Lincoln Riley: The Eagles reportedly contacted the Oklahoma coach

In 2016, the Philadelphia Eagles hired Doug Pederson to replace a coach he hired out of high school.

In 2021, the Philadelphia Eagles may hire a college coach to replace Doug Pederson.

There are already rumors that the Eagles are going to race at Lincoln Riley at the University of Oklahoma.

Ed Kracz reports that the Eagles contacted Riley “not long after” Pederson’s separation on Monday. He also notes that “this is not the first time that the Eagles have talked to Riley about his potential interest in the Eagles.”

We already knew that Riley had a relationship with Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. Paul Domowitch of the Inquirer wrote about this in early August:

Roseman and the Eagles cultivated a good relationship with Riley, one of the best college coaches in the country. Two years ago, the Eagles were considering calling for Oklahoma Orlando Brown’s offensive attack in the second round, but saw it more as a tackle on the right than a tackle on the left, and they were not really interested in moving Lane Johnson back. to the left side at this stage of your career. Riley agreed with his assessment of Brown and the Eagles ended up hiring the tight end Dallas Goedert, who quickly emerged as one of the best tight end in the league. […] Riley even had some influence on the Eagles’ decision to take TCU wide receiver Jalen Reagor in the first round. Riley recruited Reagor when he was a high school star at Waxahachie (Texas) High School. His team also played against him for three years on Big 12. He spoke enthusiastically to Eagles scouts when they spoke to him about [Jalen] It hurts. He indicated that Reagor would have been a recipient of 100 catches a year in the Oklahoma crime.

These are not the only signs that point to the Eagles’ interest in Riley.

Tim McManus wrote the following on Monday:

Some believe the Eagles will defeat Oklahoma Sooners coach Lincoln Riley. He trained Hurts at the university level, graduated from the QB position and is known for having a strong relationship with Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. It would probably take a lot of money to get Riley out of Norman, but they can see it as a smart investment.

Even more buzz came:

The Eagles attacked Lane Johnson, who played college football in Oklahoma before Riley’s arrival, and potentially added more fuel to the fire:

Riley, who turned 38 in September, certainly has an intriguing profile.

He is 45-8 overall as the Sooners’ head coach since he was hired to replace Bob Stoops in 2017. Riley coached 2018’s No. 1 overall choice, Baker Mayfield, and 2019’s No. 1 overall choice, Kyler Murray. Oh, and for the second round of 2020, Jalen Hurts, who was runner-up to Heisman.

Oklahoma has experienced offensive prominence since Riley was originally hired as his offensive coordinator / defender coach six years ago. From his biography:

Since the start of the 2015 campaign, OU is ranked first nationally in scoring (44.6 ppg; the next highest is 41.6), total offense (554.9; the next highest is 516.4), scrimmage touchdowns (382), pass efficiency rating (189.0; next best is 168.1) and yards per attempted pass (10.7), second in percentage of completion (69.1), third in attack by pass (321.9) and the ninth in a hasty attack (233.0). With this type of offensive production, it is not surprising that the Sooners have recorded a record of 58-10 (0.853) since their arrival (41-5 in the big 12 game). The overall OU brand since 2015 is the fourth best nationally, with only Clemson (69-5), Alabama (66-6) and Ohio State (61-7) having the best records.

If you’re looking for a weakness against Riley, he’s only 1-3 in the bowl games and 0-3 in the college football playoff. And there are obviously doubts about whether his school success will translate into the NFL, just as there was when the Eagles lured Chip Kelly away from Oregon in 2013.

It remains to be seen whether the Eagles will be able to land Riley. The Lubbock, Texas native signed a $ 45.2 million six-year contract extension through 2025 with Oklahoma last year. Jeffrey Lurie will probably have to make a lucrative offer in front of Riley to get him out of Norman.

You also need to know what kind of responsibility he is looking for when it comes to escalation control. We all know that the last university coach hired by the Eagles did a power play. Perhaps Roseman’s pre-existing relationship with Riley could allow the two to be better off on the same page and avoid such a conflict.

There were those who thought the Eagles would not have fired Pederson a week after the end of the season had they not already had a substitute lined up. If so, Riley could be that guy.