His youth has been a positive, especially on the recruiting trail. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), AgTexas Farm Credit awards $9,000 in local scholarships Muleshoe Journal | Intl' Scholarship News, AgTexas Farm Credit awards $9,000 in local scholarships. Lincoln Riley isnt surprised by the towns confusion. Access your Muleshoe Journal e-edition or subscribe here. Coaches came and went. Now that Riley is a head coach, it probably is harder. Oklahomas issue during those seasons was its porous defense, but, during the last two years, its offense sputtered (at least living up to its ridiculous standards), as Riley struggled to work his magic on five-star quarterback prospects Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams Jr. Look, when 10-2 is your down year, youre doing pretty well. He was a computer on legs. But well take him lunch or go to practice.. He's been too busy. But by then, the town had already galvanized around its team, and Muleshoe was firmly on the football map. Still, Lincoln Riley grew up loving the Mules and football, in general. But Ellis knows patience is an important part of his job description. (Courtesy of Bryan Terry / The Oklahoman). Growing up here, Ellis says, it often felt like you were insulated from the ails of the outside world. He has learned from experience. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Fans are already convinced Rileys arrival signifies a triumphant return to the Trojans rightful place atop college football. Riley shadowed Leach, a noted night owl, as much as he could. BREAKING after two seasons Muleshoe has reassigned HFC/AD Lee Walker, Muleshoe is open #txhsfb @dctf. Muleshoe residents gather for a livestock auction featuring sheep, hogs and goats. Others speculate he wanted nothing to do with the Southeastern Conference. Their hearts belonged to the Longhorns until sons Lincoln and Garrett went off to college at Texas Tech. A Muleshoe Mule is coaching the Sooners. But it's not as if Riley graduated at the top of his high school class. The idea of moving to Southern California was, he admits, pretty daunting. Hes just an athletic big kid. But the last 103 years havent been all wins and Roses. I said, Ruffin, Ive read all about him. But thats the kind of guy that Ruffin is. Muleshoe will always be my special village. USC won 11 national titles under icons Howard Jones, John McKay, John Robinson and Pete Carroll. He was all for it.. Its like Christmas Eve and Im 6 years old. Riley, though, doesn't see his biggest 2018 task as replacing a Heisman winner. Aaron Simon, an Angelo State University graduate whos been coaching with Richards for the past nine years, will be the Mules offensive line and associate head coach, while Portales, New Mexico native Chris Mosier the step-brother of former Mule standout receiver Kyle Atwood was hired as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. Of course, it will be up to Riley to decide if he wants a fresh start with the Trojans quarterback room. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Things always change year to year in college football and that's one of the things we enjoy. Mike Riley's series of tin-roofed warehouses on the northern fringe of Sudan can feel like ovens in the unforgiving West Texas sun. Outside candidates. One asset he had last year that he is without this season is Mayfield, who was selected No. Cheerleading Sponsor Cheyanne Cage. Riley, like many young coaches, has grown over the years. Great, great people. A top-10 preseason ranking is expected and, last week, the Sooners were predicted to win their third consecutive Big 12 championship. When Leach abruptly lost his job before the 2009 season ended, Riley was asked to call plays in the Alamo Bowl against Michigan State by Red Raiders interim head coach Ruffin McNeill. USC coach Lincoln Riley is introduced as the Trojans new head football coach at the Coliseum on Nov. 29, in front a bustling city backdrop vastly different than where he grew up. I just wanted to build on people that wanted to be in Muleshoe and want to get things going again.. Makes a lot of people feel good., Wood -- who also coached Lincoln's brother, Garrett, when the Mules won the 2008 Class 2A Division I state championship with the younger Riley quarterbacking -- said he was surprised that Stoops stepped down, but didn't surprise me (OU) named Lincoln the head coach. The Red Raiders beat Michigan State 41-31 on that day. He wasnt afraid to change things up, to do things different from what had been done there. Ellis is the third generation to run the funeral home, which his grandfather opened in 1959. His immediate retirement plan is . That, of course, changed when Lincoln Riley went to Texas Tech, tried out for the football team and Mike Leach almost immediately recognized Riley's intelligence and told him to turn in his shoulder pads and become a student coach. When he announced it was Oklahoma, I thought, that would be a good place for him to be a head coach, too.'. That plains was the prettiest country I ever saw in my life, as flat as a beauty contest winner's stomach, and prairie lakes scattered all over it. Rogers returned in 1934, an international celebrity. Riley will have no shortage of talented quarterbacks to evaluate right here in his new backyard. Mike Riley, Lincoln's father and a lifelong Muleshoe resident, said he didn't even know his son was interested in coaching until his senior year of high school. He brought a program and a culture to Muleshoe that hadnt been there, Riley said. You are the OC (offensive coordinator).. Before he even went to Oklahoma, he was talking to some other major colleges. Born in Muleshoe, he was raised and schooled primarily in Colorado. A Muleshoe Mule is coaching the Sooners. Alcohol sales were first allowed in the town just three years ago and to this day some respected folks still remain wary of setting foot inside the bar. Im not a big Longhorn fan right now, thats for sure.. The Muleshoe, Texas, city limit sign is seen in the hometown of new USC coach Lincoln Riley in 2015. When Wood talks about Riley, it sounded like Lou Holtz, who a couple of months ago came through Oklahoma City and noted his innate ability to immediately see and comprehend the intricacies of football. Mike and Marilyn Riley had to settle for the revelry generated in their hometown. "Everybody loves him. According to the Dallas Morning News, the Mules scored just one touchdown during the entire 1969 season. It attracted 10,000 souls. "A really exciting time," Rennels called the high-adrenaline week that followed Riley's ascension from offensive coordinator. Following the 2016 season, he was appointed Bob Stoops' successor, and he guided the team to the 2017 Rose Bowl and a #2 position in the College Football Playoffs. "He knew where every kid was supposed to be on every play," the coach said. It's just that they have their own homegrown hero Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley. Every time we get steaks and have friends over, they ask, Where did you get these knives? Always my wife will say, The Rileys bought them for us as a wedding gift. He tells me to come and visit him. "We had great success there throughout our years. The couple was on a tight timeline as Scott was scheduled to catch a 5 a.m. plane the next morning so that she could get to a softball game set for 1 p.m. the next day. But I think we saw this move as potentially a chance for them to experience new things, and when they get out in the real world which will come way too quick I want them to have been exposed to different things and different areas and different kinds of people. HomeDirectoryPhotosAboutContactAdvertise. A Michigan native and University of Michigan graduate, Kartje previously wrote for Fox Sports Wisconsin and the Bloomington (Ind.) Which brings us to our final topic . Muleshoe Journal Correspondent. I think you always have a chance at Oklahoma, but a lot of things have got to go well.". But that was 1965, 15 years before the birth of Channel 6. Its something that weve both always wanted, Caitlin Riley said. COURTESY/Riley family. USC sent shock waves through the sports world when it hired Oklahomas Lincoln Riley as its football coach. Wood said that Riley got the Mules coaching staff into a meeting with Leach before the 2008 season, and then helped the coaches install the Red Raiders spread offense. 2023 www.oklahoman.com. That was pretty exciting.. Gonzalez, Donavan ( Jr.) Vasquez, Uriel ( Sr.) Morales, Aaron ( So.) Riley is a small-town guy, but clearly hes up for an adventure. And perhaps, 2018 will bring another run to the College Football Playoff. Thats something they never felt in Norman, where fans would recognize Rileys wife, Caitlin, at the grocery store and knew their daughters names. Oklahoma mightve tested their allegiances as Texans, but Norman was still the Great Plains. School was. But growing up, he always knew that he would leave. Will fame (and the fortune of a new $3.1 million annual contract) change Riley? You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. It didn't take much, however, to get his competitive football juices flowing in Lubbock. Following the 2009 season, he left his position as the Red Raiders wide receivers coach to become offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at East Carolina under head coach Ruffin McNeill. Stoops said he wouldnt have retired this offseason if not for his confidence in Riley. Youre going to put me on the spot, Mike Riley said with a laugh when asked about cheering for Texas. Has to have shaped him a little bit.. Mike and Marilyn returned home from Austin soon after graduation and eventually took over family-owned cotton warehouses in neighboring Sudan. What had been done was history or tradition or how theyd always done it, but it wasnt working. Patience and a well-timed recruiting pitch helped USC lure Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma, sending shockwaves through the college football world. Small town, feels like he's their own. High, a West Texas town of 5,000. Most folks here seem just fine with that. She's from Dimmitt, 45 miles away. And these former Longhorns fans are now supporters of the crimson and cream, as well as the University of Kansas, where their youngest son, Garrett, is the quarterbacks coach. At USC, expectations are already soaring. Riley is already having huge success recruiting Southern California. Mike Riley, Lincolns father, was a Mules quarterback through some of those down years. High, a West Texas town of 5,000. Some people dont desire to be a head coach. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). he led the Mules of Muleshoe, a town of . You just have a lot of pride in the town and in the people. As a senior, he led the Mules of Muleshoe, a town of about 5,000 people, to the state semifinals. A coincidence my step dad is from Muleshoe, and small town doesnt really do it justice. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Oklahomas Lincoln Riley is the nations preeminent quarterback guru, Lincoln Rileys hiring at USC already impacting Trojans recruiting, Malachi Nelson, The 12 hours that transformed USC football: How the Lincoln Riley deal went down, Jaguars, narcos, illegal loggers: One mans battle to save a Guatemalan jungle and Maya ruins. Heres little po-dunk Muleshoe playing in the [Dallas] Cowboys stadium, said Wood, whos now retired. When I hired him, Lincoln was the youngest full-time assistant in the country, but he had been with me as a student assistant and a GA for about six years and did a tremendous job, so I had no reservation about hiring him.. in 1969, the Mules scored a single touchdown during the entire season. While at Muleshoe High, Riley learned under the tutelage of David Wood, who just retired last month after 23 years coaching the Mules. But its what hes always wanted and anticipated. But it was no mirage. 33 years old, due to turn 34 early in the Sooners' season, and Riley was atop one of the greatest college football peaks there is. We were so close in age, it became a friendship, but he was a friend I respected. Once he decided on the coaching ranks, I figured he'd be climbing up the ladder pretty quickly.. Lincoln is also well-known for being the Oklahoma Sooners' head football coach. Junior High Coordinator Ross Johnson. Its hard to imagine a place any further away from Los Angeles. sternly in a slow West Texas drawl, leaving no doubt that there would be nothing further from him on the topic. And, of course, who knows when those smitten might get engaged or married or when babies will be born? When OU was searching for a new offensive coordinator in 2015, Stoops called McNeill for permission to speak to Riley. certain: Neither Lincoln nor Garrett wanted to follow their father into the cotton warehouse business. "That's a good question," he said. 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