Mike Riley: 'Gut-wrenching' decision to leave Oregon State 'bittersweet'

New Nebraska football coach says taking Cornhuskers job was 'now or never' moment in his career

The call came from Blue Springs, Mo., the caller on a recruiting mission for his new team.

"It's been a whirlwind," Mike Riley said. "Everything has happened pretty fast."

Indeed. Ten days ago, Riley still had a firm hold on his job as head football coach at Oregon State. Four days later, the Corvallis native was running the show at one of the most storied programs in America -- Nebraska.

Though Nebraska will pay Riley $2.7 million annually -- far more than the $1.5-million per year he was making at Oregon State -- the move was not made lightly.

"It was a horribly hard decision, really gut-wrenching for me," he said.

Riley said he first got a phone call from Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst on Monday afternoon -- hours after a post-season meeting with OSU AD Bob De Carolis. Eichorst asked if Riley -- by that time in the Bay area recruiting -- were interested in the job; he said yes.

By coincidence, Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman was in San Francisco on business. Eichorst booked a flight that night from Lincoln to San Francisco through Denver. The three met up on Tuesday. By Wednesday night, they had a deal.

"Before Monday, I would not have dreamed this would have happened," Riley said.

The Riley-De Carolis meeting, it would seem, did not go well.

Three sources told me that De Carolis wanted to eliminate multiyear contracts for Beaver assistant coaches -- something Riley had fought hard for in recent years -- and also wanted to renegotiate Riley's deal to pare the years remaining down from seven.

I asked Riley Wednesday if those were factors in his departure. He deflected the question, confirming the meeting but declining to explore what was discussed.

"I'd really like to emphasize the positive of my time at Oregon State," said the man who won more games (93) than any coach in the school's 120-year football history. "I meant what I said during the (introductory Nebraska) press conference: I could never give as much to Oregon State as it gave me to me. I loved the people I worked with there -- the players, the coaches, the administrators, the fans.

"A part of my heart will always be with Oregon State. It's bittersweet to leave."

Did Riley feel his future with the OSU program was in doubt?

"Let's just say it's a new start for me and a new start for Oregon State," he said. "I hope it works out well on both ends."

Over the past two decades, Riley has twice had the opportunity to coach at his alma mater, Alabama, and twice more at Southern Cal.

"I've had these things come up before and always passed," Riley said. "But for some reason, it just seemed like this was the right time, the right place.

"There's a lot of excitement in this for me. It's a new area of the country, a new league, and at a great university. There's so much great history and tradition and opportunity for me to go where they've been. No doubt about it, it's fun to become a part of that."

Since his hiring, Riley has had his nose to the grindstone with recruiting. A month-long dead period in which coaches cannot contact recruits begins Monday. For nearly a week, he has traveled to meet with verbal commits and others the Cornhuskers had been recruiting.

Riley has made some hires from his Oregon State staff, including defensive coordinator Mark Banker, offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh, linebackers coach Trent Bray and special-teams coach Bruce Read. Also: director of player personnel Ryan Gunderson and his assistant, Hilary O'Bryan, and director of football operations Dan Van De Riet. Riley said he will also offer a position to Gary Beck, OSU's coordinator of support services.

(I didn't ask about chief of staff Jay Locey, who is among the candidates for the Lewis & Clark head coaching job. I wouldn't be surprised if Riley offers Locey a position, too.)

As of Wednesday, the other five coaches on Riley's staff -- offensive coordinator John Garrett, receivers coach Brent Brennan, running backs coach Chris Brasfield, defensive line coach Joe Seumalo and secondary coach Rod Perry -- were still employed by Oregon State. All were on the road, trying to help secure Beaver commits.

Riley has five more coaches to hire. It's unlikely he will rehire Garrett, with whom he worked for only one year. The other four ex-Riley assistants could get a call, but he said it won't be until next week after he gets off the road recruiting and back into his office at Lincoln.

"I'm very interested in them," he said. "They're great coaches. I need to interview with the Nebraska coaches first and sort things out. I want to talk with the Nebraska coaches, the Oregon State coaches and also coaches out in the world. I want to explore a little bit on all three counts."

Riley and his wife, Dee, haven't yet begun the process of finding a home in Lincoln. Dee has been in Birmingham, Ala., visiting her father, Bernie, who is ill and has been in the hospital. Dee flew from Birmingham to Lincoln for last Thursday's announcement, then returned to Alabama.

"I'm not sure where we're going to live," Riley said, "but I'm told there are places in town where there are bike paths, and I wouldn't even have to get onto a street to bike to work."

That sounds good to Riley, who in good weather in Corvallis opted not to drive his Prius to work, instead taking his 12-speed on the mile-and-a-half trip.

"The two things I'll miss most about Oregon State are the players and the lifestyle," he said. "We had so many great kids in our program. I'm really going to miss them. And we had some a comfortable, easy lifestyle in Corvallis."

He paused for a moment.

"In the end, it came down to this," Riley began. "I've had some other offers like this in the past. I'd turned them down. It was kind of now or never. It's a brand new challenge. Let's see what we can do."

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Twitter: @kerryeggers