Mike Riley (American football)
[7][8] Corvallis High School had narrowly won the early season matchup in 1969, but came up well short against Medford in the A-1 state championship, 27–0.[9] They avenged the loss to the Black Tornado the following year in the regular season 28–14,[10] and again in the AAA state final, 21–10, with left-handed option quarterback Riley throwing two touchdown passes in the second quarter to build a 21–3 lead at halftime.Riley graduated from CHS in 1971 and opted not to play his college football in the Pac-8, but for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC under head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.)[5][16] In his four seasons at Alabama as a reserve defensive back,[17] the Tide won four Southeastern Conference (SEC) titles and the 1973 UPI (Coaches Poll) national championship, though they lost the 1973 Sugar Bowl to Notre Dame on New Year's Eve.During his stay at Linfield he assisted head coach Ad Rutschman's Wildcats to a six-year record of 52–7–1, which included five conference titles and an undefeated NAIA Division II championship season in 1982.Riley was hired as an assistant coach in the Canadian Football League in 1983 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and was a part of their 1984 Grey Cup championship team.The Mesa Tribune named him the league's top assistant coach in 1993 after leading the Trojan offense to record setting numbers.[citation needed] USC quarterback Rob Johnson set numerous Pac-10 and NCAA records under Riley's tutelage and later became a fourth-round NFL Draft pick.[20] The 1999 team, led by Dennis Erickson and built around players Riley recruited, posted a 7–5 record and earned a trip to the Oahu Bowl, which ended a streak of 28 straight losing seasons.In January 1999, Riley left the Beavers to become the head coach of the San Diego Chargers of the NFL, signing a five-year deal at $750,000 per year.The 2001 Chargers ended their 5–11 season with a loss to the Seattle Seahawks, after Doug Flutie passed for 377 yards and drove for the tying field goal with 16 seconds remaining, but poor special teams play led to a long Seahawks kick return and subsequently a 54-yard winning field goal.During the 2012 season, Riley snatched his 75th career win surpassing Lon Stiner as Oregon State's all-time winningest coach.[28] 2016 saw improvement as the team began the season with seven straight wins and reached number 7 in the AP Poll, and finished 9–4 overall after losses to Wisconsin, Ohio State, Iowa, and Tennessee in the Music City Bowl.