Nebraska announces the hiring of Mike Riley as head coach.

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tinyarch said:
I don't know anything about this coach...but then again I didn't know much about Coach Kill before he came to Minnesota. I recall, however, the meltdown that happened here when Maturi hired Coach Kill. Most people thought it was the end of the world because we hadn't hired a big name coach. Time will tell if Riley follows the path of Coach Kill or if he follows the path of Tim Brewster.
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Well both the Brew and Kill path at Nebraska gets you fired. So Riley better hope its more of a Nick Saban path or at least a 10+ minimum win season path or he'll be gone as well. Keep in mind Riley has only won 10 games one season.

Go gophers!!
 


We were all wrong. Nebraska has become realistic, they know the program will never regain the highs of the 80's. They know they can't afford a coach with the stature of Bo and have decided to downgrade!!!
 

As a Oregon State alum, all I can say is thank you Nebraska. Great person and a good coach who is trending downward. Horrible in game coach, however. He had run his course in Corvallis and I'm glad he left on his own terms, because it was headed towards an ugly firing. Speculation was that he had some illness, because he has really looked tough recently, and might retire. This is a shocker of the first order. Husker fans better get used to really bad clock management and stupid penalties that seem to happen over and over. I'm praying to god he takes most of his staff with him. If they did not like Pelini's D, wait till they see Mark Bankers'.
 

tinyarch said:
I don't know anything about this coach...but then again I didn't know much about Coach Kill before he came to Minnesota. I recall, however, the meltdown that happened here when Maturi hired Coach Kill. Most people thought it was the end of the world because we hadn't hired a big name coach. Time will tell if Riley follows the path of Coach Kill or if he follows the path of Tim Brewster.
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I was very disappointed with the Kill hire. Guess I learned I can't judge a hire on the start date.

Riley has the reputation of being a great coach, but I don't think they've gotten anyone better than Pelini.
 


Gopher07 said:
That's being kind. In 14 years as a college head coach, he has finished with a losing record six times, and finished with nine or more wins four times. His last five seasons at the helm of the Beavers:

5-7
3-9
9-4
7-6
5-7
---
29-33 (.468)

Nebraska must really think he is in such a bad situation in Corvallis that getting close to .500 is miracle work. Maybe they're right ... but to me it's a total head scratcher.
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I wouldn't dismiss this as a bad hire. What he did at OSU was miracle work- he took a program that was historically horrible (think nearly Macalester bad!) and made them relevant with several years going to decent bowls and two years in which they were knocked out of the Rose Bowl in their last game. He's had a run of mediocre years recently largely due to it being nearly impossible to recruit to Corvalis, which has led to some disgruntled fans here (who will now realize how good of a coach he was when OSU descends back into the cellar). Nebraska got an excellent coach, one of the nicest/calmest coaches in the country and if he develops a staff that can recruit I have no doubt they'll return to prominence.
 

supadupafly said:
Didn't realize that Mike Riley was already 61 years old. Wow.....makes this hire even more surprising. Taking that into consideration, it seems like a place holder and not a long term hiring, imo. I always kind of wondered why Riley always seemed to look so tired on TV, well now I know. ;)
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I am very disappointed. They hired a terrific guy who can really coach. I was hoping they would hire a name assistant who would blow up on the job. I would have preferred seeing him at scum, because we would play not him every year, but he might have won multiple B1G titles at Michigan, I think that will be harder at Neb.
Should be a lot of interesting chess matches between he and Claeys over the next few years. I don't think the rest of the schools are going to get away with being as run heavy as we are with him in the division. He uses the whole field.
If the Oregon St fans are happy, they are nuts. He made them competitive in a small state with a lousy budget. The only way they will do as well is if they are incredibly lucky in who they hire, or some rich person steps forward to fund the program like Knight does at Oregon. Their ADd better be a brilliant hirer or they are screwed.
 

Beavblazer says:
DECEMBER 4, 2014 AT 10:15 AM
Rating: +4 (from 4 votes)
The Nebraska AD just realized he misunderstood the booster when they said to hire “the guy from Oregon”

He’s asking for a redo and says he meant to call Scott Frost.

Reply
 

beavergopher said:
As a Oregon State alum, all I can say is thank you Nebraska. Great person and a good coach who is trending downward. Horrible in game coach, however. He had run his course in Corvallis and I'm glad he left on his own terms, because it was headed towards an ugly firing. Speculation was that he had some illness, because he has really looked tough recently, and might retire. This is a shocker of the first order. Husker fans better get used to really bad clock management and stupid penalties that seem to happen over and over. I'm praying to god he takes most of his staff with him. If they did not like Pelini's D, wait till they see Mark Bankers'.
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Said the fan of every team that loses their coach. :)
 



So you fire a guy who had 9 or 10 wins EVERY YEAR, had never won less than 5 games in the B1G, and had a 71% winning percentage to hire a guy who was 46-42 (52%) and never won his conference. Wow.

I would have thought it'd be the hot next coordinator or an NFL guy. Not a retread. I just don't get this. The only other thought is if they want Craig Bohl but want him to have a couple years at Wyoming first? I mean, how long will Riley even coach if things go well?

This has to be one of the most baffling hires I've ever seen.
 

I'm thinking Riley got sick & tired of playing second fiddle (even when he had good teams) to Nike U in Eugene.
 

MNVCGUY said:
That one came out of left field, don't remember seeing his name as a candidate anywhere. Fans over at HuskerOnline are in full on meltdown mode about this, pretty funny stuff.
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Don't know anything about Riley but this alone tells me it will probably be a good hire.
 

Lakeville Goldy said:
So you fire a guy who had 9 or 10 wins EVERY YEAR, had never won less than 5 games in the B1G, and had a 71% winning percentage to hire a guy who was 46-42 (52%) and never won his conference. Wow.

I would have thought it'd be the hot next coordinator or an NFL guy. Not a retread. I just don't get this. The only other thought is if they want Craig Bohl but want him to have a couple years at Wyoming first? I mean, how long will Riley even coach if things go well?

This has to be one of the most baffling hires I've ever seen.
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Comparing W-L records at Nebraska and Oregon State really isn't fair. I'd say it's a little concerning for Nebraska fans that his teams the past few years were seemingly trending downward though.
 



Of course, Nebraska never asked my opinion; I'm going to give it. I think they wanted to hire the "Anti-Bo Pelini". Too often administrations get fed up with their coach and look for the polar opposite. They have it in Mike Riley. It's similar to what we've experienced with Mason - Brewster - Kill. For what it's worth, here's Riley's tenure on a graph. Riley Tenure.jpg

As you can see, 97 & 98 were Ok. He left for the NFL and came back in 2003. The team held at the levels of the coach he replaced for two years. After that, they've been on a holding pattern. Can he get Nebraska up to the Pelini level? Even if he did, would he be able to hold it. It looks like historically; he would not.
 

Mike Riley is a heck of a football coach is a great with QBs...which we all know is the difference between 8-4 and 11-1 and a B1G Title Game.

That said, I fully expect that this is a 3-5 year plan that ends with a Scott Frost hire. Would not be surprised to see Frost become the new Asst HC/OC at Nebraska and grow into the job over the next few years.

NE Couldn't hire Frost yet, but they can if Frost takes a MAC team to great heights over the next few years or works up through the NE ranks in that time.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
Mike Riley is a heck of a football coach is a great with QBs...which we all know is the difference between 8-4 and 11-1 and a B1G Title Game.

That said, I fully expect that this is a 3-5 year plan that ends with a Scott Frost hire. Would not be surprised to see Frost become the new Asst HC/OC at Nebraska and grow into the job over the next few years.

NE Couldn't hire Frost yet, but they can if Frost takes a MAC team to great heights over the next few years or works up through the NE ranks in that time.
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Bingo!
 

Mike Riley coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to two grey Cups in three year (1988 and 1990). He comes across as a very, very nice guy (and this appears to be completely genuine). I had heard that Pelini's personality rubbed fans and boosters the wrong way, Riley's won't.

Still a strange (weak) hire in my mind.
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

GopherinPhilly said:
Mike Riley is a heck of a football coach is a great with QBs...which we all know is the difference between 8-4 and 11-1 and a B1G Title Game.

That said, I fully expect that this is a 3-5 year plan that ends with a Scott Frost hire. Would not be surprised to see Frost become the new Asst HC/OC at Nebraska and grow into the job over the next few years.

NE Couldn't hire Frost yet, but they can if Frost takes a MAC team to great heights over the next few years or works up through the NE ranks in that time.
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No way the Nebraska AD has a 3-5 year leash if this doesn't go well. He needs Riley to win more than Pelini did or the AD is gone.

Go Gophers!!
 

Hey, the guy was 93-80 overall! Oh, I mean Bo Pellini never won many games. Oh, I mean...
 




All my Nebby fans at the office have said (even prior to this hire) that the original plan was to bring in Sweater Vest for a few years and hire Frost as OC. Then he would take over in transition. Sweater Vest has the 5 or 6 game suspension, but maybe administration thought he was too much of a risk? Take it for what it's worth.
 

It would be funny if OSU hired Frost.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
That said, I fully expect that this is a 3-5 year plan that ends with a Scott Frost hire. Would not be surprised to see Frost become the new Asst HC/OC at Nebraska and grow into the job over the next few years.

NE Couldn't hire Frost yet, but they can if Frost takes a MAC team to great heights over the next few years or works up through the NE ranks in that time.
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I don't buy it. IF that were true, why not just stick with Pelini? Too many variables in college football for a long con.
 


Not a chance in hell this is a better hire than Pelini.
 

SJUgopher said:
I was very disappointed with the Kill hire. Guess I learned I can't judge a hire on the start date.

Riley has the reputation of being a great coach, but I don't think they've gotten anyone better than Pelini.
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Jerry Kill had the overall record and the resume as a program builder. He wasn't the splash hire or big name, but he had the credentials and has since proved his value.
 

I actually think Nebraska made a fantastic hire. Mike Riley is a better coach than Bo Pelini (imo). Winning at Oregon St is a monumental task, think like Indiana but worse. Oregon isn't a particularly talent rich state and they are second fiddle (for the kids that want to stay home). We think of Oregon State differently because Mike Riley did such a nice job.

This could feel somewhat Mason-esque. However, I think there are way more roadblocks to success at Oregon St than at Minnesota.

I think Nebraska just got quite a bit better.
 

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