Mike Riley won't let frustration of the season bother him.
I asked Oregon State football coach Mike Riley this week how frustrated he and his staff is this season with all the inconsistencies.
He draws on his past 36 years of coaching all the time and has seen the entire spectrum of good and bad. This one must rank as one of the most difficult seasons.
Riley’s answer to the question was surprising really long. I couldn’t find a good place to use it, so here it is standing alone on the eve the Stanford game.
“The disappointment and frustration comes after the game,” Riley said. “If we are going to talk to our kids about coming back with a good attitude, then obviously the adults in this thing have to be examples of that. And I have pros here.
“Everybody understands the disappointment and frustration of a loss, especially when we don’t play our best. And following up a game it looked like we played well, with one we didn’t. That’s frustrating. You can’t let that last loss beat you again.
“A pro has to get ready on Sunday. That’s life. That’s the same thing after a win. You can’t let the elation of a win set you back for the next week.”
Riley always talks about preparation and having good practices. He expects his coaches to work hard to prepare the players, so the players follow their lead.
He thinks he gets that out of this staff. Of course, since the team is losing everyone else thinks to the contrary.
“A football coach has to love the preparation,” Riley said. “If you don’t love the preparation, and all you like is Saturday and riding the plane and good food, then you are in the wrong business. It’s a grind. I’m fortunate. I have guys who love to coach football and get ready for the next game. I don’t have to have worry about a bunch of babies back there who are frustrated.”
12 comments
FAUBeav says:
Nov 4, 2011
Cliff,
Do you think we have dropped of in coaching skills, attention to the position, and effectiveness with Banker taking over the LB coaching position? Why didn’t we get a replacment for that position when Newhouse was dismissed? Can Banker really dedicate the time needed to that position and be def. coordinator effectively? I really miss the fire that Newhouse brought to the team and defense in general.
Cliff Kirkpatrick says:
Nov 4, 2011
Banker was coaching the safeties before, and Def. cor always coach a position.
And Riley decided to have a DL coach, LB coach and DB coach. The DB coach as an assistant just of the safeties. So, there’s plenty of people working on stuff.
Matt says:
Nov 4, 2011
Interesting how Riley praises his coaching staff for game prep. If there is one major thing lacking for the past two seasons it is just that. Having love for the preparation doesn’t mean you’ll be successful. If something isn’t working, change it. Play calling on both sides of the ball has been suspect and I would think preparation has a lot to do with the inconsistencies we’ve seen the last several years.
73GradMike says:
Nov 4, 2011
Amen to (mostly) poor coaching prep, Matt. OSU coaches are also notoriously bad at making in-game adjustments (again with a few exceptions). I’m not saying that the coaches are 100% bad. I’m just saying that they need to show improvement, especially if they expect their players to improve.
OS_Beaver says:
Nov 4, 2011
I see the OSU vs. Stanford game as lopsided from early on. I don’t think we will be in it by the last third of the 1st quarter. Then we will start getting pass happy again. I also expect Remmers to have his expected two false starts per game and that won’t help to keep the offense moving or give the defense more rest. Riley usually likes to get embarassed and set the program back when we have good TV coverage so I will go with him and the coordinators putting forth a poor showing and OSU having next to no chance of avoiding 2-7.
Stanford 45, OSU 14
OSU vs. Stanford Preview:
http://beaverbyte.com
tommiet says:
Nov 4, 2011
Mike Riley may just be burned out, no shame in that. After 36 years of anything, no matter how good it is, how can any person still be as motivated as they were in the first 5-10 years? Marry a beautiful woman at 21, 36 years later you may still love her, but you aren’t going to want to get after it like you did when you first got married. No shame there either.
floridabeav says:
Nov 4, 2011
Cliff: As I promised, I am not going to call you a sycophant for the rest of the season. That said, I hope you can see that the very nature of your questions and Riley’s answers avoids any recognition by Riley that the coaching staff is culpable in the deteriorating program at OSU.
At the very end of the article, Riley states that he doesn’t have to worry about a bunch of crybabies (meaning his coaches). He also does not need to worry about winning or losing; his contract is secure. The coordinators do not have to worry about their jobs. Loyalty trumps performance in Riley’s mind, at least as it relates to Langsdorf and Banker.
By the way Cliff, how is your contract structured? Is it based on the number of hits to the site? Or is a guaranteed amount? Hopefully, it is the latter. If so, I’ll continue to read your blog with the same expectation of improvement that I have of Riley’s program at OSU.
mike says:
Nov 4, 2011
When I saw the headline “Coaching staff keeps looking forward” I was thinking, Good, we can come up on Banker and Langsdorf from the back.
I expect Riley to stand by his staff at this time of the year but I hope there are more changes at the end of the year.
Two years in a row of really crappy on field play demand action. There are some really talented players on this team and some of our coaches should stay, but unless this team wins out, a number of changes need to be made.
Love my beavs, it’s time for change.
tcinaz says:
Nov 4, 2011
Cliff, they have to look forward. Backward is an abyss. They’ve coached wins in 2 of their last 14 games. That said, maybe it’s time to tie forward and backward looks. How long can we support a backward look like this. I’ve done it once for 28 years, and don’t really like the prospect forward that I see. I don’t see players here who can change this. Here’s an example. If Sean Mannion turns out to be everything Riley and his coaches have implied he will be, what happens? Either the Beavs are mediocre and Mannion stays through his senior year to improve his draft status, or they have a bowl game season (all be it probably minor one), and Mannion moves on like Quizz. He has to before his draft status erodes. As soon as the Beavs show any success as they are currently constituted, guys have to protect themselves. Why is James playing now? Smart money said he wouldn’t gain sitting out another year so he’s at it now. Decisions this staff makes force players into short term thinking. If the staff doesn’t have a long range plan of success, this year to year mash up, with really questionable personnel decisions is the best we’re gonna see. For a guy who has loved Beav football since Terry Baker went 99 in the snow in Philly, that’s just sad.
Chris says:
Nov 4, 2011
Riley is in freaking denial. I don’t care any more about this and that. Langsdorf needs to go and Banker needs to be really evaluated. I don’t care about all of this garbage he is talking about.
True, in the end I can either support the program or not. I can either get tickets or not. OR, I guess I can try to get Duck tickets or PSU tickets to fill out my need for football. All of these are possibilities, I guess. I just don’t want to give up watching college football period, but I just cannot continue to watch Riley be in denial any longer.
2 of the last 14 games have been won, that’s what’s been said above; I guess that’s probably correct. So….what do we do? Keep the status quo?
When Kyle Whittengam of Utah (whose team isn’t very good) says Riley and crew just did the same thing all game and it surprised him – when it continually wasn’t working, what do we do?
Is Riley on drugs or something? For goodness sake, he is in such denial.
Mike, if Danny Langsdorf is as good as you think he is he will have no problem finding another job. That’s reality. He’ll land somewhere.
WE NEED A CHANGE
beaverfan12 says:
Nov 4, 2011
Sounds like love of the job and getting ready is enough for Riley. Getting results and being better than the other team is the players job. In Riley’s mind it seems the coaches are doing their job now if only the players could do what is expected.
Well don’t expect any changes and next year will be another losing season without a bowl invitation. At that time everyone will react after three losing seasons but too late and OSU will be in the bottom of the Pac 10 for the next decade. Time for those who want to see a program driven by results to follow the Ducks or Huskies since OSU will drop out of contention.
Jeff Lee says:
Nov 5, 2011
The Beavers and the San Diego Chargers are using the same lame excuses for the poor play of their players and terrible team records: new players, injuries, ad nauseum. Riley and Norv Turner of the Chargers are never held accountable. The media in Oregon give Riley a free pass. The reporters in Oregon are sycophants pure and simple!
I wish I was rewarded for failure. I would be rich!