Teaching, Trust Traditional Mike Riley Traits

Randy York’s N-Sider

Take it straight from those who surround Mike Riley’s inaugural season as Nebraska’s head football coach. Teaching and trust are top-tier tools that eight of the nine assistant coaches named so far intend to help reinforce and achieve the Huskers’ goal to win a Big Ten Championship and compete for national prominence. With nine of the 10 Husker coaches now in place, Nebraska’s staff has a combined 216 years of coaching experience, coupled with 56 bowl game appearances and 38 years of coaching in the professional ranks.

On Wednesday, the day before the new Nebraska football staff met the press, I asked Riley’s eight assistant coaches, minus only a receivers coach to be named later, to define the traits that describe what drew them to Nebraska to work with Riley. To a man, teaching and trust trended toward the top. When I informed Riley of that truth on Thursday, he smiled graciously and seemed genuinely pleased. “That’s good,” he said, “because we’re all wrapping our arms around the same student-athletes, and teaching and trust will be an important part of our success.”

With a keen eye on character and finishing with a flourish in recruiting, here are the Riley traits that Nebraska’s new football staff shared with me:

Defensive Coordinator Mark Banker: “There are a lot of things that go into Mike’s leadership, but No. 1 is he’s the same person as a football coach as he is as a husband, as a dad or as a friend. He’s not a guy who rides on a golf cart or stands in the tower as a football coach and then is excited to be somebody’s buddy off the field. With Mike, what you see is what you get. With him, there’s no confusion, no mixed messages. He lives his life the same way that he treats and coaches his football team and leads his football staff. Everybody who works with Mike appreciates his consistency. He expects everybody to do your job, and because of that attitude, everyone buys in because you feel connected. You feel like you have a stake in the outcome because he trusts you.”

Offensive Coordinator Danny Langsdorf: ”I've been an offensive coordinator for nine years under Mike and he is great to work with. What you see is what you get. He’s genuine. He cares about his players. He cares about people. He has no ego. I think players and coaches really gravitate toward Mike because of how he treats you. That’s the draw for players who have played for him and for recruits who want to play for him. They’re very comfortable with his leadership. He’s not a big softy. He’ll get on you. He’ll coach you with detail and hard work. He’s tough, but he’s going to do it in a respectful way. He always makes you feel like you want to do it the right way. You won’t get beat down or run over. One of his best traits is being a teacher that helps you in football and helps you grow up and be a man. You won’t hear a negative thing about him because there’s no false pretense. He’s very up front about everything.”

Special Teams Coordinator Bruce Read: “Mike loves football, so there’s a common denominator there for everyone. He loves and appreciates schemes and as coordinator for special teams, I’m thankful he wants someone to run that phase of the game. He has a super positive attitude and is absolutely willing to help you in any way. He loves the players and it’s infectious. It all generates into a really nice vibe and creates a positive environment for the players, the coaches and the staff. He’s a grinder. Half the time, he’s the last guy in the office. He watches tape over and over and over. He’s a real family-oriented guy, so everything that we do, our families are involved. He’s extremely honest and really smart. You can always go to him when you get stumped, and he’ll come up with a good idea.”

Linebacker Coach Trent Bray: “I was fortunate to play for Coach Riley for three years and the best thing I ever did was coach with him. His best trait as a football coach is his knowledge of the game both defensively and offensively. It’s amazing the experience he’s had in college, in the NFL and in the Canadian League. You’re not going to find a guy with more combined experience and knowledge than Mike. He always treats people with respect, no matter who it is or what level they are. He’s a leader who always has time for people, regardless of what’s going on or how stressful it is. Whether you’re the janitor or the president, Mike is going to give you his attention whenever you’re around him.”

Offensive Line Coach Mike Cavanaugh: “Mike is so genuine and down-to-earth. He has an incredible demeanor about himself. He likes to have a good laugh. He’s a very easy guy to be around. He’s just a great person. Don’t get me wrong. He’s very competitive, I can tell you that. His philosophy is very simple. We’re attacking people. That’s our philosophy on offense, and it applies to the whole package. We’re going to go after it. Mike is a winner. In high school, he was on state championship football and baseball teams. He played on a national championship team at Alabama and won two Grey Cups in Winnipeg. Whatever Mike does, he’s very competitive.”

Running Backs Coach Reggie Davis: “I was fortunate to play for Coach Riley in San Diego, so I know how he treats players. Mike is very competitive. He’s a great teacher and treats everybody like a man. He’s never demeaning or derogatory. He coaches you hard and keeps you on top of the details. He allows his coaches to coach. He wants us all to be experts in our field and expects a lot from us. He wants us to develop personally and professionally and treat every player we coach with respect. He’s a man of his word and treats people the same way he wants to be treated.”

Defensive Line Coach Hank Hughes: “Football is a people-based business. It matters who you’re with, how you treat people and what you get out of it. That’s the most important part of the experience. Mike has impressed everybody who’s been around him. When I talked to (Cincinnati) Coach (Tommy) Tuberville, he told me Coach Riley is a great guy and people never run out of great things to say about him. What impresses me now are the same things that impressed me when I met Mike in 1991 while coaching in Canada. He’s very organized and very structured. He has a method to what he does and is successful because he’s as inspiring as he is organized.”

Secondary Coach Charlton Warren: “Coach Riley is just so genuine. When you talk to him, you know he means business, in a good way. From a leadership standpoint, he’s a guy you rally around because he’s so positive and direct. There is no wavering on his expectations. It’s like the quiet storm in the way he empowers people. You want to follow him because he knows what he wants. His football mind and his passion for the game are obvious. You know right away he’s been around the block in the NFL, in Canada and in college. He has that big picture mentality and can lay the foundation in the right way to create success for coaches, for players and for all the staff around him.

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