Is our head coach. I feel bad for him. He’ll never get the chance to be his own man. The zombie bite got him.

Click for image: Jonathan Riley Zombie Locker

What do you guys make of the hires?

Jim Michalczik – OL

Brian Lindgren – QB/OC

Trent Bray — LBs

Update: Keith Heyward confirmed by one of my good sources.

The only one I’m familiar with as a coach is Bray. As I wrote in the prior thread, he started his career with a lot of promise, but the Nebby LBs got worse over his tenure. Good recruiter when he was at OSU and by all accounts at NE, too. Beavgopher, who watched every Nebby game, confirmed this as well. So is the problem Bray’s coaching, or were he and/or his players bitten by Riley’s zombie football bug?

What about the transfer of Carta-Samuels, and if we do land him, what it means for current QBs on the roster?

Today we reportedly hired this guy. Riley’s director of football ops at Nebraska. He was also Riley’s guy since 2003 at OSU.

Welcome our new head coach, Jonathan Riley!

I was high on Smith just a few days ago, but now I am seeing (if the rumors are true) his one glaring flaw: he’s too emotionally tied to OSU.

With GA we had the opposite — he didn’t seem at all invested in the place. Now we get a guy who is so obsessed with OSU that everyone on the staff has to be a Beaver, even if they’re cancers (Riley), unqualified (Bray/Riley/Dan VanDeReit), or under-performed elsewhere (Bray/Riley/Dan VanDeReit) with all the resources and talent one could ask for. Not only that, but those coaches don’t have the disciplined, rigid mindset needed to win. Smith has it, but he’s considering hiring bozos around him because of emotions.

Smith has the traits to lead. Why is it that people don’t self-examine themselves and see the errors of their ways? Why is it that Smith can’t see that having Riley and Bray around is an emotional drain on the players and program; they are symbols of the past. Bias for the known, of course, but what an error. If he only could be objective…I can see how this will end if he doesn’t get some fresh, outside blood into this program.

I went from high on Smith to being very concerned about the rumored supporting staff.

If he hires Riley and Bray he will fail. Heyward and Breckterfield are the only former Beavers who should be considered for openings. Period. I don’t want to hear that Riley would make a neat QB coach, etc. Riley is a program sapping cancer. He’s the prodigal grandpa — “a winning story”…said no one ever. Bray used to be very promising until he hitched his wagon to Riley and lost all his edge in the process. The same will happen to Smith with Riley and Bray around. It’s like zombie football…once Riley bites someone, it spreads. Bray is infected. They’re lingering around the program like predators…trying to bite Smith.

Incestuous, zombie football.

The last coaching cycle, I targeted Bronco Mendenhall as the #1 choice. You can read about this here. Of course, when GA became available, I was high on that like everyone else. Seemed great based on the little info we had on him. Egg on everyone’s face with GA. Who could know he was mentally unstable, etc?

This cycle, I said I wanted someone with PNW ties who would “get the culture”, etc. I targeted Baldwin as my #1 guy, but I had Smith up there the more I looked into him. By the end it was a toss up, and I gave Baldwin the slight edge. After watching the press conference yesterday, I think we took the right guy in Smith. Main reason I liked Baldwin slightly better was the media kept saying Smith had no personality. That’s not what I saw. I saw a focused, bright, articulate and passionate personality. Once I realized the media was wrong (shocker), Smith became a home run hire in my book.

Laugh at that all you want.

But the guy has over-achieved his entire life and knows how to win. I also agree with Smith’s assessment that the team isn’t as far off as they look. With a proper QB things would have looked much better last year. I think by year 2 or 3 Smith is winning. Yes, a lot depends on the staff. Even if we don’t get Heyward at DC, which I think we will, Smith knows he needs to get some great recruiters and sell the place. The only thing I don’t like about Smith: he seems to want to hire ALL Beavers. I think if he’s going to fail, it’s because of that. Some outside perspective is a good thing, and this can’t be “Let’s get the Fiesta Bowl team together as coaches”. Last time we saw a coach “get the band back together” they were basically a Milli Vanilli cover band. So, Heyward and Breckterfield are the only two I’d want. Both are legit at what they do and just happen to be Beavers. That’s fine. But don’t put a Beaver everywhere unless they’re truly the best fit for the job. I also didn’t like how there was so much reminiscing about the past during the presser. That is a bit concerning. It implies he’s already succeeded and might take some edge off.

Finally, I also like that Smith, if he is successful, will likely stay put. He’s raising a family and genuinely loves Corvallis. The price is okay at 1.9 mil. Overall, I think Barnes did a nice job. It might not work out, but it’s a great fit all around and the best possible hire under the tough circumstances. I personally really like it. It feels good to have “one of us” leading the way. GA never seemed to truly like Corvallis, just as Taggart doesn’t seem to like Eugene. They say the right things, but you can tell…something is just off. With Smith it just feels right. I was craving a good cultural fit with a plan, and he fits both bills. Good hire.