Lincoln Riley doesn’t envision leaving Oklahoma for NFL
After his predecessor was the subject of rumors about a jump to the NFL, Lincoln Riley seems ready to keep such speculation at bay.
After Bob Stoops’ sudden retirement just over a year ago, Lincoln Riley stepped in as Oklahoma Sooners head coach after two seasons as offensive coordinator around three months shy of his 34th birthday. Things went about as good as they could have in his first season, with a 12-2 record and a berth in the College Football Playoff. Replacing Heisman Trophy Baker Mayfield will be tough, even if Kyler Murray is up for the task, but Riley is a man on the rise in coaching circles.
In his “Monday Morning Quarterback” column this week, Albert Breer cited how Riley’s “schemes and coaching style have impressed the NFL” and “plenty of folks around the league have been visiting Norman this offseason.”
So it’s easy to put Riley on the NFL’s head coaching radar, and now coming close to his 35th birthday there’s some time for that talk to percolate as it often did with Stoops. When Breer asked about his interest in coaching in the NFL, Riley did a nice verbal dance.
"Hard to say, it would be really difficult to ever leave this place,” “This place is very invested in me and my family. They gave me a great opportunity, and I think this is one of the best if not the very best job in all of football. So I don’t know. I really, really enjoy the college game.“I don’t know that you can ever say never. I don’t know what the future will hold. But yeah … it’s hard to see myself ever leaving Oklahoma right now."
After making $3.1 million as the seventh-highest paid coach in the Big 12 last year, Riley just got an adjustment in his contract that will boost him to $4.8 million (plus bonuses) this year. A new five-year, $25 million deal will take him through the 2023 season.
Riley’s contract is now extended through the 2023 season. His five-year deal includes a $100,000 raise each season, equaling a $25 million deal and average of $5 million per season.#Sooners
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) June 19, 2018
Murray was drafted ninth overall by the Oakland Athletics in this month’s MLB draft, and he got a signing bonus of nearly $4.7 million. So Riley will now make more than his presumed starting quarterback this year.
Lincoln Riley will make $4.8 million next year, making him the highest paid person on OU’s football team. Kyler Murray is second at $4.7 million
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) June 19, 2018
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Even through a few relatively leaner years at Oklahoma, when the Sooners weren’t seriously contending for national titles, Stoops never made the jump to the NFL. Riley is set to face a lot of that same speculation, and his circumstance will be a little different as an offensive coach whose mind NFL teams already want to tap into. But if money stays equal and the NCAA never comes calling, Riley could indeed be at Oklahoma for a long time.