Q: There are a lot of fans having panic attacks online after the last couple seasons, but you have really exuded a lot of confidence in your program and what you’ve built. Going into this season, what makes you confident things are going to get better?
A: First of all, you are always optimistic about how you’re going to do. I see the growth of individuals in the program; our business is player-focused. We’ve got a lot of guys back, a lot of great hard work, what I see as great intentions from our team. What I hope for is growth from the guys who had to play last year and were young. I think growth is the key element in how you do. Our job is about helping guys grow.
What is he talking about, his job is "helping guys grow"?
I wonder if that's even in the job description, or is this his paternal instincts taking over again? His job is to run a football program and win games, but his desire seems to be being a surrogate father to adult men.
Also, phrases like "great intentions", words like "hope", and excuses like "guys were young"…not good, folks. Think Chip Kelly would be spewing this crap?
“helping guys grow” means coaching.
Sounds like an add for a male enhancement product. Beavers are a natural fit.
It means he is jerking us off?
Happy ending.
Riley’ typical “We’ll try…” and “we’ll grow…” no committment to results…
I can’t believe Riley’s hasn’t been directly asked about his comprehensive off-season program review. What did he change, what changes in fall camp?
I too, can’t believe no one has asked Riley about the results of the “comprehensive review” he said he would conduct.
It is a real stretch to give Riley the benefit of the doubt when hearing some of his comments, but no amount of “stretching” will allow me to give the sports scribes any benefit of doubt here. From what I’ve read, I had hopes that either John Hunt or K. Eggers would explore this very legitimate line of questioning. So far……..nothing.
The other legitimate line of questioning is how OSU would justify not replacing Fred’s roster spot with a JC recruit (not even a priority to staff), how the current crop of 275-pounders is going to get it done, and how the team is dealing with it.
I haven’t seen the O-live interview. And if it’s just Riley-speak instead of coach-speak, then I’ll just take what he said on Media Day and run with it instead. He’s on record as having said something outside his comfort zone, so I’m more interested to see if the media types start asking pertinent questions based on what he said rather than devolving into Weasel’s mode:
http://siriusxmsports.posterous.com/oregon-state-head-coach-mike-riley-chatted-wi
And where did Miller’s sudden love for reality come from? He pretty much covers everything in a nutshell for once in his life… and I think he’s about on with this one:
http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/41757/take-2-media-days-best-impressions
Here’s the full interview/softball questions:
http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2012/07/oregon_state_rundown_offseason_1.html
Meh… can’t really blame him for that one. She did forget two questions:
1. Boxers or briefs?
2. Dollars or doughnuts?
Trips like he described are why I stopped trying to catch hops for leave.
Off topic, but is anybody else watching the Olympic opening ceremonies? I know China set the bar pretty high, but this almost looks like it was thrown together by the same people who organized your high school pep assemblies. Utter rubbish….if you will
“what I see as great intentions from our team”……Maybe Coach Riley doesn’t understand the Principle of the path: Direction not intention determines the destination
or to paraphrase with a cliché – “meaning well is not enough.”
to be fair to riley, even during the 36 wins in four years stretch he didn’t exactly put anything on the line as far as setting goals, at least that i can remember. the 09 had players who made it clear that the rose bowl was the ultimate goal, i don’t feel like riley put himself out there like that. i have more of an issue with the questions he’s asked than the answers he gives.
Not trying to brag, but my comment a few days ago is basically a condensed version of Angry’s post. :)
JD says:
July 25, 2012 at 9:26 am
Rating: +1 (from 1 vote)
http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2012/07/oregon_state_rundown_offseason_1.html#incart_river_default
Not much new from Riley. He “hopes” for the young guys to show some growth. How about he expects the young guys to show some growth and if not, then it is the fault of the coaches for not improving the players that have been in the system.
I’m so tired of interviewers asking stupid fluff questions like “I’ve asked every coach this, and I’m going to ask you even if you didn’t go out recruiting this summer: In all your years of coaching, what’s your craziest travel story? Is there a suitcase still wandering around out there somewhere?”
Oh, I missed that comment…
I think the questions and answers are both bad. It’s time we get on the Oregon media’s case, too.
Critical minds think alike :)
If you want to be ‘helping guys grow’, become a guidance counselor. The only reason he’s getting paid a million+ dollars per year is to win games.
I might think that in university-speak, his job description might indeed say something about helping young guys grow up, but in the money making world of D1 football, it is grating to hear him speak in such terms about projected performance.
He needs to find some way to project a winning attitude. Take some responsibility for what may happen. Is that so damn hard?
College in general is to help young people grow and prepare the students for their future and careers. Riley as a member of the staff should have these same goals. These aren’t professional athletes they are ametuers, I don’t think a coach should be critized for “helping guys grow”. And shouldn’t we want players being better when the leave the program than when they come into the program?
If Oregon state was a professional team and coached by Riley I would say he needs togo and I would critize if he said some these things because on the pros it is all about winning. I would like to sit and talk with some of the alumni or fans of a school like Arkansas. See what their intake is on having a coach who is kind of a sleeze and brings a dark cloud over the university. I’m not sure if I would want a coach who was like that.
I want a coach who is going to win a lot of game, but I don’t to compromise the integrity of the school to do so. My love for Oregon state goes deeper than the football program.
Great post. Congrats on getting inducted to the Mariners HOF also.
My mistake, it’s Dan the man, and the big unit going in tomorrow. Not the bone.
Bone should be HOF. Coolest baseball player ever.
Exactly. And like I said in some other thread, Riley’s leadership style allows for the team to develop internal leadership. The team is going to set their own goals led by the identified offensive and defensive leaders, as well as within their own positions (o line, d line, etc). How many people here actually played football? The head coach doesn’t have to huff and puff, cheer lead, and set a specific bar. Position coaches often fill that role. If you see interviews with the players, there’s much more reference to leadership and development than there was last year, which is a good thing.
So….you are saying Riley doesnt lead? It is not a “leadership style” to not show any leadership. To let the players lead means the coaches have declined to do it. Which is exactly what we have watched Riley do.
I bet everyone on here has played football. What country are you from?
The coach doesnt need to huff and puff, or set goals, but if he doesnt, he isnt leading. He is off to the side, letting things happen. Which of course is the easy way — you are not even a good figurehead, who at least appears to care about winning.
Coaches “huffing and puffing” aside, I don’t see helping young men grow and coaching winning football as mutually exclusive.
The lessons learned from a coach who defines objectives, has a focus on preparation, and is willing to take responsibility for his actions as he holds players accountable for theirs are very likely to contribute to the growth of his players. And to some winning football.
No steve, I’m not saying he doesn’t lead, I’m saying he does so in a way where the team takes on certain leadership roles and develops that leadership where on the surface, it appears they are doing it ‘own their own’. Actually, for Riley to pull this off, takes more skill than the leader who does it by an authoritarian style. My thought is that Riley is setting goals for the team and individuals, and he does make reference to these in different interviews. It’s not his job to meet every fans individual needs.
I’m not sure why you asked what country I’m from, but I asked about whether or not others have played football because people seem to make a lot of comments in here that come across as observational, rather than from experience. It kind of follows the line of: coach a, b, and c, win games. I’m concluding that coaches a, b, and c win because of personality traits x, y, and z. Then they attempted to prove that conclusion correct by going in reverse, saying that therefore, Riley isn’t winning because he doesn’t have personality traits x, y, and z. Often people in here also talk like there’s only one way to motivate players.
It’s interesting that you responded to the question about your origin, yet we still have no answer.
Just saying.
The first rule of leadership is believing in yourself. Some do too much. Some do too little. Confidence is not a quiet trait. Delegation is not a subtle tact.
The Dalai Lama is more fierce than our great leader. At least he has a stated goal.
I didn’t know Yoda was a Beav.
You mean… “Yoda… a Beav he is? Knowing this one does not.”
Oh… and the Dalai Lama’s stated goal is to return to his homeland.
I’m sure this is a weak “leadership goal”… which obviously creates “negative” people… who just shudder and knock knees at the mention of their possible failure to reach this goal.
Wait… where was I again? Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring religion into it. Anger should be reserved for only those who think fig trees should produce on command.
What a jack of a comment. Just saying.
Come on! At least bend put some cultural reference into his weak rebuttal.
I have to admit that I am embarrassed to not know your handle’s purpose. I keep thinking CVO refers to the Mt. Saint Helens observatory… or some stock label. Your lame response forced me to go lame myself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CVO
Corvallis! You’re a pilot, or you’re unhappy that you’re not a pilot!
Or… I’m wrong. It’s not unprecedented.
They shouldn’t be criticized for that unless they make it their #1 priority. Leave it to the educators etc to help them grow. And even Riley can do that if he wants, but it can’t be his #1 priority. That has to be winning games at this level.
You need to be a fan of an Ivy League school.
Otherwise, get with the program. This level of college football can be a big money maker for the school, so coaching football is NOT about making adults out of boys.
Acting like you care about winning, and REALLY working toward that, is NOT compromising the integrity of the school. what a silly remark.
They’re already adults (18) when they enroll, and making adults out of boys is their parents job. The coach can help with that, but it can’t be his job. Riley mentions it all the time; he’s somewhat obsessed with it. He probably should have had another son since raising kids seems to be his favorite part of coaching. It’s a bit disturbing that he mentioned this over and over and never mentions any tangible goal for this team.
It’s kind of ironic actually, you’re saying riley is obsessing over the idea of “making them better adults”, but you’re the one that critiques, criticizes, and even puts down Riley as a coach, a person, and even a human being. Who’s calling the kettle black again?
On another note, I sit back and only post when I feel about something strongly. This way, I make myself appear like I don’t hate or despise everything about OSU athletics. Why I like Riley as a coach is because 1) there won’t be any sanctions against OSU 2) He is a nice guy who is personable to all he meets which gives OSU a welcoming, respectful type of reputation vs someone who is unpersonable, rude even to other people. 3) he let’s his players take charge of the team and let them make it their own instead of dictating and putting pressure on his players on top of the pressures of fans. 4) (goes along with 3), he doesn’t push his put his players in a position where they will generally fail to the point where they will give up on themselves.
What I mean by #4 is that he won’t start a player if he feels they aren’t ready with their attitude, nor their physical ability. Also, is it possible that he knew it was pointless the last few years to talk about winning games to get to a bowl game? To me based on the last 2 years of interviews with media and sideline interaction with coaches and players, that the last 2 years was the persona of “Go out there and have fun! Do your best and that will be good enough!” But it seems this season, he has more hope and excitement in his voice that has been missing. I think this team is a sleeper team and will surprise people and therefore get 1 or 2 upsets this upcoming season. Here is my prediction for this fall:
Nicholls St. (Win)
Wisconsin (Win)
UCLA (loss)
Arizona (Win)
WSU (Win)
BYU (loss)
Utah (loss)
Washington (Win)
ASU (loss)
Stanford (loss)
CAL (Win)
Oregon (loss)
so 6-6 is my prediction for the season.
How is it a silly remark? Look at a handful of the top programs, they have some skeletons in the closet. You don’t think that has a negetive effect on The university as a whole? Football brings in the big bucks. Do you think people are looking at penn state differently now, or Ohio state? Auburn? Even Oregon. Athletics ate playing such a key role that unicersities are a lot of times associated with the athletic programs (especially football). I wouldn’t want Oregon state to have those negetives coming to their program and the university.
Angry I would like to see more tangible goals for the season addressed in these interviews, but just because the goals aren’t addressed in the media, that doesn’t mean the teams don’t have any goals behind closed doors….at least I hope so..
This is a very important year for Riley, if we have a season similar to the last two than even I will have a hard time trying to defend him.
look at my link below. It’s a video interview done by a student and the OSU video crew. It asks Mannion, Dylan Winn, and Obum about what they’ve been doing in the offseason to get ready for the upcoming season and has anything changed to motivate you all.
short version is that Mannion says the offense(specifically him and the receivers working out from after last season up to now. Dylan Winn has said that he and his teammates have been working hard to get themselves ready, and Obum said that it’s a ripple effect from the QB and receivers working out monday thru friday to the whole offensive side and defensive side. So I’m hopeful in their “working hard” in the offseason.
Thanks for the link. I thinks its justifiable to have expectations of the “edges” of this team – the skill players on offense, and the outside of the D. Mannion throwing to Cooks, Wheaton, and ‘Boom sounds good, and Wynn/Chricton will be beasts. I like the potential of Doctor and Welch. Poyer is obviously a good corner, the other serviceable.
But this team looks like a donut and its the interior that remains the concern on offense and defense. And its the interior that will determine if this team competes on weekly basis, or if we see offensive fireworks against weak teams, and play-from-behind-here-comes-the-play-action-on-third-and-fifteen against good/better teams.
I think the fact that Mannion is a coach’s son is important to his understanding of the game and his motivation. I hope that Mannion can get the offense to play with more urgency, but I’m afraid the Riley and Langsdorf are playing the part of speed-governors.
Again, it’s necessary not to just think about this year’s squad compared to last year’s, but this year’s squad in comparison to its Pac-12 competition. Throw in an OSU coaching staff that doesn’t deal well with non-pro set offenses, and it looks like another losing season.
Working hard toward a winning attitude is NOT compromising the integrity. Cheating does that.
All winning programs are not cheaters…..I refuse to believe that. That is the whine of a fan of a losing program.
Dead on.
Alright I think you may be misinterpreting what I am saying, and that may be my fault. I am not saying that all top teams are cheaters, but a handful of th have some dirty laundry hanging around. I didn’t say that working hard for a winning program is bad, it’s the cheating that is. You want to see a coach without a winning attitude and no confidence, look at any coach who is breaking the rules.
I’ll buy the “no confidence” part of your argument. Confidence in self means you don’t need to cheat. But winning is precisely why some do cheat. I think we’re pretty clear here that we want both wins and integrity. And I agree that it’s a hard task.
I think we have a coach who fills the integrity card with every check. Until this past media day, however, I’ve never heard him speak about team goals in anything but amorphous terms. And even that wasn’t extremely on point. It was just out of character for what we know.
Specific goals give a team direction. Failing to meet those goals makes them adults who know how to deal with life.
This is an apologists stance. It’s the stance of someone who knows he’s stuck, and subsequently convinces himself that he likes what he is stuck with. Guys do this all the time with their wives to deal with marriage.
There are coaches breaking the rules because of the pressure. Because other guys are better, and other guys are breaking the rules. Think steroids in MLB, Lance Armstrong et al, etc. If the other guy is doing it, you have do it or fall behind. They don’t cheat because they lack confidence. That is ridiculous. It’s a way to justify the coach you’re stuck with and your team’s situation.
Also, pretending integrity is most important falls into the same category. “We would rather lose clean than win dirty.” Really? If so, you should be trilled with the state of the program, because that’s exactly what they’re doing.
I call BS on any argument that claims anything but W/L matter.
No. Cheating only happens because of a lack of confidence. It is a substitute for that trait. If someone cheats, that means they don’t have trust in their own abilities.
Period.
I dont think any human behavior happens for just one reason.
I expect some folks cheat just for fun. Some cheat due to greed — they already have all they can use, but greed is never satisfied. Some may cheat due to arrogance — there are rules, but it doesnt apply to them, just to lesser folks. And some may just not know the rules.
As to lack of confidence, in fact, I think you need some level of confidence, just to be able to cheat. Following the rules is less daring, and less chancy.
I agree.
You are correct. Sorry. I forgot about the psychopaths and sociopaths in society. And since many “CEO” types display the same traits, it’s not unusual for coaches to act in such a way.
So I amend my previous comment in the same vein as “rules are made to keep good people from being interested in doing bad things.” There are some who will do bad regardless of the rules.
Winning>Losing>Winning By cheating>Losing by cheating. I am not happy that we are losing. But to say we should sink to the level of programs who are cheating, that’s bs.
Winning>Losing>Winning By cheating>Losing by cheating.
Agreed.
What I’m saying is that integrity matters a lot less than W/L, yet fans are clinging to integrity and making it more important than it really is right now because it’s all we’ve got.
It really appears you think integrity = a loser. That winning = cheating.
And I guess that means the Mike Riley had a streak where he cheated every year, and got to a bowl game each one of those.
I see no one on here who is saying we should start cheating. But we should strive for a winning attitude, and the coach should be leading the way.
Wooh I’m glad that hot cleared up, I was really hoping you weren’t for bending the rules to get a winning program, hade worried for a split second. I think that the main issue that we disagree on isn’t whether cheating is right or wrong, but whether Riley possesses the qualities to build a winning program ( such as confidence and a will to win). I believe he still has those and is working towards that. I think that right now we have reached a point where we have our opinions on which side we stand on so the point is moot to try and convince each other otherwise, just going to have to wait for September 1st….and I can’t wait.
True dat — come that first couple games, I suspect there will be a LOT of eyes taking it all in. …. the acid test for Riley nowdays taking his job seriously. If they crush Nichols, and show some competitive performance with Wisconsin,……whell, shiit, maybe Riley can pull his career back out of the fire.
Back on the bandwagon? Not likely. He needs to get back to occasionally challenging for the conference title, like he showed can happen, a few years ago.
Found this gem on the OSUbeavers.com website! It’s a good well done video!
http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072712aaa.html
If anyone’s wondering why I respond so late at night….it’s because I work a monday thru friday 12pm-8:30pm shift and I stay up late.
Anyways, I think Angry is wanting a coach a bit more like Mike Gundy of Ok State Coach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=aoMmbUmKN0E
For those that want/need the embedded version, here it is. I wasn’t logged in when I first posted the video, so I couldn’t edit it. sorry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZU5AnxwIAg
Yes, Gundy is an ideal coach. No BS, clear goals, commands respect, etc.
Gundy is one of favorite coaches in college. There was in interesting article that I read talking about his “I’m a man” speech. Basically it was about the how the payer was really upset about it because he thought he should still be starting because he is “doing the right things”. Kind of a classless move by the quarterback, makes me appreciate how Katz handled the quarterback situation with a lot of class last season.
http://m.espn.go.com/ncf/story?storyId=3341578
I’m a little confused. You want a coach that defends his player to the press because the player’s feelings were hurt? Or do you want a coach that gets outwardly angry defending his players across situations? Or just a more outwardly angry coach in general? Does Gundy command respect or fear? Does Oky State win just because of T. Boone cash? Just thinking out loud.
I don’t think you know Okie St football and Gundy, so I guess this is a pass. I personally don’t need someone who throws any kind of fit in public as a coach. But some people like that. The meaning behind the words are the important part. He has an actual topic to discuss, and he delivers that topic in his way.
Disagree with the means? Fine.
Disagree with the end? Not fine.
Thaws guys want Woody Hayes to come off the side and slug other teams players to show how to fire up the team.
It’s also interesting that someone would recall a .750+ coach in such a way. Anyone who knows the whole story… non-existent… can come forward now. Or… anyone who is a troll for any team anti— OSU, oSu or tOSU can just stfu.
A head coach should publicly state more team goals and expectations for the season. He should exude enough confidence that based off his leadership a bowl game is the minimum expectation every year. Any year that doesn’t happen he should clearly say he didn’t do a good enough job and state that he does not find those results at all acceptable for himself or his team.
In the meantime, OSU will be making the final decison on whether OS or the Angrybeaver is painted on the 50 yard line for 2012 very soon. It is an interesting decision, based off Tinker favoring OSU being involved more directly for marketing starting with the 2013 rebranding.
Reser – OS or Angrybeaver Logo?
http://beaverbyte.com
I played for a guy who did not say much of anything, Jim Sochor. We almost always won and he produced possibly more NFL qbs (with no scholarships to boot) than any other college coach in a twenty year period. It really does not matter what a coach says or does not say. What is important is how he molds the clay.
Ugh!
You had to bring up someone who could beat Sac State in his sleep?
I remember Sochor. He was all about Eastern philosophy if I remember correctly. He certainly had a vision for his teams. It was just an unorthodox vision. But at least he would talk about it publicly.
Besides Ken O, I think the most famous UCD alum was a kicker for San Diego… and a one-time Wheel host.
Unless you consider Dallas to be in the East, Sochor was not devoted to Eastern philosophy. He was a friend of Tom Landry and the Cowboys tried several times to get Sochor on their staff. With that said,did anybody critique every word of Tom Landry?
Landry was not only questioned, he was unceremoniously canned. His restaurants do make a good Cobb Salad though.
Maybe you missed it as one of his players, but I remember Sochor from being a fan of NDSU in the early 80’s. He would mention the Tao and Sun Tzu and other philosophies when talking about football and it being a means to an end. He also wanted to develop his players into well-rounded people. But he would always talk in terms of winning being the reward for hard work and cooperation. There was no hope involved. He just said, “You do the right thing at the right time, and you will get the result you seek.”
I remember before the 1985 playoff game against NDSU, Sochor said something innocuous about being surprised that NDSU “jumped so high in the rankings” in order to make the playoffs. But we’re talking about a team who just won out the season in order to take their conference jumping two Cali teams who lost their final tilts (Sac State was one, and UCD was the team that beat them).
Well, Solomonson took that interview and told his players that Sochor thought they didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs… that they didn’t deserve to be at Toomey playing another game. I remember Chris Petersen had a decent game in terms of percentages, but NDSU wouldn’t even bend against UCD’s offense that day. It wasn’t even a fair fight.
I guess you could point to Sochor talking about an opponent and having those words backfire. But I would say that he was out of character in that interview. He disrespected his opponent (just slightly, but enough), and he was unclear in his meaning.
Ahhhh… two and two….
You were the one who gave us insight about Petersen when the coaching revolving doors started whirling. This makes sense now.
The premise here is that Riley doesn’t understand what his job is. You’re making a big deal out of some comments he makes at a press conference, something that is supposed to simply be a publicity gig.
A publicity gig? Sure.
That may be the point, any public statements by a head coach should be used to further his true goals, be that to inspire his troops, intimidate his opponents, attract recruits, or generate fan excitement. Those are all areas (there are others as well) which can further the overall goal of winning with a clean program.
A leader must watch his words, especially during a “publicity gig”.
@beaverkman RT ?@BryanDFischer
USC is done for 2013. RT @gmartlive #USC receives a commitment from Houston (Texas) four-star defensive end Torrodney Prevot Sunday.
Wow, that is fast! Yeah, I know they had scholarship restrictions, still a full class that is ranked #1, oh boy.
Riley understands what his job is, he’s hoping like hell he has just enough talent to get to a minor bowl game and squelch the restless for another couple of years. Bobby D. Is hoping the same thing so he won’t actually have to make a decision .
I always appreciate your insider information.
Seriously OT, anyone heard the Markus Wheaton radio commercials?
What is so wrong with taking 5 minutes to prep the athlete before recording an advertising commercial? This is a serious pet peave of mine. Poor Makus is convincing no one to buy game tickets with his pitch. He sounds like he’s coming off a 2 day bender. I’ve seen him in his natural personality in the Beavers w/o Borders film. He has personality!
Gawd I hate that!
A legitimate pet peeve with which I agree. The sad thing is that this is so typical of OS(U) marketing.
Well I think it is very common amongst all athletes so I’m not picking on OSU exclusively. These athletes are a blast to watch and they can do things that average schmucks like me cannot, but they are not motivational speakers for sure.
Remember when Rocky Balboa tried to do a commercial?
Or Larry Bird’s old 7-up commercials where he could hardly enunciate through his marble-mouthed, southern Indiana drawl.
From the recent Sporting News poll of recent recruits:
4. Would you rather be recruited by a father figure or a “cool best friend” type of guy?
Answers
Father figure: 40
Cool best friend: 31
A coach who could be a little bit of both: 16
It doesn’t matter if it’s a school I want to go to: 3
I’d want to have one of each type on the staff: 2
Someone who will be honest and be himself, whether it’s a father figure or a friend: 2
They didn’t ask about the a-hole friend who has nice toys.
IAGDTBAB!
Any guesses?
Jermel Walker!
I was hoping it was Sean Harlow or Doug Brenner. I’ll take Walker though. He’s a speed demon. It looks like our Inland commits worked him over good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKSQ_rLIEaA