We’ve had this debate nearly a decade. Whether the coach or the town was holding the program from taking the next step.

Now we get the opportunity to find out. Of course, part of that relies on BDC hiring a coach we think is equal to, or greater than, Riley. If he hires a dud the comparison falls apart.

But let’s say he hires someone we like.

a. How long does the new coach get to beat Riley’s achievements? To me next year’s roster looks rough. If the new coach wins a few games, do the Pollys say “told you so” and Riley suddenly looks good?

b. What if Riley fails in Nebraska? Does this prove he’s bad? And failure for Nebraska is 9 or fewer wins.

c. What if the new coach lands 4-star recruits, but the Beavs level of success stays the same? Do we then conclude Riley was in fact coaching up the 3-stars? Maybe rating services are just very wrong (most agree they are flawed, if not outright inaccurate).

Very complex stuff, but we’re going to have to think how to fairly analyze this to know where the true problems lie. No matter what happens, I think taking the risk in this case is worth whatever outcome.

I’m iffy on it. He did say he won’t be hiring anyone from Riley’s staff (but that could be because Riley is taking the “core” of his staff).

I wrote Bob with these suggestions:

• Bronco Mendenhall
• Bryan Harsin
• Matt Wells
• Scott Frost

That’s my short list. It’s his job to research their contracts not mine, so I am not sure how realistic those guys are. Keep the names coming and maybe someone intrigues me more than these guys.

Extend it and you get some less interesting guys.

• Troy Calhoun (I’ve always respected this guy)
• Jeff Casteel
• Will Muschamp
• Justin Wilcox
• Jack Del Rio
• Beau Baldwin

etc.

Then the retreads like Erickson, Bellotti, etc. No thanks.

This is shocking in the sense we’re finally moving on (hip hip horray!!!), but it is not shocking at all given Riley and is “loyalty” BS. We have seen him leave before, we’ve seen his true colors with the Brenda Tracy situation, and now we see them again. He’s not loyal and has no character. But thank God he is gone.

The downside is we lost the option to hire Lance Leipold by just days.

An AngryBeavs dark horse favorite for years, Leipold makes the jump to D1

Read full story here.

It’s good to see a D1 school take notice of the buy, but of course the downside is that this confirms once again that when there’s an intriguing coach out there, OSU fans can’t even consider him.