It is a thought I've had many times over the years.The thing is, in the past when I pondered this question, it was always, "Hmm yeah I wonder how this will end?", and that was the extent of it. Before Mike signed the lifetime deal, I figured he'd work one more short contract (2 or 3 years) and then retire. That seemed like a reasonable path for all parties involved.
But now? I want to see an amicable split, but the (inevitable) breakup is looking uglier with each passing day.
Does Riley coach this lifetime contract until we're beyond 2019 and he misses enough bowl games to nullify it? I mean, that seems unlikely, doesn't it? Riley will be 60 next year (he'd fit right in if he just moved into the stands).
So what other options are there?
What I consider most likely now is Riley becomes persona non grata, feels betrayed by his hometown, and retires. It's passive-aggressive and non-confrontational, which is how OSU and their fan base like to work.
Some other possibilities and the odds I give them:
- He dies on the job (70%)
- He gets promoted to AD (15%)
- He gets fired (10%)
- He coaches out the entire contract (5%)
- He wins a Rose Bowl and rides off into the sunset (<.001~%)
What other possibilities are there? What do you think is likely? Do you, like me, find it interesting to ponder how this era ends, or, like most things OSU, is this topic boring?
PS. We hit 1 million views (on the new site) today. We had 250k on the old wordpress blog before moving over. Good job maintaining enough passion to care about this crap. It's hard. Rage on!
He has mentioned in the past that he would like to be the Joe Paterno of the west coast. But if he has seasons like the last two I don’t see him staying, I think he would be more likely to retire than to be fired.
He has mentioned in the past that he would like to be the Joe Paterno of the west coast.
I guess we should add “sex scandal” to the list…
haha we should probably hold that off for a while. Let’s hope that never happens.
Not funny at all
Does that make Banker our Sandusky? If he ever uses the therm “horsing around” then it may be time to hand him a pink slip.
term
Joe Paterno left behind a pretty nice collection of trophies at Penn State. Riley’s got some serious catching up to do in that department if he wants to be the Joe Paterno of anything.
Haha.
Yep.
Hilarious we once dubbed ourselves “Linebacker U West Coast” and Riley thinks he’s the Joe Paterno of the West Coast…
Not sure what the fascination is with Penn State. If we steal anything from them, I’d like it to be the classic uniform design.
it must have something to do with them playing in Beaver Stadium.
I think he was saying that he would like to stay at OSU as long as Paterno was at Penn St. And I am with you Angry, I would LOVE to see classic uniform design.
Should be O line walk-on U.
80% that he dies on the job? At what age are you predicting? Do you think he lives past 70 and stays on as coach? I don’t have that much patience. I’m leaning towards him walking away before the contract is up, based on pressure from the fanbase after 5 straight losing seasons. Only 3 seasons left!
80% that he dies on the job?
Well, people in their 60s are at high risk for many things that kill them. I’m just playing the odds that as years pass the chance of him dying increases dramatically, to the point he could easily die on the job.
The reason I find this topic interesting is that Riley coaching the Beavs seems as sure as the sun rising. I’m bet Penn State, Florida State, et al fans felt that way for decades, too. Then one day the sun doesn’t rise. Why?
It’s inevitable yet at the same time feels so foreign. That’s why it’s interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH5gqktM9JM&list=UUIispqS6c6QA1lsIug7eaog&index=3&feature=plcp&hq_e=el&hq_m=299342&hq_l=8&hq_v=3b4cffdfd8
Spring game/fan fest interviews with the coaches by Steve Preece. The highlight to me is seeing Banker (starts around the 3:37 mark) Glad to hear they’re planning to finally adapt to playing against the spread this year….
top quote “I THOUGHT I was coordinating before!”
Was hoping Coach Cav would drop a few f-bombs, etc, but no such luck.
That’s one mellow staff.
If you’ve ever seen Banker or Cav in practice, you’d know those guys are not mellow. They just had to put on their friendly face for all of those fans that were filling the stands. Wait….nevermind…
I think another interesting poll would be: how many times will the Beavers get booed off the field at Reser Stadium after a half has ended this year?
a risk to me is a “continuity” approach by BDC, meaning Banker or Langs (less likely) become head coach, meaning little real change.
So maybe nothing REALLY happens or changes until BDC’s replacement occurs. Is BDC’s timeframe therfore more meaningful and also closer due to health issues? An all new AD might be less loyal to riley.
Promoting Riley to AD is a possible scenario. Crap…hadn’t thought of that.
So he can sign Langsdorf to a lifetime contract? No thanks
Change may be farther away then we think.
Riley is not going anywhere even if he has another losing season….not enough pressure from high-standing boosters because we don’t have any.
I’m interested to see if this new Chief Marketing Officer, John Rizzardini, has the stones to bring us into the 21st century. He was hired in March so I’m sure it will take some time to come up with ideas and execute them. It’ll be interesting to see if he tries to make a splash or simply implements meaningless, rah rah ideas. I’m hoping for a Larry Scott effect on the program but I’m not banking on it.
I’ve met this guy, but haven’t broached the subject of his job. If you have some ideas I’ll pitch them if I get a chance.
I bet Riley gets canned this year if he doesn’t make a bowl. Ted Miller said it is becoming extremely rare for any FBS coach to survive 3 losing seasons in a row from a BCS conference. I think should that happen he needs to go. There are a few names I would like to see Oregon St go after. Someone more with the times and better at drawing top talent. Wilcox would work nicely.
After Miller’s stupid rant last year, one would think he had the simple integrity to stand by what he says.
But he’s a hack with a paycheck. So who am I to judge?
I think Riley is here for quite a long time regardless of winning or losing next year. We’ve targeted the assistants accordingly because we know this reality.
So Langsdorf will be the first to go. And I’m fine with that. I think a new OC is in need here anyway. I was a Banker supporter until two years ago when his LB rotation was wacky as all get out. But I think he can redeem himself this year, even without DT’s.
I would like to see Riley hire Lance Leipold as the OC and “coach in waiting.” Then I would like to see Leipold lead the offense to new heights for three or so years, see Riley retire on his laurels, and have Leipold take over.
Pipe dreams, I know.
It’s sad that you’d make a better AD than Bob D.
Why is that a pipe dream? Seems like the most likely scenario to me (meaning having a new OC be a coach in waiting).
It’s a pipe dream because Riley is loyal to a fault. Langs is a very good QB coach in my estimation. But he’s not a good OC. He’s not terrible. He’s just not good. But loyalty keeps him here, not ability.
And a good measure of an OC is how well he keeps his workforce efficient. Remember that the OC has many other duties besides just calling plays. He’s supposed to be middle management as well. Yes, the head coach is the CEO, but the coordinators are the veeps. positional coaches are lower management. The actual coordination of all the moving parts is a responsibility of the coordinators.
On the defensive side Riley cut lower management as an apology for poor efficiency. On the face of it, that seems to be a correct move.
On the offensive side we have been subjected to talking points about extreme attrition at the O-line positions, and most fans think it’s a reasonable red herring. Look at the time frame involved, and tell me the current coordinator has no responsibility for that failing.
Learning on the job is in the realm of a lower management job description. Failure of middle management to monitor lower management is forgivable every now and then. Being guilty of both as the CEO is grounds for going on double secret probation, if not worse.
I think Langsdorf is gone if they don’t get to a bowl this year. Riley’s loyalties has limits, & I think Langs is at that limit right now.
I wanted to see the context of your Miller reference, but I can’t find him talking about it anywhere. I read it in the context of this thread, Mike Riley and his longevity as a coach.
Was he just talking about coaches in general? Or was it in this same context?
Your odds don’t add up to 100%, and that hurts my inner mathematician.
That’s only true if they’re mutually exclusive events. It’s possible he could win the Rose Bowl AND die on the job. You know?
I changed it around for ya.
To answer your question Angry. It will end with a fifth or sixth consecutive beat down in the Civil War by Chip Kelly
Congrats on 1,000,000 views but “we”? in reality it’s Jack 999,100 the rest of us 900. JB
 I think it will take a miracle for OSU to win more than 5 games this next season. It’s sad but the 2000 Fiesta Bowl team was an anomoly. Most likely we will never witness another 11 win season, or another BCS Bowl in our lifetime at good ole OSU
I gotta disagree with you there
Reasons?
Nobody really said anything when I posted the PO link on this kid previously. But I still find this interesting. So I’ll post the tape directly now. Take a look at the title of the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfmzQlr23DM
He looks great on film
Commitment will dissapear
Mediocrity
~Haiku by GWH
Excellent!
I should say excellent on two counts.
First, the haiku is original and pertinent. I like this kid’s game. And props to his coach, Tony Hull, for coaching fundamental tackling techniques. If you watch the tape, everyone on that defense drives the shoulder at the hips and wraps up. It’s truly refreshing to not see headhunting big hits on a HS tape.
Second, for that reason, I also think he will be pursued by bigger name schools and lured away… if he’s truly committed to OSU as of now. One of the links in the PO thread had NU and Arky interested in him as well.
The back story on Easton is a good read too. They were the premiere sports factory in New Orleans for a long time. Neglect and Katrina knocked them off the scene. But Coach Hull has them on track for success in the near future.
Exactly. the kid has great pursuit angles, and drives through tackles. The competitions doesn’t look bad either – he’s excelling against good football players. He’ll stay in the South.
The bad news continues…..Rest in peace, MCA. One of my musicians growing up.
RIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5pvxgWJnws&feature=relmfu
the rule of three?
What’cha what’cha what’cha want?
Hi Angry and everyone else,
I am trying to test out a live chat from 3-4pm Friday May 4th if a few of you can stop by and post some comments to test out the feature.
Thanks!
http://beaverbyte.com
First of all, Riley doesn’t show any enthusiasm on the sidelines at all to have a heart attack and die. Riley as AD is to horrifying to think about. It’s bad enough as it is with De Care Less as AD. Neither Riley nor Bob can think “outside the box” nor do they want to. When bad things happen both “close the wagons” and hide from fans and media like frightened babies.
Riley has already brought the OSU football program back to the dark ages. I believe all momentum of the team and fans is like it was back before we started winning back in the late 1990’s. Boy, would I like to see the days back when you look in the stands at Reser Stadium and could not see an open seat…….sell out games for the whole season and we beat the Ucks most of the time. But then we had a coach that set his sights higher than a toilet bowl also…..Dennis Erickson.
With buddy De Care Less protecting Riley, it could be a very long time before we see any improvement in the football program, a winning season, and a new coach. Without a new coach OSU will never see what they deserve……a BCS bowl again.
I am ready for Riley AND BDC to go! We will not make a bowl this year and soon even WSU will become more relevant in the north than OSU. Riley: Nice guy and very average coach. He has never taken a pac10 title, has never led us to the BCS and has never even taken us to the second place bowl (Holiday/Alamo). The last two seasons have been extremely painful to get through and I think 2012 could be another terrible season. My opinion: no 2012 bowl…No 2013 Job.
I think you may think about changing your username.
He does not have to change his user name. He believes in the Beavers by getting rid of bad trash and having an enthusiastic new coach and AD lead the football program to winning, not losing. Nothing wrong with that. Some of Beaver Nation are just sick and tired of losing. I guess you just like losing and not gaining a BCS bowl. Are you a Duck alumni?
I think it is not quite as easy as a new AD and new coach.
I don’t see in my comments that it was as easy as replacing Riley and the AD. But based on the mindset in the OSU football program these changes would instill new ideas and direction for the team. Recent actions or lack of actions by Riley and De Care Less show that is business as usual and after last years results major changes should have been put in place.
I have attended Beaver football games long enough to remember when teams played OSU it was almost an automatic win for them. It’s getting to look that way again. While other struggling teams make coach or staff changes, Riley and company thinks everything is hunky dory.
I thought I read somewhere that Markus Wheaton passed D’Anthony (sp?) Thomas of the ducks in a track relay race. I didn’t think OSU had anyone in the same category of speed as that guy. Perhaps DAT accelerates quicker, Wheaton is better in the longer race. Regardless, it just seems like Wheaton’s abilities aren’t creatively being used to the best of the team if he’s that fast.
Another OSU player whose lack of strategic, effective use that has always bothered me is Kenyan Parker, another track speedster. Instead of finding a way to get the ball in his hands (e.g. kickoffs) and use his speed, OSU’s approach has been to convert him – “You’re used to running forward as quickly and fast as you can? Let’s make you a CB and have you start out in a backpedal and then chase somebody. Maybe in five years you’ll see the field.”
Even if Parker’s development had focused first just on effective kick returning, the field position advantage could have been productive. Second, get him the odd carry out of the backfield or throw him the ball. I still remember an effective use of James Rodgers out of the backfield at UW – kind of a deep pitch that he took (I think Quizz was in the FB position) outside with his speed for about 40+ yards. I haven’t seen it since.
And on the subject of uncreative offense, isn’t it troubling to think the last time the Beavers beat UO was on a fly sweep by true freshman James Rodgers. Five years ago. How long has BSU run it before that? Since that CW victory, the only other strategic play addition was the Wild Cat with Jacquizz. And only Jacquizz. Supposedly, Riley was going to look at Wildcat packages for Poyer this spring, which I think would be great, but didn’t read a word about it.
Maybe, as suggested above, we need to start a campaign FOR Leipold instead of against Riley…..