When Texas Tech's high-flying Air Raid offense was in full swing during the Mike Leach era in Lubbock, SMU head coach Sonny Dykes served as his offensive coordinator, mentoring current Oklahoma head coach and then graduate assistant Lincoln Riley as Riley got his start in coaching.

On Wednesday, sources told Pony Stampede Dykes hired the younger brother of the Sooners coach, Garrett Riley, who will serve as the program's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Garrett replaces Rhett Lashlee, who departed for Miami after two seasons.

Riley arrives in Dallas having spent the past season at Appalachian State as running backs coach and was set to be promoted to offensive coordinator by new head coach Shawn Clark. Riley called plays in the team's 31-17 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl win over UAB when the Mountaineers racked up over 400 yards of offense, including 261 yards on the ground.

Running back Darrynton Evans led a position group that totaled 2,756 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns in 2019. Evans rolled for 1,484 yards and 18 touchdowns while Marcus Williams, Jr. ran for 652 yards and five touchdowns. The top three running backs averaged over 5.77 yards per carry.

When Riley was at Kansas from 2016-2018, serving as an analyst in 2016 then quarterbacks coach in 2017 and fullbacks in 2018. Riley oversaw quarterback Peyton Bender become the Jayhawks' fastest player to pass for 1,000 yards in his career - doing so in his first three games. After Carter Stanley was named starter prior to the Kansas State game, he made his starting debut count by throwing for 418 yards, the fifth-most passing yards in Kansas single-game history.

Riley spent the 2015 season as the outside receivers coach and the 2013 and 2014 seasons as an offensive assistant at East Carolina. During his time coaching the ECU outside receivers, he mentored Zay Jones, who caught 98 passes for 1,009 yards in 2015 and went on to set the NCAA FBS record with 399 career catches.

Former East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill and Kansas coach David Beaty weighed in on what Riley brings to a program. His brother has praised his energy that Garrett brings to a college program.

"I've known him and Lindsay for a long time," McNeill said when Riley was hired at App State. "I watched him when he was still a high school player and then as a coach. When I got to East Carolina, he was one of my first hires as a graduate assistant, and then when a full-time position came open it was an immediate appointment. He's been around the top offensive minds in football, and he is one of the top offensive minds."

“He’s versatile. He’s a guy that has coached the tight end spot, he’s coached the wide receiver spot, he’s coached the quarterback spot now. He’s actually called some plays before in games,” Beaty said when Riley was on staff. “There’s so much that he brings to the table for us. I don’t know if I could sit here and list it all. There’s a reason why we hired him at such a young age.”

After walking on at Texas Tech in 2008-09, Riley transferred to Stephen F. Austin in 2010 and helped the Lumberjacks to a Southland Conference title and a No. 1 FCS ranking in both passing and total offense.

The Mustangs are coming off a 10-3 season in the second season with Dykes at the helm and returns quarterback Shane Buechele, wide receiver Reggie Roberson and other key pieces to a Top 10 offense in the country in 2019.

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