Nebraska announces the hiring of Mike Riley as head coach.

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Nokomis said:
Remember how people thought Maturi was a Wisconsin spy sent by Alvarez to destroy the Gophers? Maybe Eichorst is the same at Nebraska?
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MY GOD.
Barry is an evil genius.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
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.
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Exactly. At least Kill was a proven winner. What has Mike Riley done? 93-79 speaks for itself.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
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.
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Exactly. Nebraska doesn't have to be rebuilt. They are (were) looking for a guy to take them to the next level (Conference Championship, National Championship). This is very underwhelming if I'm a Cornhusker fan.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
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.
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I loved the hire of Kill at the time. But Riley also has the credentials.

Think of a coach going 58-63 in the Big 10 and going to 8 bowl games in 14 seasons at Indiana. . .that is similar to what Mike Riley has done at Oregon State (I actually think Indiana would have been easier to turn around).
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I loved the hire of Kill at the time. But Riley also has the credentials.

Think of a coach going 58-63 in the Big 10 and going to 8 bowl games in 14 seasons at Indiana. . .that is similar to what Mike Riley has done at Oregon State (I actually think Indiana would have been easier to turn around).
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Playing the underdog card is much different than being expected to produce. Not many coaches are good at both.
 


afurry91 said:
Exactly. At least Kill was a proven winner. What has Mike Riley done? 93-79 speaks for itself.
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I don't think you understand the Oregon State football program.

Prior to Riley -

Jerry Pettibone - 13-52-1
Dave Kragthorpe - 17-48-2
Joe Avezzano - 6-47-2

They were literally as bad (if not worse) than Indiana for DECADES before Mike Riley showed up. He worked a miracle there.
 

afurry91 said:
Playing the underdog card is much different than being expected to produce. Not many coaches are good at both.
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How is it not production? He didn't just play the underdog role, he made them a respectable football program.

Nick Saban wasn't winning Nat'l Championships every year at MSU. Certain programs have certain limitations.
 

Nokomis said:
Remember how people thought Maturi was a Wisconsin spy sent by Alvarez to destroy the Gophers? Maybe Eichorst is the same at Nebraska?
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Ha! I was literally just musing that same thought to myself about 15 minutes ago. Was something along the lines of: "Well I guess you can give credit to Becky for one thing. They sure are good at placing destructive moles in the AD position at conference rivals".
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
How is it not production? He didn't just play the underdog role, he made them a respectable football program.

Nick Saban wasn't winning Nat'l Championships every year at MSU. Certain programs have certain limitations.
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I'm just saying that there is a difference from being expected to win 6 games and being expected to win 11 games.
 



afurry91 said:
Exactly. At least Kill was a proven winner. What has Mike Riley done? 93-79 speaks for itself.
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Riley has also won 6 bowl games as a coach. How many bowl games has Kill won?

People trying to imply that Riley doesn't have the credentials are clueless. He is more accomplished than Kill.
 

scools12 said:
Riley has also won 6 bowl games as a coach. How many bowl games has Kill won?

People trying to imply that Riley doesn't have the credentials are clueless. He is more accomplished than Kill.
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19-26 in conference over last 5 years. I really don't see any other way to spin it. I believe Kill wins 10 games everywhere he goes.

What Mike Riley did was turn Oregon State into somewhere between year 2 and year 3 of what Kill did for us.

And now he's coaching Nebraska. Life is good for him.
 

I have no problem with Reilly and would have loved him as the Gophers hire in 2010. But he's 61 years old and it's hard to see how he's an upgrade.
 

scools12 said:
Riley has also won 6 bowl games as a coach. How many bowl games has Kill won?

People trying to imply that Riley doesn't have the credentials are clueless. He is more accomplished than Kill.
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Riley is 61. He is coming off a conference record of 2-7 where they lost 4 games by more than 24 points. Can you find another hire by a top BCS program of a coach that old coming off a bad season coaching his own recruits? I don't believe you could.

Mike Riley would have been a great hire for Kansas, for Nebraska not so much.

I like Mike Riley and hope he does well, except when he plays the Gophers, but I am glad I am not a Nebraska fan.
 



Nokomis said:
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.
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Not sure how Riley is a con as a HC, but he is 61 and wont be doing this for 10 more years. He is, however, the perfect HC to train a young talented OC how to be a HC...someone like Scott Frost, who is trained in the Chip Kelly offense mold but doesn't yet have enough experience to take the reigns as HC at a place like NE.

Win, win, win if it works...not a con regardless.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
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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I agree
 

scools12 said:
Riley has also won 6 bowl games as a coach. How many bowl games has Kill won?

People trying to imply that Riley doesn't have the credentials are clueless. He is more accomplished than Kill.
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With the exception of the 2005 an 2006 years Jerry Kill had or has never had his win total decrease from the same school. Every single year with the exception of those two his win total has either increased or stayed the same in the same program when he was there. The only two exceptions were after a 10 win season at SIU he had two 9 win seasons but he than had a 12 win season. Thats the only time his win total has ever decrease at the same school. Riley had a span of an average of 9 wins a season between 06-09 but since he has only averaged 5.8 wins a season. I would agree that if they had hired him after the 09 season this would blow the Kill hire out of the water but Riley seems to be past his prime and lost his momentum. He is already 61 as others have pointed out. Kill had never lost momentum at any of his previous stops when we hired him and still hasn't lost any momentum since. Riley has had much better individual seasons but considering his current trajectory I don't know if this is a better hire than when we hired Kill.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I don't think you understand the Oregon State football program.

Prior to Riley -

Jerry Pettibone - 13-52-1
Dave Kragthorpe - 17-48-2
Joe Avezzano - 6-47-2

They were literally as bad (if not worse) than Indiana for DECADES before Mike Riley showed up. He worked a miracle there.
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Not to mention competing with Phil Knight in recent years. OSU is tied with WSU at the bottom of Pac 12 as a job. I think Riley is a top 15 coach.
 

die hard gopher said:
With the exception of the 2005 an 2006 years Jerry Kill had or has never had his win total decrease from the same school. Every single year with the exception of those two his win total has either increased or stayed the same in the same program when he was there. The only two exceptions were after a 10 win season at SIU he had two 9 win seasons but he than had a 12 win season. Thats the only time his win total has ever decrease at the same school. Riley had a span of an average of 9 wins a season between 06-09 but since he has only averaged 5.8 wins a season. I would agree that if they had hired him after the 09 season this would blow the Kill hire out of the water but Riley seems to be past his prime and lost his momentum. He is already 61 as others have pointed out. Kill had never lost momentum at any of his previous stops when we hired him and still hasn't lost any momentum since. Riley has had much better individual seasons but considering his current trajectory I don't know if this is a better hire than when we hired Kill.
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Not taking anything away from Kill but Riley is a more accomplished coach.

Whether it is good hire or not for Nebraska is debatable and will be determined in the end but Riley most certainly has the credentials for the job.
 

Rumors now according to Tom Lemming that Ed Orgeron is interested in joining Riley's staff there. They have the same agent
 

scools12 said:
Not taking anything away from Kill but Riley is a more accomplished coach.

Whether it is good hire or not for Nebraska is debatable and will be determined in the end but Riley most certainly has the credentials for the job.
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Maybe more accomplished but who has the higher upside? Riley, 61 and seemingly trending down, or Jerry Kill, 53 and seemingly trending up?

FWIW, I would have thought neither to be in the mix for Nebraska.
 

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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kind of the way many Gopherholers were when Jerry Kill was hired?
 

GopherMike said:
kind of the way many Gopherholers were when Jerry Kill was hired?
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True. Wonder how many people at Husker Online are saying turned down the job before Riley got it. 2, 4, 76?
 

die hard gopher said:
With the exception of the 2005 an 2006 years Jerry Kill had or has never had his win total decrease from the same school. Every single year with the exception of those two his win total has either increased or stayed the same in the same program when he was there. The only two exceptions were after a 10 win season at SIU he had two 9 win seasons but he than had a 12 win season. Thats the only time his win total has ever decrease at the same school. Riley had a span of an average of 9 wins a season between 06-09 but since he has only averaged 5.8 wins a season. I would agree that if they had hired him after the 09 season this would blow the Kill hire out of the water but Riley seems to be past his prime and lost his momentum. He is already 61 as others have pointed out. Kill had never lost momentum at any of his previous stops when we hired him and still hasn't lost any momentum since. Riley has had much better individual seasons but considering his current trajectory I don't know if this is a better hire than when we hired Kill.
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and the only place he spent more than four years.
 

I just can't get over the age thing. He'll be 62 in July. I'm working on a big job in Omaha and wow! those Husker fans were baffled.
 

It is kind of strange a lot of OSU fans are actually happy Riley decided to leave. And if they aren't happy they at least don't seem to care. He's probably a good coach and sounds like a great guy, but I can't imagine this is the coach who brings Nebraska back to a national power.
 

GO4INLALALAND said:
I guess we can put the "Kill to Nebraska" rumors to rest now. I watch quite a bit of Pac 12 fb and OSU is a fun team to watch...very up tempo. However, they seem to make a lot of mistakes that have lead to losses. I put much of that on coaching. I thought Riley's days were numbered at OSU due to their decline. Neb might have just bailed Riley out by hiring him. My guess is that if OSU had another season next year that mimicked this year, he would have been fired. Very strange hire.
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...and time to start up the Kill-to-Oregon State rumors! :cool02:
 




Jike Spingleton said:
Never saw this one coming. Riley is a Corvallis native who bolted for the NFL in the late-90s after getting Oregon State out of a three-decade hole, then was given a second chance to return home when his replacement, Dennis Erickson, made the same NFL mistake a few years later. I really thought Riley would remain the Beavers' coach for the rest of his career.

The Big Ten added a really good coach and a genuinely good person. I just don't see this hire going over well with Husker fans.
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Riley is an Idaho native.
 

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