The search for a Philadelphia Eagles head coach job 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 their 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 draft both Jalen Reagor and Jalen Hurts, according to sources.
Ah, did you have a hand in the Eagles ’poor 2020 draft? It’s already great!
Jokes aside, Riley is arguably the best candidate to coach in the college ranks, as he has amassed a 45-8 record in Oklahoma while developing a pair of No. 1 quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Riley also coached Jalen Hurts for a year and Hurts finished that season as runner-up in the Heisman polls.
A look at the numbers the quarterbacks have put on Riley’s extremely friendly offense:
| Oklahoma QB | Comp-Att (Comp%) | Party (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 reached the college football playoffs in each of Riley’s first three seasons, losing all three games in the first round. In 2020, they didn’t make the cut after finishing with a 9-2 record and played in the Cotton Bowl. In the four bowling games he has coached, Riley’s offenses averaged 41.3 points per game.
| Lincoln Riley | Final record | Bowling 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 wins over Florida |
Riley is considered an innovative offensive mind, whose schemes have been stolen for many NFL crimes. You can get a taste of what Oklahoma does here, in the current game:
And in the passing game:
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The Eagles ’open-head coaching job shouldn’t be appealing to the top candidates. The quarterback position isn’t uneasy, the roster is bad otherwise (and he has little chance of improving anytime soon due to a worsening situation), and there will be cause for concern about the history of head coaches having frictions. with the bronze team.
However, if Riley is comfortable with Hurts and has a good relationship with Roseman as is being reported, he may not see the warts we do. The bet here is that it would still take a huge amount of money to extract it from Oklahoma.
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