Really? Davis will be Muleshoe's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach after previously being at Texico (New Mexico) High School. Born in Muleshoe, he was raised and schooled primarily in Colorado. A farming community sprouted alongside the track soon after some 70 miles northwest of Lubbock and 30 miles east of the border taking its name from the nearby ranch where, legend has it, the original owner found a stray muleshoe lying in the soil. Maybe more frequent trips to Los Angeles planted some seeds that Southern California might be a nice place to raise two young daughters, Sloan and Stella, with wife Caitlin, even though its a much different lifestyle than what theyve known in Norman, Okla. We were huge Muleshoe fans.. Hes the young man who helped his alma mater install the spread offense, which led the Mules to a 2008 state championship. That was the best the town had ever done, Wood said, until Lincoln., In West Texas, Muleshoes team was for decades a source of disappointment. Playing was fun, but he caught the coaching bug while job shadowing a high school coach in nearby Lubbock. One person he depended on during this time was the late Donnie Duncan, a former Oklahoma athletic director. Most recently, he attended a Garth Brooks concert in Kansas City. I havent been following them as much since the boys got bigger and went to different schools. Garrett, six years younger than his brother, is currently the quarterbacks coach at, But on this Tuesday, the first day of August, Mike Riley is sporting a crimson. It's also home to two of the greatest offensive minds in college football. In each of his first three seasons at Oklahoma, Riley led the Sooners to a 12-1 regular season, only to lose in the College Football Playoff semifinals to Georgia, Alabama and LSU of the Southeastern Conference. Thats what you grew up in, thats what your daughters are used to, Riley says. The rapid rise of Lincoln Riley, from small-town quarterback to one of the most promising football minds in America, is rooted deep in this arid soil. At USC, expectations are already soaring. It was kind of fun to be there at the beginning.". Eight years later, on the brink of that state championship, Riley returned to Muleshoe High for a pep rally. If you took somebody from San Diego, California, and you drop them in west Texas, youre taking a chance, and I wanted somebody that understood the people and wasnt going to complain about the wind and the dirt, Richards said. 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. Muleshoe went 1-19 in the two years preceding head coach Jason Richards' arrival. The next year he was hired on at Oklahoma as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under the nationally-renowned Bob Stoops. They are high-integrity people who recruit the right way and have a unique ability to work with players on and off the field.. I just knew there were things I wanted to try to do. Outside candidates. Riley even remembered his old high school while working at Texas Tech. ", Three Oklahoma stars to keep an eye on in 2017 season, Watch for these three Oklahoma players to have breakout seasons in 2017. What had been done was history or tradition or how theyd always done it, but it wasnt working. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. He was a computer on legs. David Wood was Rileys high school football coach. "I really . Will fame (and the fortune of a new $3.1 million annual contract) change Riley? Riley is a Muleshoe native who played quarterback and defensive end for the Mules football team in the late 1990s and early 2000s. When Stoops retired on June 7, the decision to replace him immediately was so quick that the Rileys didn't have time to make the six-hour drive from Muleshoe. Hes a great, great dad, Caitlin Riley said. Honest, hard-working people. Watch the latest highlight videos for the Muleshoe Varsity Football team Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley has agreed to become the next USC football coach. Take a stroll along Main Street in Muleshoe; pay your respects to Old Pete, the mule monument standing guard near Muleshoes only stoplight; hit the livestock auction just outside of town; and maybe stop for a tamale or two during the lunch rush at Leals, the towns beloved gathering spot, and youll start to understand what they mean. It didn't take much, however, to get his competitive football juices flowing in Lubbock. Muleshoe's high-powered offense is led by junior running back Daniel Sianez (579 yards, 6 TD) and the senior wide receiver duo of Ivan Torres (27 receptions, 293 yards, 2 TD) and Eliasar . 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. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Great, great people. He told his assistants, "We've got to keep him around. Marilyn, his mother who grew up on a Muleshoe farm, and his father, Mike, who came from a family that operated cotton gins among other business ventures, graduated from the University of Texas. But he chose football, and his immediate success with three College Football Playoff semifinal appearances in his first three years as head coach at Oklahoma has become an inextricable part of the towns story, one theyre more than happy to share, even if most cant quite reckon with the latest twist. Athletic Director/Head Football Coach Jason Richards. The Red Raiders beat Michigan State 41-31 on that day. A lot of times when people get success at a young age, the humble factor tends to get put on the backburner, Simmons said. Riley is a small-town guy, but clearly hes up for an adventure. "Last year's team had a lot of success and that was great. Lincoln, theyll tell you, couldve been anything. This is a 33-year-old who grew up in a rural west Texas town known for its unique name, faith, family and football. They were married in 2007. Still, the savvy proprietor of the town's only cable station can't possibly know what stories might fall into her lap for the three times a week Muletrain report on her family-operated Channel 6. Theres an intense sense of pride. It attracted 10,000 souls. And then there are the obligatory obits about friends and neighbors. The streak ends this year. Theres something about being raised in a small town, said his wife, Caitlin Riley. But as much as he relished playing the game, Riley suspected his playing days were over when he passed on small school college football to attend Texas Tech. There are many friendship threads in Rileys small hometown of nearly 6,000. Stoops said he wouldnt have retired this offseason if not for his confidence in Riley. Riley had instant success at East Carolina, and drew job opportunities from four schools. Riley won the Frank Broyles Award in 2015 for being the nations top assistant coach after his first year at OU, but he nearly missed the ceremony. Its going to be a total change for Muleshoe to think about Lincoln being in California. He brought belief and hope. Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis, scores and more. Riley isn't coaching at the nearby college -- Texas Tech -- long-favored by most of his hometown folks, is an inconvenient truth. Riley is already having huge success recruiting Southern California. Mike Leach and his Texas Tech Red Raiders were only an hour away, and Lincoln had already traded his helmet for a coaching whistle as a GA by the time Garrett was ready to be the starting quarterback back home. Riley has surpassed actor Lee Horsley as Muleshoe's most famous son. Roster last updated on Nov 14, 2022 @ 4:14pm (GMT) Print Roster Correction All-Time Roster. In 1999, with Riley as a sophomore lineman, Wood began tinkering with a shotgun offense that called for more passing and demanded a quick-thinking triggerman. "One of the greatest assets our town has is its name," Rennels said. Volunteer. Dont change anything.. Weve been busy, but weve enjoyed every day., I cover the University of Oklahoma football and mens basketball teams. That number barely fields a varsity team. Muleshoe residents gather for a livestock auction featuring sheep, hogs and goats. I wish I could have recorded Lincoln with how smooth, precise and decisive he was on that night of the game, McNeill said. His coaching career would soon take off into the stratosphere, leading him to East Carolina, then Oklahoma and now USC, but Riley was already a star in Muleshoe. he led the Mules of Muleshoe, a town of . But I think its a wonderful move.. Gonzalez, Donavan ( Jr.) Vasquez, Uriel ( Sr.) Morales, Aaron ( So.) California? For the Rileys, its a new lifestyle. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, USC hires Lincoln Riley: Complete coverage of Trojans shocking coaching move, extended this week all the way to the state Senate, Lincoln Riley jetted for USC, and Oklahoma is left to furiously wonder why, Breaking down the USC roster Lincoln Riley inherits, Rileys arrival signifies a triumphant return, USC football coaches: Glory and gaffes, from Gloomy Gus to Lincoln Riley, Roundtable: Our March Madness projections for UCLA, USC and others. Texas Tech Spring Game moved to Lowrey Field, Lubbock native serves aboard U.S. Navy floating airport, Bo Bryant is Littlefields Head Football Coach/AD, Meadow looking for a new head football coach, AD. Patience is the whole key.. ", 521 Pile StreetClovis, NM 88102Ph: (575) 763-3431, Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation Muleshoe, which would become the seat of Bailey County, then was just a few houses, a school and a cemetery. Riley was on the football and track teams at Muleshoe (Tex.) USC sent shock waves through the sports world when it hired Oklahomas Lincoln Riley as its football coach. Almost seven decades later, another 18-year-old in Muleshoe was ready to find his way, and the folks from Lincoln Riley's hometown swear he could see anything in the world, just ahead of him. That includes a winless 2019 season and missing the playoffs the past two years. "Oh, no doubt," Wood said Thursday night. One is USC head coach. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. "I think we've got enough to do some great things, but a lot's gotta happen between now and then. 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. He raced through his homework as soon as he got to the house simply so he could get back to football as quickly as possible, his mother recalled. But its also a dream come true. The word snake is being used a lot: How new USC football coach Lincoln Riley may have replaced Kevin Durant as Oklahomas public enemy number one. Texas Tech coach Mike Leach saw enough in him to recruit him as a walk on, but it wasnt too long during his time in Lubbock before Riley moved into a student assistant role. Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley talks with his players during a game against Oklahoma State on Saturday. Hes just an athletic big kid. I am a Haskell Indian Nations University graduate. 4:13. Muleshoe dropped a 28-27 decision to Merkel in the area round of the Class 3A Division I playoffs last weekend. "It was a great place to grow up," Riley said on Wednesday afternoon during a telephone interview with The Eastern New Mexico News. (Courtesy of Bryan Terry / The Oklahoman). The Sooners coach listens to many different genres. 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. Rodriguez, Alan ( Jr.) Lopez, Jaxher ( Jr.) Dominguez, Ryan ( So.) I said, Ruffin, Ive read all about him. But thats the kind of guy that Ruffin is. CALL. I remember wed be playing football in the yard and hed be drawing up plays and things, his lifelong friend and former Texas Tech roommate, Jeff King, said during a 2015 interview with the Tulsa World. Plus, he has the trust of his predecessor. Kids just loved him, said David Wood, Muleshoe High School's football coach since spring 1996, when Riley was in sixth grade. Clovis was district and state champion in 2001. "Everybody loves him. Momentum was building, and at quarterback, the attention turned to Riley, who Wood says was set to take the reins as a sophomore. The hustle and bustle is happening at the livestock auction down the highway, where sheep and hogs and goats are being sold at a breakneck pace. The theories are numerous, but some here who know the Rileys wonder if the sprawl of Los Angeles might offer a semblance of anonymity. Total change for Muleshoe to think about Lincoln being in California history or tradition or how theyd always done,. 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