You are the OC (offensive coordinator).. Hes going to play receiver, hes going to play corner, hes going to return kicks for us. The Wallace Theatre sits on Muleshoes Main Street. Seems that back when Riley. In 1996, David Wood inherited a Muleshoe program that hadn't posted a winning record in 13 years. Wes Wood, the coachs son who led the Mules to a state title as quarterback in 2008, said that season cemented Riley as his childhood hero. Lincoln Riley's father doesn't seem to be a big talker. Most recently, he attended a Garth Brooks concert in Kansas City. Getting Darrell Davis, one of Richards high school football coaches, was something both men have been talking about for 15 years and have made happen. He knew exactly how to handle everything from the playcalling to quarterbacks.. Muleshoe's Daniel Sianez (21) runs the ball against Jim Ned during the UIL 3A-D1 Area Playoff game on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, at PlainsCapital Park-Lowrey Field in Lubbock, Texas. USC sent shock waves through the sports world when it hired Oklahomas Lincoln Riley as its football coach. It wasnt until Wood came to town in the spring of 1996 that the teams fortunes started to turn around. But everyone agrees that the boy was uncommonly bright, even if he didnt take notes in class and sometimes skipped his homework. "I really . MULESHOE, Texas -- Speaking over the phone Friday morning, new USC football coach Lincoln Riley is discussing his adjustment to Los Angeles so far and laughs when asked about his current living arrangement. Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal Muleshoe's head football coach Jason Richards reacts to water being poured on him after the team's win against Brownfield in a bi-district playoff football. "Now we are Oklahoma fans because Lincoln is closer. Pride Football camp starts Monday morning. Riley was on the football and track teams at Muleshoe (Tex.) Things always change year to year in college football and that's one of the things we enjoy. certain: Neither Lincoln nor Garrett wanted to follow their father into the cotton warehouse business. Upon the completion of his degree in 2012, he was named the running backs coach at Augustana College in Illinois. 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. But well take him lunch or go to practice.. High, a West Texas town of 5,000. But in high school, there were only a few shotgun sets, and the Mules ran a Power-I attack. Muleshoe always supports their own.. He has other big ideas to move Muleshoe forward. Riley already has plenty of quality head-coaching experience behind him, plus a hefty new contract approved by the school last month. In West Texas, Muleshoe's team was for decades a source of disappointment. Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley talks with his players during a game against Oklahoma State on Saturday. We make it a point to, at least at some point during the day, see him face to face. "I get back as often as I can," Riley said via cellphone after a morning practice last week in Norman, Okla. "It always will be a special place I carry with me," he said. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. "He knew where every kid was supposed to be on every play," the coach said. No matter what he decided to go into, whether it was coaching or science or math, whatever he wanted to do, I knew he'd be going somewhere and it would be pretty special. Jason Richards grew up in Clovis, New Mexico knowing about Muleshoe, which was only about 30 miles from his hometown. Riley will have no shortage of talented quarterbacks to evaluate right here in his new backyard. Riley played quarterback and defensive end for Muleshoe High School before graduating in 2002. 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 . Riley began his coaching career at Roosevelt High School in Lubbock, Texas as the team's quarterbacks coach and passing game assistant. Muleshoe, which would become the seat of Bailey County, then was just a few houses, a school and a cemetery. Riley still has an itch to scratch when it comes to winning at the highest level of the sport and must feel he can reach the summit more easily from USC. He inspired the whole town, Wood said. You can cancel at any time. His grandfather Claude Riley, who is 97 and lives at the nursing home with his wife, Evelyn, 89, was a quarterback there, as well. Davis will be Muleshoe's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach after previously being at Texico (New Mexico) High School. Richards maintained most of the coaching staff while hiring on four new coaches, all of whom either have a connection to Muleshoe or a general knowledge of west Texas. Theres no shortage of small-town sleuths here still wondering aloud why Riley up and left the Sooners seemingly overnight. Find content for all Muleshoe Mules' Football teams covered by MaxPreps over the years. "To see him grow and develop into what he's become, it's pretty remarkable. We were so close in age, it became a friendship, but he was a friend I respected. Many of the standards of the Southwest. Ask anyone in Muleshoe about Lincoln, whose first name is enough around these parts, and they swell with pride. Riley even remembered his old high school while working at Texas Tech. He has learned from experience. USC won 11 national titles under icons Howard Jones, John McKay, John Robinson and Pete Carroll. Everybody is just so proud.". (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). A newspaper article from the Clovis News Journal about USC coach Lincoln Riley during his high school days is on display at his parents home in Muleshoe, Texas. Muleshoe will be Richards first athletic director and head football coaching position. Hidden facts about Muleshoe, the best restaurants discovered while recruiting and plenty more fun with Coach Riley on this week's Fifth Quarter! He holds a masters of administration in education from Sam Houston State University, and graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science in physical education from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, where he was quarterback for the football team. Greatness, yes. My daddy would roll over in his grave if I said I was gonna root for USC, Sam Whalin, the schools retired maintenance director, says with a laugh. There was a problem saving your notification. 2023 www.oklahoman.com. quarterback, led the Mules 400 miles to a Class 3A state semifinal game at Texas Stadium in Irving. In two seasons as Oklahomas coach, Lincoln Riley has had two quarterbacks win the Heisman Trophy. The town wanted to be good. In addition to coaching the Mules to their only state championship in 2008, David Wood put up a. Mules, just as his father Mike had done three decades earlier. Riley is a Muleshoe native who played quarterback and defensive end for the Mules football team in the late 1990s and early 2000s. 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. 0:46 The Muleshoe Mules had a combined 1-20 record in the two years preceding the hiring of head football coach and athletic director Jason Richards in January 2020. No matter how savvy the journalist, the decision to eliminate one of the town's two traffic lights has a newsy shelf life. How USC trainers saved Vincent Iwuchukwu after cardiac arrest, How Lindsay Gottlieb blends family into USCs once-in-a-lifetime season. Riley caught Wood's eye as a seventh-grader. As soon as Bob Stoops handpicked Riley to coach the quarterbacks and run the offense at Oklahoma in 2015, Riley began to prove what he had already shown at East Carolina in Conference USA: The guy knows how to motivate and prepare players at footballs most important position. Lo and behold, we get there in the team meeting and Lincoln was told, Coach (Leach) isnt coaching this game and guess what? But the rest of Muleshoe moves at a crawl. A humorist and actor and political pundit and newspaper columnist. "Last year's team had a lot of success and that was great. 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. Lincolns father, Mike, ran the familys cotton compress and warehouse in the nearby town of Sudan, putting Lincoln and his younger brother, Garrett, to work hauling bales of cotton via forklift in the hot Texas sun. Los Angeles, on the other hand that felt like a world apart from Muleshoe. A decade later, Lincoln Riley's new contract at Oklahoma calls for a guaranteed $3.1 million a year for five years. 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 think we've got enough to do some great things, but a lot's gotta happen between now and then. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft during back-to-back seasons. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'easternnewmexiconews_com-box-2','ezslot_3',128,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-easternnewmexiconews_com-box-2-0'); Oklahoma University head football coach Lincoln Riley raises the Big 12 Championship trophy after the Sooners beat TCU 41-17 in the conference title game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas last December. District 514 W. Ave G Muleshoe, Texas . 3 games every Oklahoma fan should circle on the calendar; full season predictions for 2017. "Everybody loves him. Last year, Muleshoe named its football field after the longtime coach. Dont change anything.. in 1969, the Mules scored a single touchdown during the entire season. That string of decisions eventually cost Riley any hope he had at playing big-time football. As you might expect, Runnels, who could double as a one-woman Chamber of Commerce, has a special sweet spot for Riley. Every Friday night that season, Muleshoe shut down. Muleshoe, Texas might see it a little differently. Cortez, Raymond ( So.) Eight years later, on the brink of that state championship, Riley returned to Muleshoe High for a pep rally. But he dislocated his throwing shoulder before the start of the season trying to make a tackle during a practice. Cattle ranching, dairy farming, wheat, cotton. Under Walkers leadership, the Mules went 1-19 over the two seasons. But after Riley walked on at Texas Tech, then-Red Raiders coach Mike Leach encouraged him to get off . Muleshoe, a 5,000 population town about 68 miles northwest of Lubbock, sits about 17 miles east of the New Mexico line. There was a reason theyd come this far. Others speculate he wanted nothing to do with the Southeastern Conference. Going [to USC], hes obviously ready for that challenge. Lincoln knows exactly what the heck hes doing. The Pecos and Northern Texas Railway companies laid the track here in 1913, cutting through this swath of Bailey County ranchland to connect the growing town of Lubbock to the border of New Mexico. They embraced whats good for it. He brought belief and hope. But like L.A., they have complete faith now that Lincoln Riley will deliver. However "favorite" and "biggest" were eclipsed when 33-year-old, coach, took over one of America's most storied. Ive never been afraid to go against the grain if I felt like it was the best thing for the team, for the program. For years, Magann's favorite Muletrain story focused on a local who grew tulip bulbs in a cotton field and shipped them to the Netherlands. 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