Just saw the highlights (or low lights if you are a Corn-husker Fan) of the Iowa-Nebraska game. Followed up this morning and saw that Mike Riley (the guy that took the Bombers to the Grey Cup) and the HC at Nebraska was fired either late yesterday or early this morning.  Got to wonder where he might end up?

Bring em home. 

$6.6M buyout, I think he can ride off into the sunset now.

I just googled his salary at Nebraska - he started at $2.7M plus benefits (which I understand is significant). And to boot he was one of the lowest paid Big 12 coaches. Big dollars down there!

Too bad. I think this is the end for him.

My favorite all time coach with the Bombers. Yes he benefited from some good scouting and good g.m. in Cal Murphy but he was a players coach. I believe it was James West who once said of him, "I would throw myself in front of a bus for him."  Doubt he would ever come back to the 'Peg though.

3 hours ago, BBRT said:

I just googled his salary at Nebraska - he started at $2.7M plus benefits (which I understand is significant). And to boot he was one of the lowest paid Big 12 coaches. Big dollars down there!

Thats the truth, and if you can make a go of it at a good d1 school thats about as good as a HC job gets in all of sports. College kids are easier to coach in some ways then pros, security once youve built some thing is great, huge money, and a bigger impact on the roster. 

He could retire, if he wanted. I dont doubt hes made more money then every HC in the cfl right now. He could possibly still get on with a big d1 school, or could go to a mid tier d1 school and have a ton more flexibility. Even after lean years, teams like Nebraska have high expectations. 

8 hours ago, wbbfan said:

That's the truth, and if you can make a go of it at a good d1 school thats about as good as a HC job gets in all of sports. College kids are easier to coach in some ways then pros, security once you'vebuilt some thing is great, huge money, and a bigger impact on the roster. 

He could retire, if he wanted. I don't doubt hes made more money then every HC in the cfl right now. He could possibly still get on with a big d1 school, or could go to a mid tier d1 school and have a ton more flexibility. Even after lean years, teams like Nebraska have high expectations. 

Well, if 0'Shea doesn't last next season, maybe Riley will have the itch by then.

Edited November 26, 20177 yr by tracker

5 minutes ago, tracker said:

Well, if 0'Shea doesn't last next season, maybe Reilly will have the itch by then.

Iirc it was floated back when he left oregon state. If he wanted to be up here, He would be imo. 

Idk how i feel about mos vs reilly. but the rust and out dating for reilly combined with the hard loss itd be for a team of mos guys to lose mos makes it hard to imagine it being an upgrade. Plus short of some insane meltdown I cant see our management canning mos mid season next year. 

If you guys really want Mike Riley to even consider Winnipeg, you might want to spell his name right.

2 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

If you guys really want Mike Riley to even consider Winnipeg, you might want to spell his name right.

Consider me appropriately chastened.

18 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

If you guys really want Mike Riley to even consider Winnipeg, you might want to spell his name right.

And if we dont should we consider to pull a billy pavlopalus (pavlop..pavalop...pavlopanomamus?)  on it?

 

That's too bad. I thought it was a good pairing for Riley at Nebraska. I'm surprised it didn't work out but the Big 10 is incredibly competitive.

 

He'll bounce back. There are plenty of mid-major colleges that would happily take him. The Beavers could use some help again. They're god-awful and have only won one game this season. And now the Pac 12 is getting better with Chip returning.

21 minutes ago, JCon said:

That's too bad. I thought it was a good pairing for Riley at Nebraska. I'm surprised it didn't work out but the Big 10 is incredibly competitive.

 

He'll bounce back. There are plenty of mid-major colleges that would happily take him. The Beavers could use some help again. They're god-awful and have only won one game this season. And now the Pac 12 is getting better with Chip returning.

Honestly, what kind of football team calls itself "The Beavers", that's just silly.

 

30 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Honestly, what kind of football team calls itself "The Beavers", that's just silly.

 

Their biggest rivals are Ducks. They probably feel pretty dam tough.

Could Riley be re-hired by Oregon?  He put up a respectable record there...went to some bowl games and won a few.

He is close to 65. I'd say he'll retire. 

On 27/11/2017 at 2:32 PM, SpeedFlex27 said:

He is close to 65. I'd say he'll retire. 

That's when college coaches are in their prime.  All old and wise like a good grandfather. 

The money and prestige of big time American College coaching makes a CFL job pretty unattractive. I can't see him ever coming back.

 

On 11/27/2017 at 2:30 PM, blueandgoldguy said:

Could Riley be re-hired by Oregon?  He put up a respectable record there...went to some bowl games and won a few.

His contract at Oregon State had a clause where a year was added to the length every time he qualified for a bowl game, which wasn't that hard to do given the number of bowl games.  By the end though, the Beavers' continual struggle to be a serious player in the PAC12 or defeat the rival Ducks when it mattered left a lot of OS supporters grumbling about Riley.  They might not have any interest in taking him back even though they've gotten significantly worse without him.

I had a chance to talk to him a few years ago and suggested he should convince Jacquizz Rodgers to come to the Bombers.  Unfortunately he's totally enamoured with having a NFL contract.  Pretty selfish of him.

On 27/11/2017 at 2:30 PM, blueandgoldguy said:

Could Riley be re-hired by Oregon?  He put up a respectable record there...went to some bowl games and won a few.

They just announced the hiring of a new HC at Oregon State  - Jonathan Smith.

FYI - Former Bombers coach Riley gets fresh start in familiar state

...

Mike Riley, 64, has seen and experienced a lot in more than 40 years as a football lifer. He started a new chapter last month as the assistant head coach and tight ends assistant at Oregon State after a three-year stint as the head coach of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers ended with his firing last November.

...

I thought the sidebar comments he made were the most interesting:

Quote

After being fired by the University of Nebraska last November, he said he would have considered a return to Canada.

"I did not get any calls," said Riley. "I didn't even know if there were any appropriate openings. I didn't really know anything about what was going on but I would've been open to that. I've always wondered in the back of my mind if I wouldn't have ended up in Canada. Either coaching or managing or whatever. I didn't know if anyone would necessarily be interested. Because we enjoyed it so much. I personally, in my own mind, have always thought of that."

Just thinking of all the times people were saying there was no way he would come back north after making NCAA and NFL money.

5 minutes ago, Jacquie said:

I thought the sidebar comments he made were the most interesting:

Just thinking of all the times people were saying there was no way he would come back north after making NCAA and NFL money.

If we weren’t having the most success we’ve had in 15 years, I would’ve brought him back here no questions asked.

Imagine the weird turn this offseason could have taken if LaPo had taken the HC job in Montreal and we replaced him with Mike Riley.

Mike Riley is one of my favorite HC's. I'd love to have him back.