how you gonna ruin your young 1st year coach like this? especially having his old coach watch over him... too many chiefs in the kitchen
By Danny Moran | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Mike Riley to return to Oregon State football as assistant head coach under Jonathan Smith
CORVALLIS -- Following a three-year hiatus, Mike Riley is back at Oregon State .
Riley will return as an assistant head coach under Jonathan Smith , the school announced Thursday, reuniting the longtime OSU head coach with Smith -- the former quarterback he recruited as a walk-on in 1997.
The return will mark Riley's third time on the Beavers coaching staff, although his official assignment has not yet been determined.
Riley, 64, has the most wins by any head football coach in Oregon State history. He compiled a 93-80 record during two stints from 1997-98 and 2003-14. His last tenure ended when he left OSU to take the head coaching job at Nebraska, where he went 19-19 in three seasons.
In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald after his Nov. 25 firing, Riley said he wouldn't mind being on a coaching staff as a secondary or quarterbacks coach, saying that he still felt young and had the energy to do it.
"If there's a fit somewhere -- coach or consult -- yeah, that'd be awesome," Riley told the newspaper. "But it has to be the right fit for (Smith)."
Riley coached Smith for two seasons before he left OSU for the first time and became head coach of the San Diego Chargers. Riley returned in 2003 after his replacement, Dennis Erickson, became the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Smith, who set multiple passing records at OSU from 1997-2001, joined Erickson's staff as a graduate assistant in 2002 and remained under Riley in 2003 before becoming quarterbacks coach at Idaho in 2004.
"Current and former players thriving in the NFL and in life are proof of Coach Riley's tremendous ability to recruit outstanding young men," Smith said in a statement. "He understands what it takes to win in this conference, and how to evaluate and develop student-athletes. There is no one better to have represent OSU in the homes of recruits as we build this program."
During his introductory press conference on Nov. 30, Smith credited Riley for developing his knowledge of football schematics and talent evaluation skills.
When asked if he was considering adding Riley or Erickson to his staff in some capacity, Smith smiled and said, "I haven't gotten that far with those guys."
