Mike Riley has spent a total of 13 years in Corvallis at Oregon State during two separate stints. That kind of longevity is unheard of in the coaching profession today.
That kind of longevity has provided Riley a pulse for what his program needs at Oregon State when he makes a hire, and when offensive coordinator Danny Longsdorf decided to take the quarterbacks job with the NY Giants, many expected Riley to make a "splash hire." They were just coming off a season where Junior quarterback Sean Mannion threw for over 4,600 yards and completed over 66% of his passes with 37 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
As you can see, they didn't need someone to come in and perform a complete offensive overhaul, they needed a quality offensive coach.
That's when Riley was reminded by a coaching colleague of NFL veteran coach John Garrett, whom he immediately called and set up and interview. After talking equal parts ball, philosophy, and life, Riley knew he had found his guy.
Garrett, who was coaching the receivers with the Bucs last season and has been in the NFL ranks since 2007, wasn't one of the "big fish" out there available on the coaching market, but Riley knew he was getting an excellent coach to come in and coordinate his offense.
This video of coach Garrettt mic'd up during spring ball provides some great insight into the type of coach Riley brought on board. Garrettt is very detail oriented, and extremely enthusiastic on the practice field. Combine that with his NFL pedigree and knowledge of what Riley wants done on the offensive side of the ball and we could see a very potent offense on the field in a few months when they open up with Portland State and Hawaii.