Shortly after the Eagles fired head coach Doug Pederson, InsidetheBirds.com reporter Geoff Mosher reported that the team reached out to current Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley.
Riley, 37, from Lubbock, TX, has been the Oklahoma head coach since 2012 when then-head coach Bob Stoops retired. In 2018, he was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year. Riley is coming off his first major bowl win, defeating the Florida Gators 55-20 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. Riley’s college record is 45-8, and he just signed an extension with the Sooners last year for six years for $45.2 million that runs till 2025.
So, why did the Eagles call Riley? One, the team drafted Riley’s starter from 2019, Jalen Hurts. I believe Roseman’s thinking is if they can get Riley here, he could not only coach Hurts but also turn Wentz’s career around. Riley’s offense has averaged forty points or more in his four seasons as the Sooners coach.
However, could this cause further tension between Wentz and the Eagles? By bringing Riley in, Wentz’s team would push for a trade knowing Riley’s history with Hurts. There would be a chance that Riley would use Hurts instead of Wentz. However, the Eagles would force Riley to use Wentz and fix him. Riley won’t be able to fix Wentz unless Wentz is willing to fix himself.
This whole situation would get messy in a hurry. Many NFL teams have been searching for the next Jimmie Johnson. The problem is, Johnson has been out of coaching since 2000. College coaches from Nick Saban, Chip Kelly, Steve Spurrier, Bobby Petrino, Mike Riley, and Jim Harbaugh have taken a crack at the NFL. Still, many of them would return to college.
One of them made the right choice and just won his seventh championship. Currently, former Temple and Baylor coach Matt Rhule just wrapped up his first season with the Carolina Panthers and finished 5-11. The other college coach in the NFL right now is Pete Carroll. However, he was in the NFL before going to college at USC and came back in 2010 with the Seahawks.
Why would Riley give up everything he has in Oklahoma just to go to a team that won’t allow him to have a say in running operations or getting the players he wants? If he is considering the job, he should call Chip Kelly and ask him how his time was in Philadelphia.
Riley is better off staying at Oklahoma and not get caught up in the Eagles mess. After listening to owner Jeffrey Lurie’s press conference on Monday. It’s clear that nothing will change as long as Howie Roseman is in charge. Lurie is always going to favor Roseman, and they are looking for a coach to boss around. Riley will not tolerate Roseman and would just be like Nick Saban and the other coaches from the past and head back to college. Riley, like Saban, will have a better coaching career in college than in the NFL.
