Oklahoma football
Why Riley is the likely successor to Stoops
NEW ORLEANS — Lincoln Riley was loaded down Tuesday as he gingerly descended the mobile stairway out of the United Airlines charter on the tarmac at Louis Armstrong International Airport.
Pink backpack. Diaper bag. Car seat.
The valuable cargo, 4-month-old Stella, was carried down by Riley’s wife, Caitlin. Riley’s job was packmule, befitting a guy from Muleshoe, and he did it well.
Just like his day job. OU offensive coordinator.
The Sooners are in the Sugar Bowl, Big 12 champions for the second straight year, not just because a playmaking quarterback fell out of the sky, Dede Westbrook turned into a star receiver and Bob Stoops’ staff recruited two great tailbacks and a productive offensive line. They are in the Sugar Bowl because Riley’s offensive engineering is everything Stoops hoped it would be when he hired Riley 23 months ago.
And Stoops got more than an offensive mastermind. He might have found his successor.
Stoops shows no signs of slowing down or losing interest. He might be the Sooner coach another 10 years. But if you had to pick the most likely coach, on the OU payroll or off, to succeed Stoops when that day comes, Riley is the easy choice.
The OU football tradition was built by young coaches with a fire in their belly and a light bulb in their brain. Bud Wilkinson. Jim Mackenzie. Chuck Fairbanks. Barry Switzer. Stoops. None ever had been a head coach before taking the keys to the big office in Norman.
The Sooners have whiffed on elevating some assistants. Gomer Jones in the ‘60s, John Blake in the ‘90s. But for the most part, OU football decision-makers have identified sharp young coaches, showed faith and trust in their abilities, and reaped the bounty.
Riley fits that mode. He’s 33, with great people skills, great football mind, great demeanor.
A major OU administrator alerted me to Riley even before his first game in September 2015, saying everyone on campus was impressed with Stoops’ new hire. And then came the football, with a rejuvenated offense that has been superb two straight years.
Athletic director Joe Castiglione, who probably hopes he never again has to hire a football coach, also has to have his eye on Riley.
“That’s so beyond me,” Riley said. “That’s honestly obviously hard to imagine.”
Riley was a hot candidate for the University of Houston job, which came open when Tom Herman went to Texas. A report from cbssports.com said Riley “hit it out of the
park” when interviewing with the Cougars.
But the Houston job went to U of H assistant Major Applewhite. A source said Riley wasn’t comfortable with the huge buyout Houston wanted in the contract for whoever it hired – the Cougars are tired of losing quality coaches, and you can’t blame them. I don’t know if Riley could have gotten the Houston job. But it’s wise for him to think about things like buyouts, because even if Riley leaves to be a head coach – for Houston, his alma mater Texas Tech, wherever – he could also come back to Norman whenever Stoops ends a glorious career.
“Hopefully I’ve made a good impression on people,” Riley said. “They’ve made a good impression on me. I wouldn’t have stayed here if I didn’t love it as much as I do here.
“Hopefully we’re doing something right.”
Riley is a rarity in this profession. Fast-rising but slow-moving. He’s made only two moves since leaving Muleshoe High School for his freshman year at Tech in 2002. Riley went to East Carolina in 2010, then to OU in 2015. He’s not a job-hopper.
“We’re very, very invested here,” Riley said. “We’re not the kind of people that are just going to up and move all the time. There were some opportunities at other times in my career that I didn’t do things that people told me I was crazy for. That’s not us.
“If I ever gotta be the guy that’s moving around every other year, I’m going to go do something else. It’s not worth it to me. We’re at a place we love and we definitely don’t take that for granted.”
Eventually, it could be time to leave. If Stoops keeps coaching and keeps winning, Riley could get restless. Merv Johnson had a great career and established deep roots, but there’s always that what-if. It’s the same thing Brent Venables has to be wondering, after great runs at OU and now at Clemson. Most coaches want to run their own program.
“I think you always gotta do your due diligence, because things don’t just come around every day,” Riley said. “But I know how much we like it here, me and my wife, and then also just how good this place has been to us.”
Some day, OU could be even better to Riley. It could make him the head coach.