Robinson had hand in Riley’s success

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Dec. 22, 2003 | 9:52 a.m.

Oregon State head coach Mike Riley agreed that it was indeed ironic that his Beavers were holding their Las Vegas Bowl practices at UNLV this week.

Not only do the Beavers have eight players from the Las Vegas area on their roster, including four starters, but Riley himself got one of his biggest coaching breaks from the man whose second floor office overlooks the Rebel Park practice fields, UNLV head coach John Robinson.

It was Robinson who hired Riley to be his offensive coordinator at USC in 1993. And it was just four years later that Riley earned his first Division I head coaching job at Oregon State thanks in large part to the strong reputation he earned coaching such future NFL stars as Keyshawn Johnson and Rob Johnson for the Trojans as well as his role in USC wins in the 1995 Cotton Bowl against Texas Tech and the 1996 Rose Bowl against Northwestern.

"That might very well have been the very best thing to happen to me in my career, to work with John Robinson at USC," Riley said before Oregon State's practice Sunday afternoon.

Riley, a former defensive back for Bear Bryant at Alabama from 1971-74, was the head coach for San Antonio of the World League of American Football, now better known as NFL Europe, when he first got to know Robinson in 1992.

Robinson, who had been fired by the Los Angeles Rams a year earlier, was doing TV commentary for WLAF games and was assigned to do one of Riley's San Antonio games.

"He came down to do a game and watched us practice," Riley recalled. "We walked off the field together. I was really honored basically to have him there and to watch our team. The one thing he said to me is it looks like your team is having fun. I'll never forget that."

San Antonio finished 7-3 that year but the NFL decided to suspend the league for two years after that and move it to Europe.

"In the meantime we didn't have jobs," Riley said. "During the time our league was suspended, John went back to USC, called me and offered me a job. That's how I ended up at USC with John Robinson."

The two have been close friends ever since.

"He's just a great guy, a genuine guy," Robinson said. "I've used the line before that if you get to heaven and Mike Riley isn't there, you know that something is wrong. It's fun to see him."

Riley said he learned a lot during his four years as a Robinson assistant. The two continue remain close and talk about once a month on the phone.

"The way he handles a team, the way he does things, the way he handles people ... everything," Riley said.

"It was just a tremendous individual experience for me to work with him. I've told guys looking for jobs that if they ever have a chance, they'd want to work for John Robinson. Not only do you learn a lot about the business but he treats people right, too. You don't have to worry about going there and being disrespected and talked down to. That's not at all him. He's the best, absolutely the best, to work for."

Riley said he was impressed with the Ernie Becker Sr. practice fields at Rebel Park.

"It is tremendous to be here and using this facility," he said. "I get to see (Robinson) here and they've really opened their doors to us and treated us great. I think the people in Las Vegas realize what a great deal they have here. They could not have a better person here running this program than John Robinson."

Stacked on the table were boxes full of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, most of which were devoured within a few minutes.