Oklahoma football: The NFL will have to wait; OU extends Lincoln Riley’s contract
By Chip Rouse
We’ve been saying that Oklahoma football coach Lincoln Riley is not going anywhere outside of Norman, Oklahoma, anytime soon, and OU now appears to have made certain of that.
It was announced on Tuesday that Riley and OU have reached an agreement in principle on a contract extension and a salary increase. The contract terms are still being finalized, according to OU president James Gallogly, who, in a statement released by the OU athletic department, expressed the desire to keep the Sooners’ 35-year-old head coach around for a long time.
The final, agreed-upon terms will be subject to the approval of the OU Board of Regents, which meets later this month.
OU’s 2018 season ended on Saturday with a 45-34 loss to Alabama in one of the College Football Playoff semifinal games. That is one reason for the timing of the announcement, but it is also curious that it came a day or too after six NFL head coaches were relieved of their duties, bringing the total number of NFL head coach openings to eight.
Oklahoma Sooners
Riley’s name has come up repeatedly over the past several months as someone NFL owners and general managers are very interested in because of his mastery in designing high-output offenses.
In Riley’s four full seasons at OU — two as offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops and two as head coach — the Oklahoma offense has been one of the highest scoring and most productive in college football and the Sooners have won four consecutive Big 12 titles, been to the College Football Playoff in three of the four years and produced two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks.
Oh, and by the way, Riley’s 24-4 record in his first two seasons as a head coach is the best of any Oklahoma head coach and the most wins by any college football coach in his first two years since George Woodruff of the University of Pennsylvania won 27 games in 1892-93.
That is a resume that would impress anybody at any level of football, and with more and more college formations and offensive designs finding their way into NFL playbooks, it is easy to understand why the NFL would be interested in the Oklahoma head coach.
"“He has proven to be one of the most innovative minds in the game today as well as a very effective leader for his student-athletes,” said OU athletic director Joe Castiglione, who hired both Stoops and Riley, in a press release issued by the school.“We’re obviously appreciative of what has been accomplished in such a short time, but strengthening our relationship with Lincoln is also important as we collectively focus on the larger goals of our program.”"
Riley said several times this season when asked about coaching in the NFL that he was having too much fun where he is and doing what he’s doing in the college game right now, although he acknowledged that he wouldn’t categorically rule that out at some time way down the road.
“We felt it important to extend and amend Lincoln’s contract at this time as we want him at the University of Oklahoma for a long time.” — University of Oklahoma President James Gallogly
The University of Oklahoma certainly realizes a good thing when it sees it. “He is a great coach and role model for our student athletes…his record of success speaks for itself,” said Gallogly.
This action isn’t coincidental. Oklahoma has taken steps to further incentivize their head coach’s expressed desire to remain right where he is.
I also believe that Riley recognizes that OU has afforded him a tremendous opportunity by elevating him to head coach of one of college football’s truly elite programs. There are few other jobs in college football better than the one he has, and you can believe Riley is well aware of that.
“My family and I are very appreciative of the support the University of Oklahoma has shown,” Riley said. “This has been a great home for us. We’ve had a great start, and we’re excited for many more great years in the future.”
Sooner fans will recall that rumors like this starting popping up relatively early on in Bob Stoops coaching career at Oklahoma. Most of those, admittedly, were associated with high-profile college openings, but the NFL had its eyes on Stoops’ extraordinary success at OU, as well. As it turned out, Stoops stayed for 18 seasons at Oklahoma.
Who’s to say that Lincoln Riley won’t enjoy the same kind of ride, voluntarily and otherwise?