The Lincoln Riley is an American football player and coach who is currently the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. As a player, he played quarterback for the University of Oklahoma from 2000 to 2003 and led them to victory in the 2002 BCS National Championship Game.
He also coached quarterbacks at East Carolina University (2004), Texas Tech University (2005–2007), and the University of Oklahoma (2008–present). He was named head coach of OU on January 11, 2017 after Bob Stoops announced his retirement with Riley named as his successor.
Lincoln Riley Family
The Lincoln Riley was born on September 5, 1983 to Marilyn Riley and Mike Riley. He is married to Caitlin Buckley and have two daughters, named Sloan and Stella. Lincoln Riley has a brother also named Garrett Riley, who is an assistant coach at Oklahoma. Lincoln Riley, his wife, and two daughters all live together in Norman, Oklahoma.
Why Lincoln Riley is Famous
Lincoln Riley is famous for being the head coach of Oklahoma Sooners and a former football player who played as a quarterback for Oklahoma. He was also a part of the OU coaching staff. He is also famous because he is the youngest coach who has ever been hired by Oklahoma.
Early life
Lincoln Riley was born to Marilyn Riley and Mike Riley on 5 September 1983, in Lubbock, Texas. and grew up in the Lubbock area, where he was constantly surrounded by football due to his father Mike and uncle Lynn coaching at Texas Tech University. He went to school in Lubbock, Texas. He attended Lubbock Estacado High School and played quarterback on the varsity team and was coached by Glen West.
After high school, Riley spent a year at Navarro College where he played quarterback and became familiar with the spread offense. After that year, he made the move to Norman, Oklahoma where he redshirted as a freshman at the University of Oklahoma in 2002. Riley spent the next two years on the scout team as a backup quarterback and played in four games in 2003.
In 2004, Riley became the starting quarterback for Oklahoma. During his junior year, he led the team to an appearance in the BCS National Championship Game after being selected as a starting quarterback during spring practice. In 2005, before his senior year, he was named one of seven student-athletes who will be inducted into Oklahoma’s Ring of Honor at halftime of their Orange Bowl matchup against Clemson on January 4, 2007.
Coaching career
After finishing his college playing career, Riley became an assistant coach at Texas Tech. During his time at Texas, he also continued to be a part of Bob Stoops’ staff at Oklahoma by spending some time as a Sooner assistant coach while he was in Norman.
During his career as an assistant coach, Riley has coached players such as Graham Harrell, Taylor Potts, Cody Hawkins and Baker Mayfield. He was recognized with the 2015 Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach in college football.
On January 11, 2017, Riley was named head coach of Oklahoma after Bob Stoops’ retirement. Riley is the youngest head coach in FBS at 33 years old. Riley is the third person to be promoted from assistant coach to head coach in Oklahoma history (Howard Jones and Barry Switzer being the first two).
Awards and honors
Lincoln Riley has received numerous awards and honors during his coaching career, including Coach of the Year honors by USA Today (2012), Big 12 Co-Offensive Coach of the Year (2014), the Broyles Award for assistant coach of the year (2015) and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award (2016).
Controversy
Lincoln Riley has been criticized for getting the job at Oklahoma based on his father’s and his connections rather than being due to his coaching ability. Riley has also been criticized for running the same offense that he was able to run while he was coaching at Texas Tech rather than creating new plays and strategies.
In September 2018, Lincoln Riley put Oklahoma in hot water when he “liked” a tweet by a sports contributor who claimed that their quarterback Kyler Murray would be better than Baker Mayfield. This caused Kyler Murray to become upset with Riley and a couple of other players who also defended Riley further inflamed the situation.
Lincoln Riley Salary
Lincoln Riley is currently earning a good amount of salary from Oklahoma University but his exact salary is still under review. He will make more than $3 million dollars in his first year as the head coach. But now $10 million dollars are the guaranteed compensation package contracts that he will receive as the head coach of Oklahoma.
Some interesting facts about Lincoln Riley
• Lincoln Riley is known as the youngest coach who has been hired by Oklahoma.
• Lincoln Riley is known for being an expert analyst of the spread offense system. He created a lot of new plays in this system and had excellent results in the OU football program.
• Lincoln Riley was a stand out receiver while playing at Lubbock Estacado High School and went on to play quarterback in University of Oklahoma where he became part of the Ring of Honor during his senior year.
• Riley is famous for being the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech.
• He has the same name as his father and his uncle Lynn who both were coaches at Texas Tech. The two names are pronounced differently, a little bit similar but you will be able to tell that it is a different name if you hear them say it.
• Lincoln Riley’s wife, Caitlin Buckley, is a graduate of Northeastern University and a former Miss Texas USA.
• Lincoln Riley is known for his work ethic and devotion to football. He has been known to spending more time on the field than any other coach at Oklahoma. This has earned him respect among his players who admire him greatly.
Ending Words
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