He knew his contract was an albatross.  One thing we know is the guy genuinely loved OSU (due to his father, him painting the stadium growing up, etc). Starting to think he realized the contract had become a burden, he still wanted to get paid a few more years, and there was no way for OSU to buy him out. Is it possible he consciously yet cryptically handed OSU a gift? I.e instead of saddling OSU with his buyout; he went to someplace he cares nothing about, and is having them pay it? Just an idea.

I’m sure a lot of the other stuff we speculated is true, but I think this maybe factored in.

Then again, maybe not. This from Eggers:

On Monday, before he left to recruit in California, Riley had a
meeting with De Carolis. One source said it was just the two of them. A
second source said President Ed Ray was also on hand.

“Something happened in that meeting,” the first OSU staffer says. “That’s when it changed.”

Athird source — who had not talked directly to Riley, but had spoken
with someone who had — says while De Carolis had no intention of firing
Riley, the athletic director pulled back on his support in some way. It
may have been that De Carolis wanted more control and influence on what
Riley felt should be his decisions. It may have been De Carolis wanted
Riley to give back some of the seven years left on his contract. It may
have been De Carolis didn’t want to extend the contracts of assistant
coaches beyond next year.

So Riley left for California with mixed emotions about his future at Oregon State.

{and then skipping a few quotes and such to get to the “time line” type stuff…}

Riley was to have headed to Hawaii for another recruiting trip on
Thursday. Instead, he returned to Corvallis Wednesday night. On Thursday
morning, he was no longer the Beavers’ coach.

1. Jack Del Rio — classic value trap. NFL success and a big name make him alluring, but you do not want to get involved with a father-son relationship when we don’t know if the son can play. Luke Del Rio has looked awful in limited time. With Jack there, he likely wins the job. We don’t want another incestuous relationship.

2. Brady Hoke — Basically the guy is Riley reincarnated. Look at his record and temperament. He just finished ruining a prestigious Michigan program. Also, would anyone be excited?

3. Ed Orgeron — 3-21 conference record. Horrible coach. I don’t care if he can recruit.

4. June Jones — this can’t even be serious…?

5. Dennis Erickson — ^ see above.

We need an exciting hire. This doesn’t necessarily mean a young guy. Bronco Mendenhall, for example, is older and would bring excitement. But these guys would not. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

If people don’t believe me, was I right on Riley? Yes I was. I would be right on these guys, too.  Very disappointed with some of the names gaining steam.

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.