Mike Riley Gets a Redo on His Coaching Staff

I suspect that I’m in the minority of Husker fans that wasn’t terribly surprised that Mike Riley made more changes on the Nebraska football coaching staff. That being said, I also know that I’m in the minority of Husker fans who don’t think Mike Riley is going to work out long-term. So perhaps I’ve been operating under the assumption that changes were going to come one way or another, and likely over the next year.

Brian Stewart always seemed like a “short-timer” in Lincoln to me; his arrival in Lincoln was a marriage of convenience.  Stewart was looking at head coaching jobs before a mutual parting of the ways with Maryland in February 2015, while Riley needed to find a secondary coach quickly after Charlton Warren bolted for North Carolina after signing day.  He went looking last offseason as well, but in the end, ended up back at Nebraska for one final season. I suspect that being the defensive coordinator for Rice wasn’t the job he was hoping to get, but it’s the one he got.

Mark Banker has been tied to the hip with Riley throughout Riley’s head coaching career, which is why many fans were surprised he was let go. I wasn’t all that surprised, as I detected some friction between them last spring.  First, Banker seemed to publicly disagree with Riley’s decision to fire Hank Hughes, and then Banker wasn’t included in the interviews for his replacement. That seems odd to not have the defensive coordinator in on the interviews for a defensive line coach.

Then, there was the departure of Greg McMullen at last year’s spring game.  Mike Riley seemed to know two days before the game, and McMullen told the rest of the team before the game.

Banker asked reporters what McMullen’s decision was after the spring game. Clearly, Banker was out of touch with Riley and his team in that case.  Putting all that together, I had come to the conclusion that Banker and Riley’s relationship wasn’t nearly as strong as we thought.  That thought came to mind  again when Banker seemed to be awed by Iowa’s punishing practice habits after the Huskers got demolished by the Hawkeyes.  Again, were Banker and Riley still on the same page?