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Buying into Lincoln Riley's system: The days before his hiring, his initial team meeting and an offensive resurgence
NORMAN — New offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley entered the Oklahoma meeting room to greet his new players.
It had been an anxious time for the team, which absorbed the loss of co-offensive coordinators Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell just one week earlier.
For Riley, it was also a new beginning. He’d branched out on his own for the first time in his coaching career. There were no familiar faces on the OU staff. His previous stints were at Texas Tech (alma mater) and East Carolina (where his good friend, Ruffin McNeill, was the head coach).
This mid-January meeting between players and coach was important. And Riley set a perfect tone for the team.
“I just remember laying out the expectations and laying out the mentality that we wanted to bring,” Riley said. “I just remember looking in their eyes and seeing a group … you could tell they were eager and hungry to get going.
“They wanted to have a better year than they had the last year. They bought in from the beginning, and the rest is history.”
The Sooners’ offensive production this season has been essential to their College Football Playoff bid. Nationally, OU ranks third in scoring offense (45.8 points per game) and seventh in total offense (542.9 yards per game). There is balance passing (307.9 yards per game) and running (235).
It has been a storybook season for the offense, which has been led by Heisman Trophy candidate Baker Mayfield and helped win a Big 12 championship.
But let’s go back to the days before Riley took his first steps on campus.
Junior college transfer Dede Westbrook was recruited hard by Norvell and arrived on campus in January, shortly after the co-offensive coordinator was fired.
“It was kind of crazy because coming (from juco), you’ve been recruited by a whole different coaching staff and you are looking for those guys,” the wide receiver said.
H-back Dimitri Flowers was concerned because his style of play seemed specific to the Heupel-Norvell game plan.
“It was very confusing, especially for a player in my skill set,” Flowers said. “I just didn’t know what’s going to happen and what we’re going to bring in. I just had to trust coach (Bob) Stoops was going to make the right direction for this team.”
Then the rumor mill exploded with potential candidates, a list that included Riley.
“When I heard his name was in the mix, I didn’t know who the heck that was,” center Ty Darlington said.
Riley’s hiring announcement sent players scurrying to look at East Carolina game film. They wanted to have an idea what the future held for them.
“I liked the way that he ran his offense,” said Westbrook, who would become the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. “Everybody was getting the ball and there wasn’t one main target in the offense. Everybody was just finding their ways to get open and the quarterback was just hitting them in the spots.”
First impressions are important, and Riley won the initial team meeting with the offense.
“It was his confidence, his swagger that he came in with,” said offensive tackle Orlando Brown, who was named a freshman All-American by The Sporting News. “It rubbed off on us and it helped us focus and the mentality that we needed to have. We just trusted him. He’s a very easy guy to trust. He made us believe in ourselves first and believe in him. He had a huge impact with us.”
Riley entered with no preconceived notions about the offense. He wanted to evaluate personnel based on his own. Role players were just as important as All Big-12 selections.
“He came in and said we are going to start with a clean slate. He told guys that the No. 1 thing was building the mentality of the team. It’s more important than anything else, so we began to scope the mentality of the team and how we wanted to be,” receiver Sterling Shepard said. “That’s why everybody bought into him. He didn’t care who you were or what you have done in the past. It’s all about what you can do for me now and he’s instilled that into us.”
Added receiver Durron Neal: “At that first meeting, he came in straight-forward and he told us how this thing was going to go. And if we trust him and trust everything that he’s doing, he’s going to put guys in the right place and we were going to have one of the most explosive offenses, if not the best offense, in the country. We trusted in him and we invested in him, and you see the results on Saturdays.”
When Riley introduced himself to his quarterbacks, he immediately let them know that having the right mentality would be an important factor for success.
“The first meeting that we had with him was about the standard that he’s going to hold us to and how hard he is going to push us. He has not let us down,” Mayfield said.
Riley had to develop trust with his quarterbacks. And they had to have faith in their new offensive coordinator.
It was a gradual climb, beginning with spring football practice. The journey went through summer workouts, fall camp and even the beginning of this season.
There were comebacks — first the victory at Tennessee and then rallying from an inexplicable loss to Texas — that helped the progression.
Placing your finger on one singular moment when that trust factor was reached? Impossible, Riley said.
“Contrary to what the world might think, there isn’t a eureka-type moment. It’s a process,” Riley said. “Of course, that reveals itself more when you do get into games and you do get into tough situations. There were some of those early… I think I talked about our guys who really trusted in what we were doing even when things, we weren’t clicking as good as we were even at the end of the year.
“That’s what improved and allowed us to get better. I think our guys — Baker and everybody — has a lot of trust and belief in what we are doing now.”
The hard work has carried on, week by week.
“We love him,” Mayfield said. “We know that and he’s pushing us to get better. He helps his other coaches out too and he has experience in different places and has a different energy level. It helps me. He’s helped me mature as a player.
“I wouldn’t be right here without him.”
Riley knew that there would be a lot of eyes on him after he accepted this job. He has been praised by fans and even captured the Frank Broyles Award, which is presented to the nation’s top assistant football coach.
Much like Riley preaches to his team, he won’t let himself get caught up in the SportsHoopla.
“That can change quick in this job. You have to take all those things with a grain of salt. When you win, everyone wants you to write a book. When you lose, they question if you can read one,” Riley said. “That’s this business. That’s part of it, especially when you are at a school that gets the attention like Oklahoma does.
“It’s been a great year and it’s been a lot of fun. There’s been a lot that we’ll look back on and events that we’ll all remember for the rest of our lives. The good thing is we have a lot more ahead.”
Eric Bailey 918-581-8391
[email protected]
NORMAN — New offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley entered the Oklahoma meeting room to greet his new players.
It had been an anxious time for the team, which absorbed the loss of co-offensive coordinators Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell just one week earlier.
For Riley, it was also a new beginning. He’d branched out on his own for the first time in his coaching career. There were no familiar faces on the OU staff. His previous stints were at Texas Tech (alma mater) and East Carolina (where his good friend, Ruffin McNeill, was the head coach).
This mid-January meeting between players and coach was important. And Riley set a perfect tone for the team.
“I just remember laying out the expectations and laying out the mentality that we wanted to bring,” Riley said. “I just remember looking in their eyes and seeing a group … you could tell they were eager and hungry to get going.
“They wanted to have a better year than they had the last year. They bought in from the beginning, and the rest is history.”
The Sooners’ offensive production this season has been essential to their College Football Playoff bid. Nationally, OU ranks third in scoring offense (45.8 points per game) and seventh in total offense (542.9 yards per game). There is balance passing (307.9 yards per game) and running (235).
It has been a storybook season for the offense, which has been led by Heisman Trophy candidate Baker Mayfield and helped win a Big 12 championship.
But let’s go back to the days before Riley took his first steps on campus.
Junior college transfer Dede Westbrook was recruited hard by Norvell and arrived on campus in January, shortly after the co-offensive coordinator was fired.
“It was kind of crazy because coming (from juco), you’ve been recruited by a whole different coaching staff and you are looking for those guys,” the wide receiver said.
H-back Dimitri Flowers was concerned because his style of play seemed specific to the Heupel-Norvell game plan.
“It was very confusing, especially for a player in my skill set,” Flowers said. “I just didn’t know what’s going to happen and what we’re going to bring in. I just had to trust coach (Bob) Stoops was going to make the right direction for this team.”
Then the rumor mill exploded with potential candidates, a list that included Riley.
“When I heard his name was in the mix, I didn’t know who the heck that was,” center Ty Darlington said.
Riley’s hiring announcement sent players scurrying to look at East Carolina game film. They wanted to have an idea what the future held for them.
“I liked the way that he ran his offense,” said Westbrook, who would become the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. “Everybody was getting the ball and there wasn’t one main target in the offense. Everybody was just finding their ways to get open and the quarterback was just hitting them in the spots.”
First impressions are important, and Riley won the initial team meeting with the offense.
“It was his confidence, his swagger that he came in with,” said offensive tackle Orlando Brown, who was named a freshman All-American by The Sporting News. “It rubbed off on us and it helped us focus and the mentality that we needed to have. We just trusted him. He’s a very easy guy to trust. He made us believe in ourselves first and believe in him. He had a huge impact with us.”
Riley entered with no preconceived notions about the offense. He wanted to evaluate personnel based on his own. Role players were just as important as All Big-12 selections.
“He came in and said we are going to start with a clean slate. He told guys that the No. 1 thing was building the mentality of the team. It’s more important than anything else, so we began to scope the mentality of the team and how we wanted to be,” receiver Sterling Shepard said. “That’s why everybody bought into him. He didn’t care who you were or what you have done in the past. It’s all about what you can do for me now and he’s instilled that into us.”
Added receiver Durron Neal: “At that first meeting, he came in straight-forward and he told us how this thing was going to go. And if we trust him and trust everything that he’s doing, he’s going to put guys in the right place and we were going to have one of the most explosive offenses, if not the best offense, in the country. We trusted in him and we invested in him, and you see the results on Saturdays.”
When Riley introduced himself to his quarterbacks, he immediately let them know that having the right mentality would be an important factor for success.
“The first meeting that we had with him was about the standard that he’s going to hold us to and how hard he is going to push us. He has not let us down,” Mayfield said.
Riley had to develop trust with his quarterbacks. And they had to have faith in their new offensive coordinator.
It was a gradual climb, beginning with spring football practice. The journey went through summer workouts, fall camp and even the beginning of this season.
There were comebacks — first the victory at Tennessee and then rallying from an inexplicable loss to Texas — that helped the progression.
Placing your finger on one singular moment when that trust factor was reached? Impossible, Riley said.
“Contrary to what the world might think, there isn’t a eureka-type moment. It’s a process,” Riley said. “Of course, that reveals itself more when you do get into games and you do get into tough situations. There were some of those early… I think I talked about our guys who really trusted in what we were doing even when things, we weren’t clicking as good as we were even at the end of the year.
“That’s what improved and allowed us to get better. I think our guys — Baker and everybody — has a lot of trust and belief in what we are doing now.”
The hard work has carried on, week by week.
“We love him,” Mayfield said. “We know that and he’s pushing us to get better. He helps his other coaches out too and he has experience in different places and has a different energy level. It helps me. He’s helped me mature as a player.
“I wouldn’t be right here without him.”
Riley knew that there would be a lot of eyes on him after he accepted this job. He has been praised by fans and even captured the Frank Broyles Award, which is presented to the nation’s top assistant football coach.
Much like Riley preaches to his team, he won’t let himself get caught up in the SportsHoopla.
“That can change quick in this job. You have to take all those things with a grain of salt. When you win, everyone wants you to write a book. When you lose, they question if you can read one,” Riley said. “That’s this business. That’s part of it, especially when you are at a school that gets the attention like Oklahoma does.
“It’s been a great year and it’s been a lot of fun. There’s been a lot that we’ll look back on and events that we’ll all remember for the rest of our lives. The good thing is we have a lot more ahead.”
Eric Bailey 918-581-8391
[email protected]
