fans even realize it’s been 18 freakin’ years since they won the NC? And the only other year they were even vaguely in the national championship picture was 1999? Really, they should stop the bullshit and just have Tom Osborne stand on the sideline, so they can complete the fantasy. Our sweet, clueless bike pedaling, gum chomping hero is in for the ride of his lifetime, luckily that coaching lifetime is almost over anyway.

        • ummm, not to burst your bubble there but Nebraska played Miami in 2002 for the national championship. Remember, that year when they backed in after losing to Colorado and not even playing in the Big-12 title game? I’ll never forget because I was reminded by duck fan. Many many times about how they were screwed out of a shot at playing Miami. And sadly, I happen to agree

          • Only difference historically would be that Oregon would now be 0-3 in national championship games. No one was going to beat that Miami team that season.

          • I don’t know about that. Joey was strong that day. Maybe he would have played less efficiently against that Miami D. But he came ready to play against CU, and you could see it before the game even started. Perhaps it was a “chip on the shoulder” type thing and would have been different if they got their rightful chance at Miami.

            Even worse is the situation the year before. UW and especially OSU would have pounded either of the teams who played for the NC that year. FSU goes wide right against Miami on the same day we went wide right against UW, and they got the benefit of the doubt in the end… even though that Miami team didn’t play UW as well as we did.

            A four-team play-off is a good start. But it needs to expand.

          • And that’s just a matter of O v. D. Nikegon’s D would have matched up against Miami’s O much much better than NU did… or CU would have. Let’s face it. Ken Dorsey was nothing special. You and I could have won with Andre Johnson catching our passes… or just handing the ball off to Portis. That being said, Dorsey didn’t have to face a D with any measurable speed for the whole of the season. I think the way they dismantled UW that year was what kept Nikegon out of the championship.

          • I completely forgot about that given how absurd that scenario was……..let’s give up 60 points and still make the NC game, so I kind of stand by my statement, they weren’t relevant, just lucky! Wouldn’t happen today. At least The Ducks got screwed.

          • There is that bonus. But the year previous and many subsequent years with USC being forgotten in the end game made it unlikely the Pac was going to play for the SEC championship… er… the Ohio State or Oklahoma losing effort… um… whatever they called it.

  10. Maybe Riley is lost, but I think it was a no brainer to take the Husker job from a financial perspective. I guess he could be risking some reputation/legacy if his tenure turns out to be a complete disaster, but to me worst case scenario is a butt load of money for him and his buddies to take into retirement. If NU was stupid enough to offer the job, then Riley was smart enough to take the paycheck.

    • The no brainer was hiring him. It is all part of an evil Badger plot to put former asst. AD’s from Madison at rival schools and have them go Manchurian Candidate on them. It worked perfectly here in Minneapolis with Badger Joel Maturi.

  11. Riley seems more out of options than a one legged man in a three legged race. Getting some distance from him now he looks like a bum!

    For a long time I was convinced he was the type we wanted in the foxhole of Corvallis. Now, I’m happy we launched him and his band of brothers out with the rest of the primary fodder.

    I hope the got gusseted steel umbrellas and all those trailer homes anchored down securely in Nebraska. It’s going to be a season of hellfire and brimstone!!

  12. What a reach this blog post is. I don’t understand how you can criticize his comments. Did you just feel like wriling up the mouth breathers?

    Seems to me that Riley is going about his business, but understandably misses Corvallis. A place where he was raised and played a critical part in turning around a lousy football program.

    I can’t wait to see the hypocritical narrative on this site should Nebraska put together a good season. I’m certain that most of you will not give any of the credit to Riley and his staff.

    • Ha!

      We have someone who knows nothing of Bike Smiley on the line.

      Let us know if your coach’s team has an identity by week three.

        • Do we need to go back to the fourth grade and diagram this for you?

          Yes… you are sorry. I both pity you and thank your AD at the same time.

      • FTR… Riley built NOTHING here. He took over a crappy football program and parlayed two losing seasons into ditching the hell out of us for some other gig (gig as in job, not as in what ASU calls a fork). Once a quitter, always a quitter.

        Dennis Erickson actually won something. And that winning drew funds which built half a stadium and promises for more within a couple years. Then DE ditched us. Fine. Good bye.

        Then Riley comes back and benefits from someone else finally winning here and building something. But the promises to continue building (in the face of an unprecedented building boom) go dead. He had no vision. He made no effort. He was just Bike Smiley, the nicest coach on earth. When DE’s recruits worked through the system (and Chryst left and Gilchrist died), Riley was exposed. And it’s almost as if he gave up in 2009… before our AD gave him a lifetime contract… which gave him zero motivation on top of giving up.

        Get back to us in two years. NU has talent enough to win nine or so games this year and make everyone tout what a great job the nicest guy in football is doing. But next year will be the fun one. Think Brady Hoke. But then Hoke has no connection to Corvallis.

        • Yep, that’s basically the last 20 years of Beavers football.

          Oregon made a bold move in 2009 to replace their long in the tooth coach. Oregon State doubled down on theirs. That’s when their trajectories went in complete different directions.

    • the only thing you can expect is at least 4 losses each season from RiLLLLey. Good luck and be sure to thank your AD for taking him from us. We greatly appreciate it!

    • I’ll give credit to Mike Riley’s staff for not fucking it up. It’s not like Pelini was losing and it’s not as if he left the cupboard bare.

      It’s completely conceivable that Riley has year 1 success as he will be working with a higher level of talent that have received coaching that at least allowed for 9 win seasons so his staff can’t ruin good fundamentals. The offense should be able to run because there will actually be o-line talent (since his boy Cavanaugh, who underwhelmed on a regular basis and showed no ability to bring in talent for his position group on the recruiting trail) that won’t have Bear Crawl and Cussing Exhaustion. In fact, I won’t be surprised if Riley touches his ceiling of 9 wins, but his losses will be embarrassing or expose the incompetency in his staff.

      From there he WILL decline. I promise you that.

  13. I have heard that part of the reason that fundraising was so difficult previously, was that a number of the big buck folks were pissed at MR for leaving the first time and were not happy that he was rehired. Any substance to this?

  14. Arizona picked up a verbal commitment from 4* dual-threat QB Devon Modster this week, making him their 2nd 4* dual threat commitment of the 2016 class. The other is Khalil Tate. I’m fully expecting the staff to go hard after Tate now that he seems to be the odd man out at Arizona (although he did re-affirm his commitment to UofA the day after Modster announced his commitment) I just don’t see Arizona being able to keep both guys for the same class.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcH08v1IW4U

  15. fundraising for the project has now reached more than $33 million less than four months after the Victory through Valley campaign was announced by OSU President Dr. Edward J. Ray, De Carolis and OSU Foundation President & CEO Mike Goodwin in conjunction with Andersen’s hiring.

    Thanks Huskers!

  16. Is there a list of the recruits will be at the “game” Saturday? The release of the drawings for the VFC is a good recruiting tool for the coaching staff to use this weekend. Hopefully the TV guys mention it a few times.

    • I haven’t put together a list, but will retweet news about recruits visiting as it comes up over in the @beavrecruiting feed. Maybe later in the day I’ll start compiling the list to paste in here, if I can find some time.

      Nemec had a small list this morning, but i think they were all local kids. I know for sure there are kids coming from Texas/Utah/California/Hawaii/Washington/Idaho as well. Sounds like it will be a pretty big group making their way over to Corvallis tomorrow.

      • Here’s the list of guys I’ve seen. It’s by no means comprehensive. My guess is there will probably be close to twice this many potential recruits in attendance, but many don’t advertise it.
        Also, the guys from Hawaii that came yesterday are scheduled to be at Oregon today and UW on Sunday, so I’m not sure if they’re going to stop in for the Spring game Saturday on the way up to Seattle. Eletise would be a huge get and he’s related to 2015 signee, Elu Aydon, but I’m afraid he’ll end up at USC.

        Name Rating Position Home other notes
        Cody Coppedge Unranked WR West Linn, OR
        Conner Crist 3* OL Tigard, OR
        Connor Berggren Unranked WR/FS West Linn, OR
        Dallin Pili Unranked MLB/RB/ATH Pleasant Grove, UT
        Darrion Green 3* ATH Dallas, TX 2017
        Devin Asiasi 4* TE Concord, CA
        Erik Glueck Unranked ILB Tacoma, WA
        Isaiah Hayes 3* CB Calabasas, CA
        Jassiem Wills 3* WR Clovis, CA
        LaMar Winston 4* ATH Portland, OR
        Luke Leonnig Unranked DE Eagle, ID (visited Thursday)
        Makai Manuwai Unranked DT Medford, OR
        Michael Eletiese 4* OG Honolulu, HI (visited Thursday)
        Osa Odighizuwa 3* DE Portland, OR
        Parker Houston 3* TE Sparks, NV
        Parker Su’a Higgins Unranked MLB/FB Honolulu, HI (visited Thursday)
        Ronnie Rust 3* RB/DB Portland, OR (OSU Baseball commit)
        Tobe Okafor Unranked OL/DL Portland, OR

  17. Who fucking cares about Mike Riley?

    I like vindication as much as anyone else but sometimes you sort of have to enjoy it inwardly.

    At this point reflecting on Riley is like surviving cancer but hoping your asshole neighbor down the way who has recently been diagnosed with the same cancer dies. Even though he’s an asshole, no one deserves to die of cancer.

    Right now the only feeling I have on Riley is pity that the man can’t see that he’s done. Life is precious and he’s wasting it now on a game after he’s collected millions of dollars. By refusing to either check his pride at the door, or retire with dignity, he’s backed himself into an impossible situation with a school that doesn’t even like 9 win records.

    Now Nebraska gets to deal with him. Whatever success he may have will be short lived. It will become apparent that he doesn’t have what it takes to succeed more than 3-5 years. If people think his first year there will be an indication of future success they are foolish and I could give no fucks about the midwest schools so I’ll only see the scores as they tick by but not give a second thought.

    What I’m really trying to say here is…fuck cancer in general.

    • There’s focus on Riley because we want to make observations and maybe some conclusions on how much of a factor he was in the Beavs lack of success. Variables have been eliminated with the coaching change, and Riley’s in a place where ‘lack of winning tradition’, ‘lesser facilities’ and ‘poor fan support’ are no longer excuses. We want to see this play out after debating and thinking about how much the Riley factor played into this or was is strictly lack of talent on the field.

      • Ohhhh! But we never heard those excuses while he was here.

        Certainly, those excuses must be coming from the current staff. They must notice that we don’t have a mall or an airport.

        I feel sorry for those guys… who have just beat Corvallis into the dirt… apparently by default.

        *beaten*

        *?*

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