Ex-coach Riley signs up with CFP choice committee

• Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior Citizen WriterMay 3, 2024, 11:22 AM ET

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  • College football reporter
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of Indiana University

Former Oregon State and Nebraska coach Mike Riley has actually been named to the College Football Playoff choice committee. He replaces athletic director Pat Chun, who was selected to the 13-member committee when he was at Washington State but stepped down when he was hired for the same position at Washington.

“We are happy to have Mike join the committee,” Costs Hancock, executive director of the CFP, said in a declaration Friday. “He has significant experience as a player and coach, and he loves college football. He will bring a distinct viewpoint to the committee. Plus, he is a delightful human.”

Riley, who will serve a three-year term on the committee, was head coach at Oregon State from 1997 to 1998, and once again from 2003 to 2014 before leaving for Nebraska. Riley was fired from Nebraska by former athletic director Bill Moos in November 2017, just hours after the Cornhuskers lost to Iowa 56-14 to close a 4-8 season in Lincoln, the worst at the school because 1961. Riley ended his stint at Nebraska with a 19-19 record in three seasons.Editor’s Picks 2 Related Riley, who at one time was the longest-tenured coach in the Pac-12, took control of an Oregon State program in 1997 that had not had a winning season given that 1970. He left after 2 seasons for a three-year stint with the San Diego Chargers– but not before his Beavers knocked off a nationally ranked Oregon team in an overtime thriller in the 1998 Civil War game.Riley returned to Corvallis in 2003 and had winning seasons in 8 of the next 12.

His Beavers beat No. 3 Southern California in the house in 2006, No. 2 California on the roadway in 2007, No. 1 Southern California at home in 2008 and No. 9 Arizona on the roadway in 2010. His decision to leave Corvallis for Nebraska shocked numerous at the time.In 2018, Riley went back to Oregon State for a third stint, this time as an assistant by then-first-year head coach Jonathan Smith. He was only there for a couple of months since he was then worked with as head coach of the San Antonio franchise of the Alliance of American Football league, which was entering its inaugural season.Other new committee members consist of previous Toledo and Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades, Virginia athletic director Carla Williams and Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek.They will replace former committee chair Boo Corrigan, Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan, K-State athletic director Gene Taylor, Hall of Popularity former coach Joe Taylor, and former Notre Dame linebacker and tight end Rod West, whose terms have ended. The CFP extended the regard to previous All-American Nebraska lineman Will Shields for an extra year.Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel will change Corrigan as the committee chair. While there are several previous coaches and players in the group, 7 sitting athletic directors representing seven conferences (including one from each Power 5 league)comprise

the bulk. The other returning committee members are former Nevada coach Chris Ault, Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk, previous Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe, Miami (Ohio)athletic director David Sayler, previous sportswriter Kelly Whiteside, Manuel and Shields.They will all be tasked with being the first group to pick the groups for the new 12-team model, which will be revealed this fall. The CFP will include the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams. The leading four conference champs will get a first-round bye.While the playoff field and format have actually altered, the choice committee’s function has not. The brand-new members will continue to use primarily the same procedure to identify their weekly leading 25 rankings and eventually the final groups on Selection Day.