 Riley in 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1953-07-06)July 6, 1953 (age 72) Wallace, Idaho, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Corvallis (Corvallis, Oregon) |
| College | Alabama (1971–1974) |
| NFL draft | 1975: undrafted |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| |
Operations | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season | 12–8 (.600) (USFL) |
| Postseason | 6–2 (.750) (CFL) 7–3 (.700) (college bowls) 0–1 (.000) (USFL) |
| Career | 112–99 (.531) (college) 14–34 (.292) (NFL) 40–32 (.556) (CFL) 11–9 (.550) (WLAF) 5–3 (.625) (AAF) 12–9 (.571) (USFL) |
| Coaching profile atPro Football Reference | |
Michael Joseph Riley (born July 6, 1953) is an Americanfootball coach who was most recently thehead coach of theNew Jersey Generals of theUnited States Football League (USFL). He has previously served as the head coach of twocollege football programs:Oregon State (1997–1998, 2003–2014) andNebraska (2015–2017). Riley has also been the head coach of teams in four different professional leagues: theCanadian Football League (CFL),World League of American Football (WLAF),National Football League (NFL), andAlliance of American Football (AAF). He played college football for theAlabama Crimson Tide in the 1970s.
Born inWallace, Idaho, Riley is the eldest of three sons ofBud and Mary (Shumaker) Riley.[1][2][3][4] Bud was from a small town westernAlabama (Guin, AL), served in theU.S. Navy during World War II, and had played college football at theUniversity of Idaho inMoscow under head coachDixie Howell, a hall of famer as a player atAlabama.[1] After graduation, Bud worked for a mining company in Wallace and was asked by town leaders to coach at the high school;[5] Mary was from nearbyMullan, where her parents, Mike and Mary Shumaker, ran a hotel.[3][4] The family of four, now with middle brother Ed, moved from Wallace down toLewiston in 1959, where Bud was the head coach atLewiston High School for three seasons.
They moved up toMoscow in 1962, when Bud became a collegiate assistant coach at hisalma mater, theUniversity of Idaho, under new head coachDee Andros.[6] Youngest brother Pete was born while the family lived in Moscow. After three seasons on thePalouse, Andros was hired at Oregon State in 1965 and Bud joined his first staff inCorvallis and stayed for eight seasons, first as the secondary coach and later asdefensive coordinator. Bud went on to become a head coach in the CFL.[7]
Riley had a peripatetic youth and spent his first 11+ years innorthern Idaho, but considers Corvallis his hometown. He arrived in the spring of 1965, near the end of sixth grade, and stayed through high school.[1][7]
Riley was a hometown hero in Corvallis from his athletic days atCorvallis High School, where he led the Spartans as the startingquarterback to consecutive state title games in 1969 and 1970, both played in Corvallis at OSU'sParker Stadium.[7][8] Corvallis High School had narrowly won the early season matchup in 1969, but came up well short againstMedford in the A-1 state championship, 27–0.[9]
They avenged the loss to the Black Tornado the following year in the regular season 28–14,[10] and again in the AAA state final, 21–10, with left-handed option quarterback Riley throwing two touchdown passes in the second quarter to build a 21–3 lead at halftime.[11][12] He completed five of nine passes for 76 yards;[11] prior to the final, Riley had thrown only 41 times in 11 games, with 23 completions (and ten wins).[10] He was a three-sport athlete at CHS, also lettering in basketball and baseball.
Riley graduated from CHS in 1971 and opted not to play hiscollege football in thePac-8, but for theAlabama Crimson Tide in theSEC under head coachPaul "Bear" Bryant.[13][14] He had family connections to the state and school: his father was born and raised inGuin and his uncle,Hayden Riley, was Alabama's assistant athletic director, headbaseball coach (1970–79), and the former headbasketball coach (1960–68).[6][15] (Mike's cousin, Major Ogilvie, became a star running back for the Tide in the late 1970s; Ogilvie's mother Peggy was one of Bud Riley's five sisters.)[5][16] In his four seasons at Alabama as a reservedefensive back,[17] the Tide won fourSoutheastern Conference (SEC) titles and the 1973UPI (Coaches Poll) national championship, though they lost the1973 Sugar Bowl toNotre Dame on New Year's Eve. Until 1974, the final Coaches Poll was released before the bowl games.
Riley began his coaching career immediately after his playing days ended, first as agraduate assistant atCalifornia in1975, and then as a graduate assistant atWhitworth inSpokane, where he received hismaster's inphysical education.
In 1977, he was hired as thedefensive coordinator andsecondary coach atLinfield College inMcMinnville, Oregon. During his stay at Linfield he assisted head coachAd Rutschman's Wildcats to a six-year record of 52–7–1, which included five conference titles and an undefeatedNAIA Division II championship season in 1982.
Riley was hired as an assistant coach in theCanadian Football League in1983 with theWinnipeg Blue Bombers, and was a part of their 1984 Grey Cup championship team.
Hired as the Bombers' head coach at age 33, Riley reportedly became the youngest head coach in CFL history in1987 at Winnipeg but in fact was three years older thanBud Grant, who was 29 when he was hired as Winnipeg's head coach in January 1957 (Grant had turned 30 by the time he coached his first game that summer). Riley led the Blue Bombers from 1987 to 1990 and won twoGrey Cups during his tenure.
He also coached theSan Antonio Riders of the defunctWLAF. He was intended to stay on as the Riders attempted to transition to the CFL (as theSan Antonio Texans) for the1993 CFL season, but the team folded before it could begin playing as a CFL team.
Riley returned to the college ranks in1993 whenUSC head coachJohn Robinson offered him the position ofoffensive coordinator andquarterbacks coach; he later became assistant head coach. TheMesa Tribune named him the league's top assistant coach in 1993 after leading the Trojan offense to record setting numbers.[citation needed] USC quarterbackRob Johnson set numerous Pac-10 andNCAA records under Riley's tutelage and later became a fourth-roundNFL draft pick. "He's a player's coach, who gets the most out of you by treating you like normal", Johnson later said.[18]
Riley remained at USC through the1996 season, helping the Trojans to post-season victories in theFreedom,Cotton, andRose Bowls. USC won an outright league title, shared another, and finished second once.
Riley was hired as the head coach atOregon State in 1997 to replaceJerry Pettibone, who had resigned at the end of the 1996 season. Riley's initial contract was a five-year deal at $185,000 per year.[19] In the Beavers first season under Riley, they posted a record of 3–8. This was a difficult season for Riley as he attempted to run his NFL-style offense with players recruited by Pettibone to run thewishbone triple-option.[citation needed] The 1998 season was a big step in the right direction, with the Beavers posting a 5–6 record, their best record since 1971. Two of the six losses were by a single point, to Washington and California in back-to-back games late in the season. This was followed by a last-minute loss to a highly ranked UCLA team. The 1998 season was capped off by a double-overtime 44–41 victory over the rivalOregon Ducks in theCivil War game.
Although his first stint with the Beavers only lasted two seasons, Riley is considered by many to have laid the foundation for the success of the Beavers in the years to come.[20] The 1999 team, led byDennis Erickson and built around players Riley recruited, posted a 7–5 record and earned a trip to theOahu Bowl, which ended a streak of 28 straight losing seasons.
In January 1999, Riley left the Beavers to become the head coach of theSan Diego Chargers of theNFL, signing a five-year deal at $750,000 per year.[21] Riley coached the Chargers from1999 to2001, with a record of 14–34. In 2000, the Chargers had their worst season; they went 1–15, with their only win on a last-second field goal against the Kansas City Chiefs. Riley's last game was indicative of his last season, as the Chargers played well, but one poor play turned the tide. The 2001 Chargers ended their 5–11 season with a loss to theSeattle Seahawks, afterDoug Flutie passed for 377 yards and drove for the tying field goal with 16 seconds remaining, but poorspecial teams play led to a long Seahawkskick return and subsequently a 54-yard winningfield goal.
Riley was fired as head coach of the Chargers after three seasons[21] and was an assistant coach with theNew Orleans Saints in2002. He was offered theAlabama job in December 2002 afterDennis Franchione left forTexas A&M.[22] Riley was also under consideration for theUCLA job during that period.[23]
After spending the 2002 season with the New Orleans Saints, Riley returned to Corvallis to become the head coach at Oregon State in 2003 following Erickson's departure to become the head coach ofSan Francisco 49ers of the NFL. Riley agreed to a seven-year contract that started at $625,000 per year and increased incrementally to $950,000 in year seven.[24]
Continuing on their new success, the Beavers won bowl games in2003 and2004 before having a down year in2005.
After starting the2006 season 2–3, the Beavers went 9–4 on the regular season, including an upset of #3 USC in Corvallis. The Beavers completed their impressive season with a win overMissouri in theSun Bowl inEl Paso, Texas, ending their season with a 10–4 record.
In2007, the Beavers again started 2–3 and finished 8–4 on the regular season, including an upset of #2Cal inBerkeley. The Beavers finished the year 9–4 with a win in theEmerald Bowl in San Francisco over theMaryland Terrapins.
In2008, Riley's Beavers knocked off #1-ranked USC 27–21 atReser Stadium. The Beavers went into the Civil War with a chance to reach theRose Bowl as Pac-10 champions but were defeated byOregon, 65–38, and instead accepted another invitation to the third placeSun Bowl, where they beatPittsburgh in a defensive struggle, 3–0.
Though winless in bowl games as a player, Riley had a 6–2 NCAA football bowl record as a head coach through the 2013 season, having won the2003 Las Vegas Bowl,2004 Insight Bowl,2006 Sun Bowl,2007 Emerald Bowl,2008 Sun Bowl, and2013 Hawaii Bowl. Riley was a combined 9–2 in bowl games as a head or assistant coach. In the2009 Las Vegas Bowl, the Beavers lost to theBYU Cougars of theMountain West Conference.
In Riley's second stint at Oregon State, the Beavers produced four NFL quarterbacks,Sean Mannion,Sean Canfield,Matt Moore, andDerek Anderson.
Following the2009 season, Riley was rumored to be up for theUSC vacancy created by the resignation ofPete Carroll. Those rumors were put to rest when Riley signed a three-year extension at OSU through the 2019 season.
During the2012 season, Riley snatched his 75th career win surpassingLon Stiner as Oregon State's all-time winningest coach. Riley completed his second stint at Oregon State with an 85–66 (.563) record in a dozen seasons. His 93 wins overall in 14 seasons at OSU are the most in school history.
On December 4, 2014, Riley was named head coach of theNebraska Cornhuskers.[25]
In hisfirst season as head coach at Nebraska, Riley's Cornhuskers completed a 5–7 regular season (their first losing season since2007) with numerous last second losses; notable among these was the Huskers' first game under Riley, wherein they lost to BYU, 33–28, on a last-secondHail Mary pass from the Cougars' backup quarterback,Tanner Mangum, to wide receiver Mitch Mathews (a loss which snapped Nebraska's streak of 29 consecutive home opener wins).[26] Despite their losing season, however, the Cornhuskers were still invited to a post-season bowl game due to a lack of enough eligible teams to fill all bowl slots and the team high academic progress rate (APR).[27] The Cornhuskers defeated theUCLA Bruins in the2015 Foster Farms Bowl, finishing the season 6–7.[28]2016 saw improvement as the team began the season with seven straight wins and reached number 7 in the AP Poll, and finished 9–4 overall after losses to Wisconsin, Ohio State, Iowa, and Tennessee in theMusic City Bowl.[29] The Huskers significantly regressed in 2017, going on a four-game losing streak to finish 4–8, the school's worst record since 1961.[30] The last three of those losses saw Nebraska surrender at least 50 points. Riley was fired following the season.[31][32]
On December 7, 2017, it was announced that Riley would return to Oregon State to be the assistant head coach under newly hired Oregon State head coachJonathan Smith, who had been both a player (1998) and a graduate assistant coach (2003) during Riley's first and second tenures as head coach at Oregon State.
In June 2018, Riley was named the head coach of the San Antonio Commanders of the Alliance of American Football.[33]
On June 6, 2019, Riley was named the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Seattle's newXFL team, theSeattle Dragons.[34] He missed the first three games of the season for personal reasons.[35]
On January 6, 2022, Riley was named the Head coach and General manager for theNew Jersey Generals of theUnited States Football League.[36] On January 1, 2024, it was announced the Generals would not be a part of the UFL Merger.[37]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Result | |||
| WPG | 1987 | 12 | 6 | 0 | .667 | 1st in East Division | 0 | 1 | Lost in East Final | |
| WPG | 1988 | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 2nd in East Division | 3 | 0 | Won76th Grey Cup | |
| WPG | 1989 | 7 | 11 | 0 | .389 | 3rd in East Division | 1 | 1 | Lost in East Final | |
| WPG | 1990 | 12 | 6 | 0 | .667 | 1st in East Division | 2 | 0 | Won78th Grey Cup | |
| Total | 40 | 32 | 0 | .556 | 2 Division Championships | 6 | 2 | 2 Grey Cups | ||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Result | |||
| SAR | 1991 | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 2nd in North American West Division | did not qualify | |||
| SAR | 1992 | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 3rd in North American West Division | did not qualify | |||
| SAR | 1993 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Team folded before season | |||||
| Total | 11 | 9 | 0 | .550 | - | 0 | 0 | - | ||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| SD | 1999 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 3rd in AFC West | – | – | – | – |
| SD | 2000 | 1 | 15 | 0 | .063 | 5th in AFC West | – | – | – | – |
| SD | 2001 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 5th in AFC West | – | – | – | – |
| SD Total | 14 | 34 | 0 | .292 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
| Total | 14 | 34 | 0 | .292 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| SA | 2019 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| NJ | 2022 | 9 | 1 | 0 | .900 | 1st(North Division) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost in Division Finals toPhiladelphia Stars |
| NJ | 2023 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | 4th(North Division) | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 12 | 8 | 0 | .647 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon State Beavers(Pacific-10 Conference)(1997–1998) | |||||||||
| 1997 | Oregon State | 3–8 | 0–8 | 10th | |||||
| 1998 | Oregon State | 5–6 | 2–6 | T–8th | |||||
| Oregon State Beavers(Pacific-10 / Pac-12 Conference)(2003–2014) | |||||||||
| 2003 | Oregon State | 8–5 | 4–4 | T–4th | WLas Vegas | ||||
| 2004 | Oregon State | 7–5 | 5–3 | T–3rd | WInsight | ||||
| 2005 | Oregon State | 5–6 | 3–5 | 7th | |||||
| 2006 | Oregon State | 10–4 | 6–3 | 3rd | WSun | 22 | 21 | ||
| 2007 | Oregon State | 9–4 | 6–3 | 3rd | WEmerald | 25 | |||
| 2008 | Oregon State | 9–4 | 7–2 | T–2nd | WSun | 19 | 18 | ||
| 2009 | Oregon State | 8–5 | 6–3 | T–2nd | LLas Vegas | ||||
| 2010 | Oregon State | 5–7 | 4–5 | T–5th | |||||
| 2011 | Oregon State | 3–9 | 3–6 | 5th(North) | |||||
| 2012 | Oregon State | 9–4 | 6–3 | 3rd(North) | LAlamo | 19 | 20 | ||
| 2013 | Oregon State | 7–6 | 4–5 | T–4th(North) | WHawaii | ||||
| 2014 | Oregon State | 5–7 | 2–7 | T–5th(North) | |||||
| Oregon State: | 93–80 | 58–63 | |||||||
| Nebraska Cornhuskers(Big Ten Conference)(2015–2017) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Nebraska | 6–7 | 3–5 | 4th(West) | WFoster Farms | ||||
| 2016 | Nebraska | 9–4 | 6–3 | T–2nd(West) | LMusic City | ||||
| 2017 | Nebraska | 4–8 | 3–6 | 5th(West) | |||||
| Nebraska: | 19–19 | 12–14 | |||||||
| Total: | 112–99 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Media related toMike Riley at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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| National | |
