Everyone can see that Lincoln Riley is a brilliant play-caller and play designer. His offenses are regularly great, his quarterbacks consistently productive. It’s impossible to ignore his skill in calling a game. People understand this. Yet, one anecdote from Riley Files analyst Kegan Reneau shows that as good as Riley is, he is probably still underappreciated in this regard. Do we really grasp just how good he is at this part of coaching?
“Oklahoma goes down to Waco after a bye week in 2021,” Reneau began. “There are reports, and there are still conversations surrounding Lincoln Riley taking the LSU job. He clearly was in deep conversations with both LSU and USC at that point. So let’s just rip the bandaid off and say maybe Lincoln Riley wasn’t a hundred percent in terms of his commitment to Oklahoma in that game. Now in Waco, his offensive line was very underwhelming. His quarterback did not play very good, but this guy who I will put quotations around, was not “a hundred percent into Oklahoma football at the time.” Yet he’s still calling plays that, designing schematically and tactically, are getting open and should be big plays against the Baylor defense. That defense was one of the best in the country (in 2021).
“One foot out the door (to USC), and he’s still so good that although his players (had mentally checked out), which falls under his umbrella — I’m not giving him an excuse by any means — he was still calling plays that were getting guys open and should have had success.”
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