After presiding over two of the most prolific offenses in OU history as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2015 and 2016, Lincoln Riley took over the program’s head coaching reins on June 7, 2017, following the retirement of one of the most accomplished coaches of the last quarter century in Bob Stoops. OU’s 22nd head coach, all Riley has done in his first two years at the helm is lead the Sooners to their 11th and 12th Big 12 titles and to a pair of College Football Playoff berths. He was also named the 2018 Co-Big 12 Coach of the Year.
The Football Bowl Subdivision’s youngest head coach (33) at the time of his hiring, Riley became just the fifth mentor in FBS history with no previous head-coaching experience at a four-year college to win at least 12 games in his debut season. At 24-4, he also holds the OU record for most wins by a head coach in his first two seasons (Barry Switzer held the previous mark with 21 over the 1973 and ’74 seasons). No one has won more games in his first two seasons as a college head coach since 1892 and ’93.
Originally from the 5,000-person West Texas town of Muleshoe, Riley, who continues to call Oklahoma’s offensive plays as head coach, has become a star in college football by overseeing an explosive — and balanced — OU offense the last four seasons.
Individual player honors and accomplishments have poured in under Riley, highlighted by quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray becoming OU’s sixth and seventh Heisman Trophy winners in 2017 and 2018.
Oklahoma’s newest head man joined the Sooners in January 2015 after he caught the eye of Stoops during a highly successful five-year stint as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Ruffin McNeill at East Carolina from 2010-14.
Prior to East Carolina, Riley spent seven seasons on the staff at Texas Tech, where he was part of seven bowl teams and five bowl wins. During that span, Red Raiders quarterbacks won NCAA passing titles in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007. A walk-on quarterback at Tech during the spring and summer of 2003 who then became a student coach, Riley immersed himself in head coach Mike Leach’s offense and worked his way into a full-time position as wide receivers coach in 2007.
2006 Texas Tech graduate who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise and sport sciences, Riley and his wife, Caitlin, have two daughters, Sloan and Stella.
Chair of the Day
Sam Hammons was formerly on the staffs of 2 Oklahoma governors, both Rotarians, George Nigh and David Boren and was the first Secretary of Energy for the state of Oklahoma. He is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and has a Masters in International Relations from OU as well as Juris Doctor from OU. He practiced energy law and managed to rack up a lot of airline miles handling numerous international transactions around the world. He retired from his law practice to try to use up those miles, but seems to find himself rather busy working to help bring new energy technologies to market through his company Sequoyah Capital. He is an advisory director of Penn America Energy in New York and chairs the Political Action Committee for Express Employment Professionals which has over 800 franchise-owned offices around the country. He is past president of our Club and a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. He and his wife Joy have 4 children between them and 5 grandchildren — so far.