Why I dislike Mike Riley

ColoradoHusk said:
Yes, I understand, but Riley still gives off a distant vibe during games and in no way should be compared to Osborne.  To me, they are completely different during how they work during games.
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Tom Osborne can also recollect very specific details to hundreds of the big games that he coached. And like I stated, Mike Riley doesn't have to be a hot-head to instill a sense of pride in his team. If you watch any of the numerous videos on youtube of TO talking with his former players, you sense the respect they have for him, but you also realize that a lot of that respect comes from the fear they have of disappointing the guy. They'll joke about incidents that make Tom Osborne appear as a scary dude, and although I'm sure there is a bit of exaggeration, you get the "but no, seriously...that's how it was" vibe.

 
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Red Five said:
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First thing I thought of. 

 
Sker fer life said:
Same here, then I thought of all the conference titles, national title game appearances, and of course winning three of those trophies. Don't see any of that kind of success coming with Riley.
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Considering the discussion was centered around demeanor, that's a wonderful Jump to Conclusions mat you've got there. 

 
ColoradoHusk said:
The comparison to Riley's and Osborne's demeanor during a game is laughbable.  When I watched Osborne, I saw a coach who was deeply invested in every play, while also remaining calm on the sidelines.  It helped that he was calling the offensive plays, but he wasn't afraid to go up to a player who messed up during a game and talk to him.  I have heard countless stories from former players that it was the worst to have Tom look at them like he was disappointed in them.  In Riley, I see a guy who doesn't seem invested in the game 100% of the time.  He looks aloof and disinterested at times.  The TV coverage will show numerous times with Riley just standing there, with his headset microphone up to his ear, so I have no idea how much communication he is having with his coaches.  To me, it's like Riley is observing the game, rather than coaching the game.

EDIT:  Riley seems to want to leave the in-game coaching to his coordinators and assistants.  While I understand he wants to be a CEO type coach, but I don't get how the guy who oversees everything can be so distant during the games.
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I think we're doing a lot of projecting here. 

Tom Osborne was famously bland during interviews, and even moreso when he was under fire for a poor Husker performance (yes, that happened several times in the first 20 years of his career) and he was often compared to his saltier predecessor, Bob Devaney.

Not unlike Mike Riley, Tom was generally calm on the sidelines. Until he wasn't. Osborne and Riley could both get riled at the officials, at which point the TV commentators make the same comment about the normally unflappable coaches getting uncharacteristically fired up. We had a previous coach who got fiery a lot more,  but the fire never seemed to translate to the players, who tended to look un-nerved rather than inspired. 

I'd say every one of these coaches is/was deeply invested in every play and every player, and plenty of players will defend all three of them. Mike Riley is far from disinterested, and is keenly aware how hot his seat is. It's virtually impossible he took the job without knowing the higher premium the University of Nebraska puts on winning vs. Oregon State. It's why he took the job. 

I will say that both Bo Pelini and Mike Riley would have enjoyed greater success and less personal scrutiny if they had one of Tom Osborne's offensive lines, but that's a subject for another thread. 

 
Cdog923 said:
Considering the discussion was centered around demeanor, that's a wonderful Jump to Conclusions mat you've got there. 
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Riley and Osbornes demeanor can be similar at times, the results on the field are not. Its just what I thought when I saw Osbornes picture in this thread. Now, I'm gonna have to ask you to go ahead and move your desk down to storage b.

 
teachercd said:
I will give credit to Riley for changing his staff around, that had to be hard.  

If he went 6-7 and then 9-4 the last two years at OSU...he probably doesn't have to make changes and things are just fine.  
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Meh.  He should have never brought over basically the same staff he had at Oregon State to begin with.  That's Mike Riley though.  Nice guy.  Sure.  A coach that's going to bring your team consistent success?  Not even close.

 
Sker fer life said:
Riley and Osbornes demeanor can be similar at times, the results on the field are not. Its just what I thought when I saw Osbornes picture in this thread. Now, I'm gonna have to ask you to go ahead and move your desk down to storage b.
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I was told that I could keep my stapler? 

 
ColoradoHusk said:
The comparison to Riley's and Osborne's demeanor during a game is laughbable.  When I watched Osborne, I saw a coach who was deeply invested in every play, while also remaining calm on the sidelines.  It helped that he was calling the offensive plays, but he wasn't afraid to go up to a player who messed up during a game and talk to him.  I have heard countless stories from former players that it was the worst to have Tom look at them like he was disappointed in them.  In Riley, I see a guy who doesn't seem invested in the game 100% of the time.  He looks aloof and disinterested at times.  The TV coverage will show numerous times with Riley just standing there, with his headset microphone up to his ear, so I have no idea how much communication he is having with his coaches.  To me, it's like Riley is observing the game, rather than coaching the game.

EDIT:  Riley seems to want to leave the in-game coaching to his coordinators and assistants.  While I understand he wants to be a CEO type coach, but I don't get how the guy who oversees everything can be so distant during the games.
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I think I like the idea of the head coach calling plays and letting the assistants round up the players.... of course I’m sure the head coach is getting assistance from the OC or someone up in the booth.

Hey mods, what’s up with these 5th graders trashing up the threads?

 
Sker fer life said:
Riley and Osbornes demeanor can be similar at times, the results on the field are not. Its just what I thought when I saw Osbornes picture in this thread. Now, I'm gonna have to ask you to go ahead and move your desk down to storage b.
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you musta been really young when TO was being blasted for his coaching ability for the first 20yrs he coached.  It took him 20yrs to figure out how to recruit defensive players and quit meddling into a portion of the football that he was naive about.    devaney was a smart dude and hired cord and let them do  there job!  Too bad it took TO so long to figure that out!

 
Hayseed said:
I think I like the idea of the head coach calling plays and letting the assistants round up the players.... of course I’m sure the head coach is getting assistance from the OC or someone up in the booth.

Hey mods, what’s up with these 5th graders trashing up the threads?
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Some of us have jobs. 

I cleaned up the thread though. All future cheese stuff should be taken to the official cheese fries thread.




 
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