Bopcha Blog

Ask Anyone, Mike Riley is More Than Your Average Coach

Commentary Exclusive to Beavers OSR

by Mike Parker



CORVALLIS, Ore. - Mike Riley and I climbed to the top of the west side of Memorial Stadium in Berkeley on Saturday, just after our pre-game conversation, which was to air about an hour later on the Beaver Sports Network.



We gazed across the Bay to the City, to Alcatraz, to the Golden Gate Bridge, to the Bay Bridge, all the while marveling over the beauty of the view. Mike also pointed out a couple of spots on the campus, including where he had lived when he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant to Mike White's California squad in 1975.



He spoke fondly of his one season in the East Bay, saying that he learned a lot, not only from White, but also from assistants such as Roger Theder, Ron Hudson, and Artie Gigatino. We also noticed that many were gathering on Tightwad Hill on the east side of the Stadium in Strawberry Canyon. We agreed that this was one of the finest settings for college football in the entire country. We saw the big hole being dug for some needed renovations and additions to the grand old venue.



"Two years from now we'll have to play these guys somewhere else," I offered, referring to the strong possibility that Cal will play its 2011 season at either the Oakland Coliseum or at Candlestick Park. I added, "That's too bad. We should always play them here."



This was, of course, a not so veiled reference to the great run of success the Beavers had already enjoyed in recent years at the home of the Golden Bears, and spoken hours before the Beavers put on another impressive display to complete a sweep of the decade at Memorial Stadium.



Part of me would love to reminisce about each of the five wins in the decade. I have had, after all, the honor of calling each one, and each game has provided a rich trove of memories. Perhaps two years hence, if life's vicissitudes still permit me to call Beaver games and write for the OSR, I will have the chance to indulge that itch.



But for now I am more taken by the contemplative scene I was able to share with Mike Riley before the game. Here's a guy little more than an hour from the kickoff of a game that he himself had termed "a defining moment" for his football team, and he's taking the time to savor the setting and to remember his roots.



Surely he had a multitude of things on his mind at that hour, but he felt the tableau demanded his attention. And so he gave it, obeying his oft-preached mantra of "living in the moment."



A week earlier, as I was preparing to leave his office following our pre-game interview for the UCLA game, Riley said, "Oh, one other thing. When they [UCLA] punt we're going to use two return men because their guy [Jeff Locke] is so good at kicking deep and at directional punting. Most of the game we'll have two guys back there. We hope it will help with field position."



This was said off the air, in a casual, 'by the way' fashion. As I ascended the steps towards the Reser Stadium press box I felt included; of having been helped to do my job armed with the kind of information that might make the broadcast a little bit better.



As it turned out, the two man return team of Taylor Kavanaugh and James Rodgers and the way they complemented one another turned out to be a significant factor in the football game. Jim Wilson said several times during the broadcast how important it was that Kavanaugh was in a position to catch Locke's shorter punts.



There had been no necessity for Riley to share that coaching point with me. It merely occurred to him that that piece of information might be useful to our description of the game, and, of course, he was right.



The poet Auden said of the great writer Charles Williams, "more than anyone else I have ever known, he gave himself completely to the company he was in." This is a high compliment, and perhaps should not be appropriated for another. But I believe Mike Riley has a similar effect upon the people in his sphere.



This past Friday night former Beaver student athletes Roy Scheuning and Slade Norris were gracious enough to attend a dinner given in honor of generous donors to the BASF who had made the trip to northern California.



Both young men are currently members of the Oakland Raiders' practice squad. When asked to share a few words, each young man took time to thank the people in the room for their support. They both eloquently communicated how much being a part of Oregon State University had meant to their lives.



Norris, in particular, was grateful of the role Mike Riley had played in his development as a football player and as a person.



Slade relayed how some teammates and other members of the Raiders' personnel staff would occasionally ask him something like "Hey, we all see what a nice guy Riley is on the outside. Tell us what he's really like." Slade said he was proud to say, "The same."



By getting hot again late in the season the Beaver football team has placed itself on a path where something special just might unfold, i.e. Arizona loses twice, USC once, Beavers win out, Beavers go.



As Peter Sellers asked in The Wrong Box, "do you realize the enormity of what you just said?" Well, yes, I'm afraid I do. And the enormity consists of not living in the moment, right? But we in Beaver Nation are free to speculate about such things because we have a head coach that doesn't.



For him, his staff, and his players, there is one game and one game only, and that is with the University of Washington. In the hours ahead, in the bunker, he will prepare with the monomaniacal focus of a Henry Frankenstein.



But outside, whether handing out donuts to students waiting in the rain for tickets or signing books about the history of Beaver football at Powell's on Friday, or, perhaps, giving a little tip to a radio broadcaster on Thursday night at McMenamin's, Oregon State's head coach will remain engaged with the people he meets and the place (see Berkeley) he is in, and thus provide an example for us all.