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New Nebraska football coach Mike Riley gave his defensive coordinator at Oregon State, Mark Banker, a nice recommendation for the vacant head coaching position with the Beavers.

Speaking on Sirius XM College Sports radio on Friday afternoon, Riley immediately mentioned Banker’s name when asked if he would think any of his assistants could be in line to replace him at Oregon State.

“Mark, he knows the ins and outs, he’s been there for a long time,” Riley said of his 13-year assistant at OSU. “I think he would be a very fine selection. But I have no idea about direction right now for what they’re going.

“But if you’re asking about a guy, that would be one.”

Also in the interview, Riley talked about his meeting with Oregon State players to tell them he was leaving.

“I hated it,” Riley said. “I told them to start with, I never thought I’d have this conversation. I just never thought that this was going to be something that I would have to do. It was unusual. It was hard. There was no easy way to do that.”

Reach the writer at brosenthal@journalstar.com.

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