The job search for Philadelphia Eagles head coach is underway and one of the first potential candidates the birds reached was Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley, according to a report by Sports Illustrated’s Ed Kracz.
It’s not the first time the Eagles have spoken to Riley about his potential interest in the Eagles. In fact, he and general manager Howie Roseman have a good relationship and it was a consultation with Riley that helped influence the Eagles to write both Jalen Reagor and Jalen Hurts, according to sources.
Ah, did he have a hand in the Eagles’ 2020 bad project? He already fits!
Joking aside, Riley is without a doubt the best candidate for coach in the college class, having amassed a 45-8 record in Oklahoma, while developing a pair of No. 1 defenders to Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Riley also coached Jalen Hurts for a year, and Hurts finished that season second in the Heisman vote.
A look at the numbers the defenders brought in Riley’s extremely friendly offense:
| Oklahoma QBs | Comp-Att (Comp%) | Yards (YPA) | TD-INT |
| Baker Mayfield (2017) | 285-404 (70.5%) | 4627 (11.5) | 43-6 |
| Kyler Murray (2018) | 260-377 (69.0%) | 4361 (11.6) | 42-7 |
| Jalen Hurts (2019) | 237-340 (69.7%) | 3851 (11.3) | 32-8 |
| Spencer Rattler (2020) | 214-317 (67.5%) | 3031 (9.6) | 28-7 |
The Sooners made the college football playoffs in each of Riley’s first three seasons, losing all three games in the first round. In 2020, they did not make the cut after finishing 9-2 and playing in the Cotton Bowl instead. In the four home games he coached, Riley’s offenses averaged 41.3 points per game.
| Lincoln Riley | Final record | Bowl game |
| 2017 | 12-2 | Rose Bowl – 54-48 loss to Georgia |
| 2018 | 12-2 | Orange Bowl – 45-34 loss to Alabama |
| 2019 | 12-2 | Rose Bowl – 63-28 loss to LSU |
| 2020 | 9-2 | Cotton Bowl – 55-20 victory over Florida |
Riley is considered an innovative offensive mind, whose schemes have been stolen by many NFL offenders. You can get a little taste of what Oklahoma does here in the run game:
And in the passing game:
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The open job of head coach of the Eagles should not be attractive to top candidates. The defender’s point is uncertain, otherwise the list is bad (and has little chance of improving soon due to a terrible ceiling situation) and there will be legal concerns about a history of head coaches who have friction with the brass team.
However, if Riley feels comfortable with Hurts and has a good relationship with Roseman, as reported, he may not see the warts we make. The bet here is that it would take a huge amount of money to extract it from Oklahoma.
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