We interrupt this college football season to offer a story everyone can view as a positive development.
We will soon have preseason polls, a reminder that it’s near the time when fans across the country argue about which college football teams are overrated or underrated. Fans will soon get into spirited debates about fraudulent coaches and hot seats and everything else. Oklahoma fans are itching to see USC football suffer, much as Notre Dame fans yearn for Brian Kelly to stumble at LSU.
However, in the midst of the tumult and pressure attached to every college football season, we need to remind ourselves that real human beings — human lives — are attached to these games we watch on Saturdays in the fall. We are critical of the men who coach college football, but purely as a professional critique and not as a verdict on their character or self-worth.
We lost Mike Leach last season. Coaches sometimes don’t pay close-enough attention to their overall health and wellness.
USC assistant coach Dave Nichol, newly hired by Riley when he took the USC job, died in March of 2022 at age 45. The death hit Riley hard, given that Nichol was a central figure in helping Riley to establish his coaching career.
Riley has been affected by Nichol’s death and then Leach’s passing as well.
Guess what? Riley has decided to do something about that:
Had the 1st annual Dave Nichol health check for our football staff today. Coaches have so often put their health off to the side. Our hope is that this starts a trend around the country to monitor these staffs & catch any issues before it’s too late.
We miss you Dave- pic.twitter.com/vbgdTtJioC
— Lincoln Riley (@LincolnRiley) August 2, 2023
One would think other college football programs will follow Riley’s — and USC’s — lead in this regard. Kudos to Lincoln Riley for looking at the big picture beyond wins and losses (even though we will soon resume evaluating his coaching performance on that very metric).
[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696092269]