SE: How K-State OL Coach Conor Riley’s Worst Day Ever Changed His Career, Life for the Better
Feb 28, 2019 | Football, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Conor Riley still refers to it as "the bomb," the day Nebraska-Omaha announced it was dropping football and wrestling in its move from Division II to Division I. The explosive description has taken on a different meaning for Riley, K-State's first-year offensive line coach, but it took time to get there.
Initially, his alma mater's decision move left him jobless. Then, the Omaha native landed at Sacramento State. There, Riley coached the offensive line and, most notably, met his wife, Christy. The irony in how they met has remained an occasional conversation topic ever since.
"I always tell her the night UNO dropped football was the worst night of my life," Riley said, "and my wife often tells me it was the best night of her life."
Now, the two share similar perspectives on the situation.
"I don't look it as it was the worst night of my life now," Riley said. "Keeping things in perspective, there are a lot of worse things that can happen to a person than a football program being dropped."
When the news was first announced, however, back in March of 2011, Riley, like most everyone else associated with the program, was blindsided. Players he recruited from all over the country started calling his phone. They wanted answers. They wanted to know what they were going to do next.
"I didn't have an answer for them, at that time," he said.
After the announcement, UNO's football program became what Riley described as the "number one junior college in the country." Coaches from across the nation and all levels called UNO's staff to recruit its roster.
Craig Bohl and Chris Klieman were two of them.
At the time, North Dakota State's head coach and defensive coordinator, respectively, were particularly interested in a pair of UNO players: Shaquil Barrett, who ended up at Colorado State and now plays for the Denver Broncos, and Bryan Shepherd, an Olathe North product who started on three of NDSU's FCS national championship teams.
"The first time I met Coach Klieman was in my office in Omaha, Nebraska," Riley said. "It's very funny how things work."
In time, things worked out well for Riley. Bohl offered him a job at NDSU in 2013, in large part, because of that encounter at UNO.
"Craig Bohl told me, 'One of the biggest reasons is the way that Bryan Shepherd's mother talked about you as a person,'" Riley said. "That certainly meant a whole lot to me."
Riley's relationship with Klieman continued to grow when Bohl left for Wyoming after NDSU's 2013 championship season. Klieman was named head coach and kept Riley on staff. Together, they won four more FCS titles in five seasons.
In December, Riley became one of two coaches who were on Klieman's initial staff at NDSU to join him at K-State, along with Joe Klanderman. The opportunity, Riley said, was too good to pass up for reasons that go beyond the obvious.
"I was excited, thrilled, just a whirlwind of emotions when he gave me the call, asking me to join the staff down here. Really, the primary reason is I saw an opportunity to coach with and work for Coach Klieman. That's the way I feel about him as a person," Riley said. "He cares so much about my family. I've learned so much from him. The ability to continue to grow as a football coach and work with Chris is something that's really important to me."
Well before any of this, Riley thought his days in football would be done after he finished playing at UNO. He planned to go to law school. A brief time away from the game, however, redirected his life plans.
"Really, there was a part of me that was missing in life. Once I got back into football, I felt it, that it was back in place. The rewards are so great in coaching," he said. "The neatest thing is beginning through a recruiting process of a young man at 18 all the way to seeing him walk across the stage on graduation to being invited to a wedding to the announcement of their first-born child. Those are the things, to me, that are the most gratifying about being a college football coach."
On the field, Riley has passed along some of the same philosophies that made him into an All-American at UNO. He said the foundation to this is being a "technician" of the game, which includes perfecting everything from hand placement, foot patterns, fits, communication and much more.
"The one thing in life we can control is how we prepare. Part of that preparation is going to be an emphasis on technique," Riley said. "It's to the point of repetitiveness and monotony for those guys, but someone once said it, 'We're going to do it not until we get it right but until we can't get it wrong.' That's going to be the mentality of guys up front. If you're technically sound, if you're physical, and if you play your tail off, you're going to have a really good shot at being pretty special up front."
Riley's offensive lines at NDSU were consistently special.
He coached several All-Americans at NDSU, including current Indianapolis Colts offensive tackle Joe Haeg. In each of his six seasons on staff, the Bison averaged at least 235 yards per game rushing to rank in the top 10 in the nation. The 2018 NDSU team broke school and Missouri Valley Conference records in points scored, touchdowns scored, total rushing yards, total offense and rushing touchdowns.
Riley said the winning formula, of physicality and ball control, developed at NDSU can be brought to K-State. It's not far off, he added, from what K-State's best teams under Hall of Fame head coach Bill Snyder were about.
"As I've talked to people, as I've talked to high school coaches out there, there's a ton of parallels between Kansas State football and North Dakota State football. I don't think the change is going to be too drastic," he said. "It's going to be winning with a physical brand of football on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball."
Riley said the parallels extend beyond the programs and players, too. The cities of Manhattan and Fargo, North Dakota, specifically the fanbases that flock there on Saturdays in the fall, have their similarities as well.
"I know there are expectations here. How would you want to have it any other way? The previously place I was at, there were pretty significant expectations," he said. "But, as long as they have that thing in the end zone that lights up and has bulbs on it, why not have great expectations? Why not have the expectations to win championships? And that's ultimately our expectation going into it."
Conor Riley still refers to it as "the bomb," the day Nebraska-Omaha announced it was dropping football and wrestling in its move from Division II to Division I. The explosive description has taken on a different meaning for Riley, K-State's first-year offensive line coach, but it took time to get there.
Initially, his alma mater's decision move left him jobless. Then, the Omaha native landed at Sacramento State. There, Riley coached the offensive line and, most notably, met his wife, Christy. The irony in how they met has remained an occasional conversation topic ever since.
"I always tell her the night UNO dropped football was the worst night of my life," Riley said, "and my wife often tells me it was the best night of her life."
Now, the two share similar perspectives on the situation.
"I don't look it as it was the worst night of my life now," Riley said. "Keeping things in perspective, there are a lot of worse things that can happen to a person than a football program being dropped."
When the news was first announced, however, back in March of 2011, Riley, like most everyone else associated with the program, was blindsided. Players he recruited from all over the country started calling his phone. They wanted answers. They wanted to know what they were going to do next.
"I didn't have an answer for them, at that time," he said.
After the announcement, UNO's football program became what Riley described as the "number one junior college in the country." Coaches from across the nation and all levels called UNO's staff to recruit its roster.
Craig Bohl and Chris Klieman were two of them.
At the time, North Dakota State's head coach and defensive coordinator, respectively, were particularly interested in a pair of UNO players: Shaquil Barrett, who ended up at Colorado State and now plays for the Denver Broncos, and Bryan Shepherd, an Olathe North product who started on three of NDSU's FCS national championship teams.
"The first time I met Coach Klieman was in my office in Omaha, Nebraska," Riley said. "It's very funny how things work."
In time, things worked out well for Riley. Bohl offered him a job at NDSU in 2013, in large part, because of that encounter at UNO.
"Craig Bohl told me, 'One of the biggest reasons is the way that Bryan Shepherd's mother talked about you as a person,'" Riley said. "That certainly meant a whole lot to me."
Riley's relationship with Klieman continued to grow when Bohl left for Wyoming after NDSU's 2013 championship season. Klieman was named head coach and kept Riley on staff. Together, they won four more FCS titles in five seasons.
In December, Riley became one of two coaches who were on Klieman's initial staff at NDSU to join him at K-State, along with Joe Klanderman. The opportunity, Riley said, was too good to pass up for reasons that go beyond the obvious.
"I was excited, thrilled, just a whirlwind of emotions when he gave me the call, asking me to join the staff down here. Really, the primary reason is I saw an opportunity to coach with and work for Coach Klieman. That's the way I feel about him as a person," Riley said. "He cares so much about my family. I've learned so much from him. The ability to continue to grow as a football coach and work with Chris is something that's really important to me."
Well before any of this, Riley thought his days in football would be done after he finished playing at UNO. He planned to go to law school. A brief time away from the game, however, redirected his life plans.
"Really, there was a part of me that was missing in life. Once I got back into football, I felt it, that it was back in place. The rewards are so great in coaching," he said. "The neatest thing is beginning through a recruiting process of a young man at 18 all the way to seeing him walk across the stage on graduation to being invited to a wedding to the announcement of their first-born child. Those are the things, to me, that are the most gratifying about being a college football coach."
On the field, Riley has passed along some of the same philosophies that made him into an All-American at UNO. He said the foundation to this is being a "technician" of the game, which includes perfecting everything from hand placement, foot patterns, fits, communication and much more.
"The one thing in life we can control is how we prepare. Part of that preparation is going to be an emphasis on technique," Riley said. "It's to the point of repetitiveness and monotony for those guys, but someone once said it, 'We're going to do it not until we get it right but until we can't get it wrong.' That's going to be the mentality of guys up front. If you're technically sound, if you're physical, and if you play your tail off, you're going to have a really good shot at being pretty special up front."
Riley's offensive lines at NDSU were consistently special.
He coached several All-Americans at NDSU, including current Indianapolis Colts offensive tackle Joe Haeg. In each of his six seasons on staff, the Bison averaged at least 235 yards per game rushing to rank in the top 10 in the nation. The 2018 NDSU team broke school and Missouri Valley Conference records in points scored, touchdowns scored, total rushing yards, total offense and rushing touchdowns.
Riley said the winning formula, of physicality and ball control, developed at NDSU can be brought to K-State. It's not far off, he added, from what K-State's best teams under Hall of Fame head coach Bill Snyder were about.
"As I've talked to people, as I've talked to high school coaches out there, there's a ton of parallels between Kansas State football and North Dakota State football. I don't think the change is going to be too drastic," he said. "It's going to be winning with a physical brand of football on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball."
Riley said the parallels extend beyond the programs and players, too. The cities of Manhattan and Fargo, North Dakota, specifically the fanbases that flock there on Saturdays in the fall, have their similarities as well.
"I know there are expectations here. How would you want to have it any other way? The previously place I was at, there were pretty significant expectations," he said. "But, as long as they have that thing in the end zone that lights up and has bulbs on it, why not have great expectations? Why not have the expectations to win championships? And that's ultimately our expectation going into it."
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