3 NFL teams that should give Lincoln Riley a blank check to leave Oklahoma
By John Buhler
Lincoln Riley could be a serious candidate to lead an NFL team in 2021.
If Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley were to leave Norman for an NFL team this offseason, he would have plenty of interest from several teams in desperate need of a reboot.
Riley has been instrumental in Oklahoma winning the last six Big 12 conference championships. While the Sooners are 0-4 in the College Football Playoff during his time with the program in any capacity, there is no doubt over who is the most brilliant offensive mind in the college game today. He will likely stay at OU, but if one of these three teams writes him a blank check, you never know.
3 NFL teams that could hire Lincoln Riley
Scouting Report. East. player. Pick Analysis. NFC. Philadelphia Eagles. 3. 54
Pair him with Jalen Hurts and see what happens
The idea behind prying Riley out of the college game and into the professional one is to form a dynamic tandem with an up-and-coming passer. While Riley could elevate most signal-callers in the NFL, one player who he coached at Oklahoma could be in line for new voice to lead him in 2021. Yes, I am talking about Riley going to the Philadelphia Eagles to reunite with Jalen Hurts.
This is all contingent on if Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie believes Doug Pederson is the right head coach for his team or not. While Pederson did win a Super Bowl in his second year with The Birds in 2017, the team has gotten progressively worse each season since. They are the only team in the NFC East that has been eliminated from playoff contention entering Week 17. He is in trouble.
While going with a college head coach may not be something Lurie wants to do because of Chip Kelly, he has to understand that Hurts played the best ball of his life in his one year working with Riley. Hurts’ one year with the Sooners culminated in him leading Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff and him finally earning his stripes as a passer as a Heisman Trophy runner-up.
The idea behind pairing Hurts with Riley is to elevate the second-year pro’s performance quick enough before he has to be signed to a second contract. As long as the Eagles can dump Carson Wentz‘s contract, Philadelphia could be in a decent position to load up elsewhere to potentially orchestrate another improbable run to the Super Bowl. We have seen crazier things happen here.