Paul Myerberg

USA TODAY Sports

This season's coaching-change cycle kicked off with a bang: Mike Riley, the longest-tenured coach in the Pac-12 Conference and the most successful coach in Oregon State history, surprised the entire Football Bowl Subdivision — and everyone else — by leaving the Beavers for Nebraska, which had dismissed Bo Pelini after seven seasons in a row with nine or more wins.

At first blush, Riley's 93-80 record at Oregon State seems out of line with the Cornhuskers' championship expectations. A closer look reveals that not all win-loss records are created equal.

Oregon State hadn't posted a winning season in nearly three decades upon Riley's arrival in 1997. He left with the school record for wins, as the only coach in program history with more than one bowl win and as the only coach since 1969 with more than one winning season in conference play — and he won six bowl games and posted six winning seasons in Pac-12 action.

Yet that Riley left Corvallis, Ore., where he'd attended high school while his father served as an assistant coach for the Beavers, was surprising. But after turning down similar overtures from big-name programs in the past, Riley called the opportunity at Nebraska "the right place at the right time."

Riley spoke by phone with USA TODAY Sports national college football writer Paul Myerberg about the mindset behind the change, being at peace with the move, his team's recruiting efforts and the expectations inherent to serving as the Cornhuskers' coach.

Q: I was in Corvallis earlier this week speaking with your successor, Gary Andersen. The general impression I received from inside the football building is that people were surprised by your departure but not shocked, if that makes any sense. In my mind, that might be because you've had other opportunities in the past. What made this one different?

A: Gosh, you know, I think that's the $1 million question. It's hard. But I guess I would describe it like this: I was at a point at Oregon State where I felt … I loved the place, I loved the kids. If I was ever going to leave, I always wanted to be able to leave not because I was unhappy or because like people say, you know, it was time you go. Also, the thought crossed my mind, "Hey, there's lots of exciting things in life." And when they cross your plate, you either try it or you don't. And either choice can be good. But I figured that at my age and this stage of my career, that if I was going to do it this was probably going to be my last chance to do something different.

This one I had some previous knowledge of the people, the athletics director, and everybody has knowledge of the place here. So that wasn't hard. It kind of came down to the right place at the right time. And it is all good for me. It's good because it's bittersweet. The leaving of Oregon State is hard, and I'm glad it's hard because it was good. It was all good. And the people are great, the kids are great, there's a great lifestyle, all that.

The other part of it is exciting because it's going to be new and different. I'm going to put together a good group of people here to work with these kids and we're going to see what we can do at a different spot.

Q: When you had the chance to leave this time and you weighed your options, how much did you think about your history at Oregon State? Was there any feeling that you had unfinished business with the Beavers or things left to accomplish that might have left you more at peace about leaving?

A: Well, I felt at peace about leaving. That part of it wasn't a big factor. Now, leaving kind of my roots was hard. Frankly, leaving my lifestyle. Because when you're at a place for 12 straight years and 14 in total, you get into a pretty comfortable routine. Not necessarily with your job but with life. Our favorite place to walk, our favorite place to go get a cup of coffee. Just day-to-day stuff that as you look back you really enjoyed, and you didn't even know it was a big deal when you were doing it because that's what you did.

But as far as the job, I know how hard we worked and I know we gave Oregon State our best. We never wavered in that. And we built a program that lasted longer than most do in college football. I'm happy with that, I'm at peace with all that, for sure.

Q: Well, one thing about Lincoln is that it'll probably be a little harder to find quiet places for long, interrupted walks. Have you thought about the change in atmosphere? Being the head coach at Nebraska will have an impact on your lifestyle outside of coaching, I would think.

A: That's kind of a mystery. We won't know it until we live here and get a feel for the place. The reaction I get from all the people who are around is that they just love living here. From what I've gathered so far, it's a bigger college town than the one I've been living in. The college is kind of the central focus of the place. Of course, the football is passionate, huge, and that's OK. I know my wife and I will find things to enjoy and things to do.

And you know, since I've been riding my bike to work for so many years, a lot of people have come up to me and said, "Hey, there's lots of great bike trails here." This one guy told me, "I ride four miles and never get on the street." So I'm going to have to explore a little bit. The hard part about moving is it takes a little while to get settled. I've moved around enough to know about climates and all that, so that really doesn't bother me. We got a little snow this morning, but I lived in Winnipeg for seven years.

Q: So a little snow is nothing. Nebraska is like the Bahamas compared to Winnipeg. In terms of a major moment: When you first put on a Nebraska coat or shirt, was that when things really hit home?

A: Yeah, I think that's right. I think when I put on my red tie for the press conference it was very enlightening. You know, I'd been there so long at Oregon State, my closet … it's Oregon State. So it is different. When I get dressed in the morning and I put on my Nebraska sweatshirt, it feels different. It's only one of those things that time takes care of. Like I told the players here and the players at Oregon State, there's going to be an uncertainty for all of us for a time. Time will give you more knowledge and heal a lot of things. You start to live a little bit of a different life.

But there's no doubt, you know … I wake up at night wondering where I'm at, what I'm up to. That will be the way it is for a while. Like I said, I'd rather have it where it kind of hurt to leave and I'm excited to arrive. It's a funny feeling.

Q: There's something dangerous in all walks of life, and I imagine in coaching, about leaving with and carrying around a vindictive feeling — "I'm going to prove someone wrong." And I think that's the case with a number of coaches who leave one place for another. But what I gather from speaking with you is that leaving for Nebraska was about taking on the challenge.

A: Yeah. You think about it, I'm 61 and I always thought I'd retire in Corvallis. Then here comes an opportunity that is totally different. I wouldn't have done this in (the Pac-12 Conference), so it's a different league, a different place. And it's a good place. I think there's real good people here. It's truly kind of a clean slate and a new start. I'm not going to compromise anything that we've done at Oregon State in terms of what's good for young men. We're going to put our values in place here and coach according to those values and build a program that's good for kids and wins games. That's our goal.

I'm excited about actually doing that at Nebraska. People talk about being reenergized. Every day if you're coaching in college, you better be energized. You never know what's going to cross your plate.

Q: How are you spending the next month in terms of bowl preparations? Are you just sitting above, watching the team but not participating at all in schematics, game planning and so on?

A: Yeah, they've got a nice little platform here where you can watch practice. I asked the coaches if it'd be alright if the guys that I hired and I can come out and watch. They've been real, real good. Through that we've been able to meet a few more players and get a little bit of an idea … It's just fun to watch football anyway. Good break in the day.

Q: And you're not installing anything at this point during the next week or so, I imagine.

A: Yeah, totally just a fan right now. It's kind of nice. These guys are working hard at it. I told the players to get ready to play a great game, enjoy the bowl experience, be a good team together, do the right thing and go for it. It's a great experience. They're playing a great team in USC, very talented team. It'll be good for them to compete against them.

Q: You should have your full staff hired in the next week or two. So I guess what you're doing now is hiring and recruiting.

A: That's all. That's really all we're doing. And we're going to benefits meetings. We've got to fill out all these forms.

Q: In terms of recruiting, you had a message you gave at Oregon State to recruits, their families, their coaches, supporters and so on. What's the message you've been giving since you started speaking with recruits at Nebraska?

A: Part of it's easy. Part of it is what I was talking about earlier. What we try to establish is the substance and values in a program and what we try to grow in young men. That's the part that's not going to change for me. We want full development. I discovered quite a while ago that we've got way more to do than just football when you're a college football coach. So those parts are easy.

The hard part is we don't have any history in the football part of it here at Nebraska. I find myself referring back to what this guy did at Oregon State in the same position. That's kind of funny, because I haven't had to do something like this for a long time. Because I've got no record here, I've got no background here in football. And I refer to the fact that these are the systems we've run before. We're going to adapt, we're going to look at the personnel we have. We're going to have in some cases a different skill set.

Our quarterbacks here will be different than the drop-back passers I've had at Oregon State. We're joining a team here, you know. We've got to blend our leadership in with the talent and the players we have here at Nebraska so we can help this team win.

Q: And this isn't an expansion team you're taking over here. This is a good team that's won nine games for several years in a row.

A: That's exactly right. I understand the expectations.

Q: What do you think those expectations are?

A: Oh, I think they're at the highest level. I think there's great memories of all the championship teams that were here. The one thing that is for sure about Nebraska, it is the only show in the state. It's one of those few places that doesn't have another major university or pro team. I understand the attention and the expectations.

That's OK with me because I've coached in the NFL and I know when people talk about pressure and all that. I think mostly pressure is self-induced. We all want to compete and win and do well. We're going to work hard at our jobs and prepare our team like we always have. The good thing is I don't have to change who I am to coach here at Nebraska. I think we just have to work with these kids in the same way we've been doing.

Q: Very quickly, another question on recruiting. The dynamics of the country have changed in terms of the spread of talent. There's not a tremendous amount of talent in your new backyard, but there is a brand at Nebraska. Given that, do you think there's any reason why Nebraska can't land top-25 recruiting classes, if we cared about star rankings?

A: I think I'll find out more about that. But I'm very confident in the fact that … One thing is for sure, you can't buy history and tradition. They have that here. I think it's also a very impressive place, a good university in a good college town. So within that top 25 of recruiting, I firmly believe that we can find our niche and get the right talent of player and the right person to come here. I just have a belief in that. I wouldn't have taken the job if I didn't. Like I said, I've been very impressed with the guys that are here and the quality of recruit that I've talked to.

Q: Maybe the best thing about Nebraska is that it seems to embrace a similar culture to the one you believe in. Expectations are high, yeah, but I can see why it appealed to you in a number of different ways.

A: You're right on. The neat thing is I've been doing it long enough to have a belief of how it should be done and have a background to all the pitfalls and all the positives. It's just very important to me that we kind of do it our way. And in doing that we also want to win the championship and everything everyone else wants to do. But we won't compromise how we treat kids and how we coach kids and how we try to grow them.

Q: Audio of Bo Pelini's final meeting with the team was released earlier this week. Given the nature of that recording, do you feel the need to talk to the team about what we see in the meeting? Is that something you'd rather let sit and dissipate and not address it?

A: You know, that's interesting. I really hadn't thought about addressing the team about that. I'm certainly aware of it. What my thought is just off the top of my head about that is I've respected the work that they'd done here — the number of wins that they've had, the recruiting that they'd done. I was very impressed with the commitments that I went to visit as I arrived at my first week here. I thought they did a good job. I told the staff that. I haven't gotten to speak to Bo.

All that other stuff I'm going to leave behind and go forward. It's really none of my business to comment about or be involved in. My job is to coach this team going forward. I'll really have my next team meeting on Jan. 11. We're just going to start there with what's expected and how we're going to do business and get to know this team. They don't know us, really. Our big job is to really start putting our stamp on the culture and also the style of football that we're going to play.