Former walk-on quarterback Lincoln Riley, who was cut by Mike Leach in 2003, is now the wide receivers coach at Texas Tech. Lincoln who is just 23, might be the youngest full-time assistant coach in Division I football. He joined the Red Raiders staff as a student assistant after Leach recognized he lacked the athletic ability to quarterback Texas Tech."That was fairly obvious,'' Leach said. "Yeah. Recognition would be an understatement. He had a real good mind for (the game), but at the time I had a lot of quarterbacks, and with the limitation on walk-ons, we weren't going to have an extra slot. Plus, he could help the team better as a coach anyway."
Riley got his shot as a full-time coach this season, when former wide receivers coach Sonny Dykes left to take a position with Arizona. His progression through the coaching ranks is interesting given that he is being mentored by Leach, who just happens to be one of the few major college coaches who never played a down of college football.
Riley will certainly have his work cut out for him in 2007, as the Red Raiders must rebuild their receiving corps following the losses of Joel Filani, Robert Johnson and Jarrett Hicks. Filani, Johnson, and Hicks combined for over 2,500 yards and 26 touchdowns a year ago.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
By the way, his name is Lincoln Riley - not Riley Lincoln. Good job researching your story .....
Those Who Can't, Write Articles ... here.
Any point to it, or "wow we hired a former player"
Truley a fantastic bit of journalism.
Texas Tech throws the ball over 50 times per game. They now have a receivers coach who is 23 and has no experience coaching that position. Seemed newsworthy to me.