There is an anti-Mike Riley message board...

Alright, before I start, I'm not saying this applies to you, @youngorst - these might not be the reasons behind your opinion on Mike Riley. But here's my reasons why I think the things you listed above are not really the reasons people dislike Riley.

Honestly, I don't think the Brenda Tracy thing is reason to dislike him. Judged through the lens of today's society, yes. If he did the same thing today, it'd be contemptible.

However....if you can find me ONE SINGLE INSTANCE of a college coach doing more than Riley did in a case that occurred before the turn of the century. He suspended the kids immediately. The District Attorney dropped the charges due to lack of cooperation from the witness. He suspended them for a game even after that.

Compare that to some of the other coaches dealing with sexual assault/rape at the time. Neuheisel at Washington. Was it Gary Barnett at Colorado that made some flippant remarks about Katie Hnida? I'm sure there's a host of others who had "no conviction, no suspension" policies.

Again, if it happened today and he had the same response, then it would be a justifiably fireable offense.

But if you're mad at Riley for reacting as was socially acceptable at the time, then you should also be for changing the name of every building in the country named for someone who was vaguely racist in the 1800s. Also, you'd better be against Luke Heimlich pitching here in 2018. Otherwise, you're using it as an excuse for not liking him as a football coach.

Similarly, I've gone over the credentials Mike Riley brings to the table as an assistant coach on other threads. The fact that he left us twice is not a reason to dislike him. EVERY COACH LEAVES A JOB FOR SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Here's a list of guys who were on staff here at one point and then left for other jobs elsewhere:
Trent Bray
Keith Heyward
Jonathan Smith
Jim Michalczik
Dennis Erickson
Inoke Breckterfield

Nick Saban is a Kent State alum. He coached at Kent State. Are they not going to take him back because he left them to coach at Syracuse in 1977? Mike Price played at Washington State and then left them for Alabama (joke was on him)....would they be pissed if he came back?

So stop with this crap about how he left us. Twice he left us for higher profile jobs making far more money. This wasn't Ritchie McKay running off to New Mexico, or even Gary Andersen leaving Wisconsin.

The one argument that makes sense to me is the people who are worried about divided leadership. If you don't think Jonathan Smith is a strong leader and that guys will gravitate towards Mike Riley for guidance, I think that is a reasonable concern. My concerns about that were alleviated by Jonathan's press conference, where he seemed far more confident and assured of himself than I gave him credit for. He's going to be a good leader. He said on the JBS today that "I have some strong beliefs in how we're going to do things and the direction I want us to go."

The one argument you never hear...."he's not a good football coach," despite that being what everyone really thinks. They know it's an indefensible stance to take.

Hey Drunkandstoopid, had a question for ya?

Honest question: Are you on board with the Smith hire, now that Riley is back?

Go Beavs!

If he were hired as HC I would absolutely make that argument. I think he is a terrible HC at this point in his career. 

As for the Brenda Tracy being no bid deal due to when it happened. I'll have to agree to disagree, the minute I heard that story I lost all respect for Mike Riley. I don't care what other coaches would have done. Call me irrational for that all you want. I stand by it. 

I also disagree when you talk about him leaving for a better paying job. I'll buy that the first time but the second time he was given a lifetime contract (essentially) and made multiple comments about being at OSU for the rest of his career. To me, bailing on that (even for more money) does not excuse it and makes him someone I would not rehire. 

I'm actually not that bothered by him being a position coach, I just would prefer it be someone else. I don't think my reasons are irrational simply because you disagree with them. 

I respectfully disagree. I don't care what public sentiment was at the time. The minute a coach hears his players sexually assaulted someone they should be off the team. I don't care if the charges were dropped and I don't care if it was 1998. I am willing to accept a lot of bad behavior from players, an adult committing sexual assault against anyone is a red line for me. Even if every other coach on the planet would have kept the players, I still have no respect for it. 

And while I did not know this story in 1998 but I do remember being disgusted and losing all respect for Tom Osborne that Christian Peters was allowed to play at Nebraska and that the NFL rewarded him as a 1st round pick back in the early 90's. And I was in middle school at the time the Peters stuff was going on. So I know where I would have stood when it came to the Brenda Tracy story back in 1998. 

Cecil Collins got kicked out of LSU for allegations of sexual assault in 1998 so at least 1 coach did more than Riley. 

Youngorst....your take on Riley’s handling of the situation sounds pretty sanctimonious. Judging by your moniker, I’m thinking that you might be a millennial? The longer a person lives, the more they recognize that it’s one thing to say what they would do in a given situation, quite another when they are actually in that situation. The measure of character is trying to do right, but when you err (which you probably do just like the rest of us...unless you’re infallible, in which case we should start calling you “St. Youngorst”) and know it, you do all you can to make things right. I 100% believe that Riley had a clear conscience at the time with regard to his response to this terrible incident. Anyone who knows Riley - from his players to his friends and family - would say that it is absolutely inconsistent with the man’s character to knowingly handle a situation in an immoral fashion. He’s not a saint, but if you don’t respect the man as a man that’s on you. You must live in a rigid, unbending world devoid of grace, and I feel sorry for you.

I'd never heard of Cecil Collins, so I looked him up:



To my knowledge, the OSU football players that assaulted Ms. Tracy had no prior issues. The article goes on to state that Collins would habitually lie to Gerry DiNardo about incidents. Heck the article even states that reporters asked DiNardo why he didn't wait for a conviction to kick him off the team. DiNardo's response: "Is it true that the greatest part of the iceberg is underneath the water?"

So yes, Gerry DiNardo kicked him off the team, and good for him. However, I wonder if DiNardo would've kicked him off if he wasn't a habitual liar who had a history of being suspended from his high school team, failed to get academically eligible for the start of the season, failed three drug tests, and then was charged with two separate incidents of sexual violence/intimidation in less than a month.