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Wes Mitchell
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The book on Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley -- who has become a legitimate player in South Carolina's coaching search -- is the classic case of risk versus reward. There's no doubt that Riley offers a considerable amount of upside as one of the most well-respected young offensive minds in the game, but the $ million question is -- and the one that Ray Tanner will attempt to answer with his interview today -- is Riley at the point in his career where he's ready to run an SEC program?
With Riley's five-year stop at East Carolina as an offensive coordinator, he's got ties and recruiting connections to the area which has allowed me to do some checking in the last couple of days with people who are familiar with dealing with him.
Almost universally, the first thing mentioned about Riley is the fact the he's got an excellent offensive mind and that he's a young guy who is clearly very likable. While he's only 32-years-old, Riley has been an assistant coach since he was 21, so he does have more experience than your typical 32-year-old coach, I'd say. He's got an open-door policy as a coach, and while I haven't been able to connect with any of his former players yet, he comes across as a players coach and more of a positive reinforcement type of guy, according to those who know him through the recruiting process. Riley's offense, and he's got all kinds of crazy offensive numbers at both ECU and Oklahoma that could back it up, will almost surely be a draw that gets recruits -- and probably the South Carolina fan base -- excited.
While almost everyone seems to agree that Riley will one day be a head coach, is Riley ready to be a head coach now?
While it's easy for any of us to sit here and say, roll the dice and see what happens, this is a 10-year (or more) decision for Tanner and he's got to weigh all of the pros and cons. Keep in mind that running an SEC program is a far more difficult and in-depth process than most any of us could ever imagine. Just the simple day-to-day decisions that a coach has to make in managing over 100 players, plus assistant coaches plus parents and other staffers can affect the overall feeling and morale within the program.
What type of practices is he going to run (ie - what's the proper split-up of time, how physical should we be, what's our identity, when should we push and when should we back off a little, how hands on should I be as a coach)? What's the proper punishment for the backup running back missing class? When does a player who has screwed up deserve a second chance? When is it right to override an assistant coach's decision versus trusting his judgement? What's our media policy? etc., etc. etc. Point being, there's so much that goes on behind closed doors on a day-to-day basis that it's going to be a learning process for a coach like Riley and the fan base collectively would have to be prepared to endure some of those things if this is the hire. (Keep in mind, how a portion of the fan base reacts to decisions by Chad Holbrook)
That doesn't even include my two biggest questions regarding Riley: What type of staff can he put together and what type of recruiting plan could he put together? He's certainly going to need to hire a veteran staff on the defensive side of the ball and it would have to be coaches who are willing to work for, but also likely help mentor in some ways, a young head coach cutting his teeth in the SEC. Riley also doesn't have the SEC recruiting background that someone like a Will Muschamp has. If you're South Carolina, I think you'd almost have to look at an Alabama (or a program with a similar process) and hire one of their recruiting support staff members to come in and help implement some of their procedures, though I will say that South Carolina's current director of recruiting Robbie Liles does an excellent job, but simply needs a head coach here who is more open to implementing new ideas, in my opinion.
There's no doubt that it would be a lot of put on a 32-year-old. Luckily these are all things that Tanner is going to have the opportunity to address when he sits down to interview Riley. He can ask him his recruiting plan. He can ask him what a staff would look like. He can ask him his philosophy on building a winning program at South Carolina. And he can look him in the eyes and decide if he's worth the high risk for the potential extremely high reward.
Recruiting notes
-- The South Carolina assistant coaches have spent the week visiting high schools and commitment Chris Smith told us over the weekend that the commitments in attendance for the Clemson game were told to expect visits this week from their position coaches. While everyone is still very much in the dark about where the Carolina coaching search is going to go, the assistants are still out keeping Carolina on the minds of the committed players. The commitments also have a group text going where they talk often about everything going on. Most of that discussion lately has revolved around the coaching hire and who the prospects think it's going to be.
-- One prospect to keep a very close eye on in the future is class of 2016 three-star Columbia (S.C.) Richland Northeast linebacker TJ Brunson, who visited South Carolina unofficially for the Clemson game. The Louisville commitment is set to take his official visit to see the Cardinals this weekend and will see the Gamecocks officially on the weekend of Jan. 15. Brunson is paying very close attention to who South Carolina hires. While the opportunity to play close to home has always been appealing to him, winning is extremely important to Brunson too. If the next coach -- particularly someone like Will Muschamp -- makes a full go at Brunson, then I think he's one to watch very closely.
-- Another prospect to watch down the stretch is going to be Greer (S.C.) three-star cornerback Troy Pride. The one-time Virginia Tech commitment has seen his recruiting stock soar late in the process and he was on campus for the Clemson game as well after recently picking up a Carolina offer. South Carolina currently trails Notre Dame and North Carolina from what I've been told, but Pride is keeping an eye on Carolina and he's another that I believe a coach like Muschamp would likely grab the attention of.
-- Keep in mind that Irmo (S.C.) Dutch Fork four-star ATH Stephen Davis Jr. was at one time committed to Auburn where Muschamp is currently the DC (obviously). Davis was on campus recently as well.
With Riley's five-year stop at East Carolina as an offensive coordinator, he's got ties and recruiting connections to the area which has allowed me to do some checking in the last couple of days with people who are familiar with dealing with him.
Almost universally, the first thing mentioned about Riley is the fact the he's got an excellent offensive mind and that he's a young guy who is clearly very likable. While he's only 32-years-old, Riley has been an assistant coach since he was 21, so he does have more experience than your typical 32-year-old coach, I'd say. He's got an open-door policy as a coach, and while I haven't been able to connect with any of his former players yet, he comes across as a players coach and more of a positive reinforcement type of guy, according to those who know him through the recruiting process. Riley's offense, and he's got all kinds of crazy offensive numbers at both ECU and Oklahoma that could back it up, will almost surely be a draw that gets recruits -- and probably the South Carolina fan base -- excited.
While almost everyone seems to agree that Riley will one day be a head coach, is Riley ready to be a head coach now?
While it's easy for any of us to sit here and say, roll the dice and see what happens, this is a 10-year (or more) decision for Tanner and he's got to weigh all of the pros and cons. Keep in mind that running an SEC program is a far more difficult and in-depth process than most any of us could ever imagine. Just the simple day-to-day decisions that a coach has to make in managing over 100 players, plus assistant coaches plus parents and other staffers can affect the overall feeling and morale within the program.
What type of practices is he going to run (ie - what's the proper split-up of time, how physical should we be, what's our identity, when should we push and when should we back off a little, how hands on should I be as a coach)? What's the proper punishment for the backup running back missing class? When does a player who has screwed up deserve a second chance? When is it right to override an assistant coach's decision versus trusting his judgement? What's our media policy? etc., etc. etc. Point being, there's so much that goes on behind closed doors on a day-to-day basis that it's going to be a learning process for a coach like Riley and the fan base collectively would have to be prepared to endure some of those things if this is the hire. (Keep in mind, how a portion of the fan base reacts to decisions by Chad Holbrook)
That doesn't even include my two biggest questions regarding Riley: What type of staff can he put together and what type of recruiting plan could he put together? He's certainly going to need to hire a veteran staff on the defensive side of the ball and it would have to be coaches who are willing to work for, but also likely help mentor in some ways, a young head coach cutting his teeth in the SEC. Riley also doesn't have the SEC recruiting background that someone like a Will Muschamp has. If you're South Carolina, I think you'd almost have to look at an Alabama (or a program with a similar process) and hire one of their recruiting support staff members to come in and help implement some of their procedures, though I will say that South Carolina's current director of recruiting Robbie Liles does an excellent job, but simply needs a head coach here who is more open to implementing new ideas, in my opinion.
There's no doubt that it would be a lot of put on a 32-year-old. Luckily these are all things that Tanner is going to have the opportunity to address when he sits down to interview Riley. He can ask him his recruiting plan. He can ask him what a staff would look like. He can ask him his philosophy on building a winning program at South Carolina. And he can look him in the eyes and decide if he's worth the high risk for the potential extremely high reward.
Recruiting notes
-- The South Carolina assistant coaches have spent the week visiting high schools and commitment Chris Smith told us over the weekend that the commitments in attendance for the Clemson game were told to expect visits this week from their position coaches. While everyone is still very much in the dark about where the Carolina coaching search is going to go, the assistants are still out keeping Carolina on the minds of the committed players. The commitments also have a group text going where they talk often about everything going on. Most of that discussion lately has revolved around the coaching hire and who the prospects think it's going to be.
-- One prospect to keep a very close eye on in the future is class of 2016 three-star Columbia (S.C.) Richland Northeast linebacker TJ Brunson, who visited South Carolina unofficially for the Clemson game. The Louisville commitment is set to take his official visit to see the Cardinals this weekend and will see the Gamecocks officially on the weekend of Jan. 15. Brunson is paying very close attention to who South Carolina hires. While the opportunity to play close to home has always been appealing to him, winning is extremely important to Brunson too. If the next coach -- particularly someone like Will Muschamp -- makes a full go at Brunson, then I think he's one to watch very closely.
-- Another prospect to watch down the stretch is going to be Greer (S.C.) three-star cornerback Troy Pride. The one-time Virginia Tech commitment has seen his recruiting stock soar late in the process and he was on campus for the Clemson game as well after recently picking up a Carolina offer. South Carolina currently trails Notre Dame and North Carolina from what I've been told, but Pride is keeping an eye on Carolina and he's another that I believe a coach like Muschamp would likely grab the attention of.
-- Keep in mind that Irmo (S.C.) Dutch Fork four-star ATH Stephen Davis Jr. was at one time committed to Auburn where Muschamp is currently the DC (obviously). Davis was on campus recently as well.
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