Our 12-part podcast series, The Riley Files, affirmed a number of points about Lincoln Riley. One of them is that he defied easy categorization as an offensive strategist. Instead of being a pass-happy riverboat gambler or a smashmouth enthusiast, Riley is best seen as someone who will take the pieces on his roster and use them within the context of his larger situation.
Oklahoma insider Kegan Reneau, who is taking you through this journey on The Riley Files, explained.
“I think when you look at what fans said immediately, when he was hired (in 2015), he may have been third, fourth, fifth on the pecking order to the fan base,” Reneau said. “So it is funny when you look back on it, people thought that he was gonna come in and throw the football 50 or 60 times a game, which is what Josh Heupel (OU’s former offensive coordinator) was doing before they switched offenses. There was an idea back in 2015 that this was a (Mike) Leach guy, it’s gonna be the Air Raid, but it turned quickly: run the ball, Lincoln!
“Every fan base has that run the ball (mentality), just run the ball, establish the run. It’s so interesting because it happened so quickly.
“You have Joe Mixon, you have Samaje Perine in his first season at Oklahoma. He absolutely got the most out of those guys. That’s just not a position group that, under the (Mike) Leach tree, has been known to have those kinds of players in it and have those kinds of successes. We found out early on that Lincoln Riley was gonna maximize whatever his offensive roster was gonna be. When you look at when he was hired, I don’t think people thought that. That speaks to how good Lincoln Riley’s offensive and overall football prowess is.”
Listen to each new episode of The Riley Files. Our first three shows in this 12-part series are now available.
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