Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983)
Playing quarterback himself as a walk-on player at Texas Tech and known for his "Air Raid" offensive scheme, Riley has mentored three Heisman Trophy winners at quarterback (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Caleb Williams) as well as another starting NFL quarterback and Super Bowl MVP in Jalen Hurts.[Brianna Dix. " The evolution of Oklahoma's Air Raid under Lincoln Riley". USA Today, June 3, 2021. Accessed December 1, 2021.]
Early life
Riley ran track at Muleshoe High School in Muleshoe, a small town of roughly 5,000 in
West Texas. He began his high school career at defensive end and made the move to quarterback for his junior and senior seasons.
Riley played
quarterback at Texas Tech University as a walk-on in 2002,
behind senior starter and future Texas Tech coach
Kliff Kingsbury and back-up B. J. Symons.
Coaching career
Early career
In 2003, Riley became a student assistant to Mike Leach,
gradually progressing to graduate assistant and then to receivers coach.
East Carolina
Riley went on to serve five seasons as offensive coordinator at East Carolina University
under
Ruffin McNeill.
Oklahoma
Riley was hired by
Bob Stoops to be the offensive coordinator for the Oklahoma Sooners on January 12, 2015.
In his first season at Oklahoma, Riley led the Sooners to the 7th ranked offense in the country while Bob Stoops led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff. He also won the
Broyles Award, awarded the nation's top assistant coach. On June 7, 2017, Bob Stoops retired as head coach and Riley was named his successor.
In the 2017 season, Riley, anchored by Heisman winner
Baker Mayfield, led his team to the Big 12 conference championship, a No. 2 ranking in the College Football Playoff ranking, and a berth in one of the CFP semifinal games at the Rose Bowl. Oklahoma went on to lose the 2018 Rose Bowl to Georgia, in double overtime, 54–48.
It was the first of three consecutive 12–2 seasons for the Sooners under Riley. Moreover, OU won the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 Big 12 Championship Games during Riley's tenure there. As of the day he had left, Oklahoma (and Riley) had won all four of the revived Big XII Championship Games since the conference resumed them. However, the Sooners had already been eliminated from contention for the Big XII Championship Game for the 2021 season and would soon to move to a new conference.
Riley finished his tenure at Oklahoma with a 55–10 record and the highest winning percentage in the history of coaches at the OU program. In his relatively brief time there, he mentored two quarterbacks who won the Heisman Trophy: Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray in consecutive seasons - both quarterbacks who were transfers and had already progressed under other staffs. Another who did not win the trophy, Jalen Hurts, went on to an NFL career as a starting pro quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fox Sports Radio and other sources reported that Riley was unhappy with Oklahoma's decision to move to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) from their traditional home in the Big 12 Conference.[Ryan Burschinger. " Lincoln Riley Was Unhappy With Oklahoma Leaving Big-12 For SEC". Fox Sports Radio, November 28, 2021. Accessed December 1, 2021.][Sean Beckwith. " Sooners’ planned move to the SEC might’ve pushed Riley to USC". Deadspin, November 30, 2021. Accessed December 1, 2021.] OU's Athletic Director Joe Castiglione countered that Riley had been "on board" with Oklahoma's shift to the SEC.[" Lincoln Riley was 'on board' with Oklahoma's move to the SEC, AD says". The Athletic, November 29, 2021. Accessed December 1, 2021.]
USC
On November 28, 2021, Riley was named the 30th head coach of the USC Trojans football program representing the University of Southern California, replacing
Clay Helton. The move was widely praised in
Los Angeles area media, with the
Los Angeles Daily News calling it a walk-off home run hire for the Trojans after Riley's "brilliant" five years at Oklahoma, predicting that Riley would revive and transform not only USC football, but also Pac-12 football in general and all of "football in the western third of the country."
[Jon Wilner. " What USC’s hiring of Lincoln Riley means for the Pac-12 (hint: it’s gargantuan)". Los Angeles Daily News, November 30, 2021. Accessed December 3, 2021.] The
Los Angeles Times pointed out that Riley "still has an itch to scratch when it comes to winning at the highest level of the sport" and must feel he can "reach the summit more easily from USC."
[J. Brady McCollough. " Five things USC fans should know about new football coach Lincoln Riley". Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2021. Accessed December 3, 2021.] Riley himself cited, in an interview given to
SportsCenter two days later, the "history and tradition of one of the greatest college football programs of all time, the city, the
Mecca of sports right here in Los Angeles" were what had lured him over to USC.
[Wilton Jackson. " Video: Lincoln Riley Explains Why He Left Oklahoma for USC". Sports Illustrated, November 30, 2021. Accessed December 3, 2021.] Riley stated it was "tough" to leave Oklahoma but he "knew it was the right thing."
Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans started the season off hot going 6-0 but fell to the #20 Utes 43–42 on October 15, 2022.
Personal life
Riley graduated from Texas Tech in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science.
He has a wife and two daughters.
His younger brother,
Garrett Riley, previously served as the offensive coordinator at Clemson University and before that as running backs coach for Appalachian State.
Head coaching record
External links
