Nebraska hired Oregon State's Mike Riley on Thursday in what was one of the quieter coaching searches in college football. Riley had been the longest tenured coach in the Pac-12 before the Cornhuskers whisked him away.
Despite talk of retirement, Riley is now moving on to another interesting challenge. Nebraska is 25th in the AP College Football Poll but lost two of its last three games. Fired coach Bo Pelini went 67-27 over six seasons with the school, win at least nine games each year. But merely being good isn't enough. The hope is that the team will return to the top of the Big Ten West next year.
Riley is accustomed to challenges. Recruiting to Oregon State, with a half-finished stadium and a small town, wasn't always the easiest of tasks. But Nebraska offers the allure of brand name recognition for potential players. Riley, who comes across as the Nice Guy, has enough fire left in him at 62 to reconnect Nebraska with its proud tradition.
"Don't be fooled by the smile on Riley's face or his gentle sideline demeanor," Lindsay Schnell of Sports Illustrated wrote. "He's competitive to his core. If he took this job as a way to say, 'I'll show you,' I wouldn't be stunned."
Schnell is referring to Riley's long and successful career with Oregon State that never quite saw the run of conference championships some fans yearned for. But the Beavers didn't seem disappointed with anything Riley was doing. In fact, Oregon State athletic director Bob De Carolis didn't even know Riley was in talks with Nebraska. But the opportunity to coach a big time program with an abundance of resources finally at his disposal was too much for Riley to turn down.
Everyone around college football always seemed to know that Riley had the talent and ability for a bigger stage, all he was lacking was the opportunity. Now, he's front and center with the spotlight on.
Let's see what happens next.
