Nebraska’s hiring of Mike Riley to replace Bo Pelini was perhaps the most under-the-radar hiring of the offseason.

After all, Riley’s name wasn’t exactly at the top of many coaching hot boards and the like in recent years when major jobs, particularly those with prestige of the Cornhuskers, opened up.

It could end up being one of the best hires of the offseason. Here are five reasons why.

1- His reputation among coaches is sterling

Whenever you discuss good coaches with other coaches there are always the major names you’d expect, then there are always others mentioned that get thrown into the conversation as outliers. Almost universally, Riley’s name would always come up when talking about the “guys that can coach” with other coaches. Now, opinions are opinions and don’t always translate to huge numbers in every situation, but when it’s a nearly unanimous opinion, it has to be trusted.

2- He built Oregon State, twice

Riley is a hometown hero in Corvallis and accepted the Beavers job twice- laying the foundation for Dennis Erickson to eventually post an 11-1 record and win the Fiesta Bowl with a two year run of 8-14. Then, he returned after a stint in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers to post an 85-66 mark with the Beavers from 2003-14. His 93 wins are the most-ever at Oregon State. Ironically, another guy who always comes up with coaches when talking about “outliers” is the man who replaced him in Corvallis after he split for the Huskers- Gary Andersen.

3- He is as resourceful of a recruiter as you will find

Oregon State would not have won 85 games under Riley during his second tenure had he and his staff not had to go out and be resourceful in finding players. The Beavers landed sleepers, transfers, junior college prospects- guys who were way under-the-radar, but could play. You don’t win if you don’t at least have players that can approach the talent level of your opponents no matter how good of a coach you are, so Riley and his staff should be commended for that. At Nebraska, you have a bigger, better brand to sell, but you still have to be resourceful and scour the country for talent (along with having a developed walk-on program for the in-state prospects). There’s no more proven head coach in the country at doing just that than Riley. The talent level at Nebraska will ultimately prove to be superior to what he had at Oregon State (and likely already is), but it’s his resourcefulness and ability to build a high-level roster on an annual basis that will pay dividends for this program.

4- He develops talent

In addition to finding the raw materials, you have to be adept at building the dam (no Beaver pun intended... well, sort of) and Riley and his staff have proven to be quite good at that. Oregon State had five players taken in this past NFL Draft. If you compared that number to the average number of four and five-star prospects the Beavers signed during a five-recruiting cycle period, the numbers would no doubt not match up. His lengthy coaching experience, excellent ability to hire staff and ability to build the foundation of a program (including strength and conditioning, roster management, offseason program and more) pay dividends in terms of having excellent football players, something that is needed to win championships at Nebraska. More than 50 walk-ons were out for the team in the spring and Riley mentioned to the Portland Tribune that some were battling for starting jobs. That’s paramount for the Cornhuskers and part of the “guts” of that program, perhaps as unique as any in college football.

5- This is his big shot

The 61-year old Alabama graduate has had nibbles from other major programs in the past, including the Crimson Tide and USC, where he was a record-setting offensive coordinator in the 1990s. He’s remained at Oregon State during that time. Nebraska is his shot to make it happen with a big program. One thing Riley did not accomplish with the Beavers was leading them to the Rose Bowl. The Huskers could very well do that under his watch. They already are one of the best program (along with the Badgers) in the Big Ten West and if you win that division, you are one win away from either the Granddaddy of them all or the College Football Playoff. Nebraska and Riley both have a great opportunity and it’s time at this point in his career to get it done at the highest level. As former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz once said - ‘if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, win a championship’- it’s what every coach wants and Riley is going to give everything he’s got to get it done. Nebraska is his shot to that and there's no reason why he cannot.