One of the top offensive line coaches in the country, Conor Riley is in his sixth season at K-State in 2024 tutoring the Wildcats’ offensive front and first serving as the program’s offensive coordinator. He was the interim coordinator for Kansas State’s victory over NC State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl before being elevated to the full-time role in early January.
Riley has been an integral part of an offensive staff that has helped produce 34.6 points per game over the last two seasons to rank 19th in the nation and third among returning Big 12 teams. The Wildcats have averaged at least 32 points per game in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2016 and 2017, while they have eclipsed an average of 200 rushing yards per game in consecutive seasons for the first time since doing so for three-straight years from 2001 through 2003.
Additionally, Riley’s offensive front has surrendered fewer than 2.0 sacks per game in each of his five years on staff, the Wildcats’ longest streak since sacks became an official NCAA statistic in 1985. K-State is the only returning Big 12 team to currently hold a streak of at least five years allowing less than 2.0 sacks per game each season, and the Wildcats are one of only nine FBS programs – and five Power 4 schools – to lay that claim.
As interim offensive coordinator in K-State’s 28-19 victory over NC State, the Wildcats amassed 257 rushing yards and 435 total yards on a Wolfpack defense that entered bowl season ranking No. 16 and No. 25 in those categories, respectively. The Wildcats’ 257 rushing yards were the fourth most in their bowl history, while their 21 first-half points also tied for fourth.
Riley will continue to tutor the Wildcat offensive front as he has done the last five seasons where he has produced a total of 15 All-Big 12 honorees, including the 2022 and 2023 Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year in Cooper Beebe, the fifth player in league history to earn the distinction twice in a career. Riley coached Beebe to Consensus All-America honors in 2023, the first offensive lineman in school history to earn the distinction. Beebe was also a three-time All-Big 12 First Team performer and was joined on this the 2023 All-Big 12 team by Hayden Gillum, KT Leveston and Carver Willis, which marked the fourth time in Riley’s five seasons on staff that he has coached at least three linemen to all-conference honors.
During the nine-win 2023 season, Riley coached the Wildcat offensive front to semifinalist status for the Joe Moore Award, an honor that goes to the top offensive line unit in the country. K-State’s line helped the Wildcats rank in the top 30 nationally in 11 offensive categories, including scoring (10th – 37.1 points per game), rushing (11th – 204.1 yards per game), third down conversions (11th – 47.9%), rushing touchdowns (12th – 32) and first downs (12th – 310). The Wildcats ranked 30th nationally in red zone offense (89.23%), but ranked second in the country by scoring touchdowns on 78.46% of their red zone attempts.
K-State also ranked in the top 10 in school history in 32 game or season categories in 2023. Among those was a school-record 30 passing touchdowns, No. 2 rankings in offensive yards per game (445.2) and first downs (310), and No. 3 showings in total yards (5,788), completions (258) and pass attempts (426).
Beebe’s Consensus All-America status in 2023 came on the heels of multiple All-America honors the year prior, highlighted by first-team designations from The Athletic, ESPN, FOX Sports and Sporting News. Beebe was named the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2022 and was joined on the All-Big 12 team by Gillum and Leveston.
The three All-Big 12 picks – in addition to 14-game starter Christian Duffie and 13-game starter Hadley Panzer – helped the Wildcats win the 2022 Big 12 title as the offense rushed for 208.3 yards per game to rank 15th in the country, the third-best mark in school history and highest national ranking since 2003. Behind Riley’s line, the Wildcats ranked second in school history in total offensive yards (5,863), third in rushing yards per carry (5.12), fourth in total rushing yards (2,916), fifth in total yards per game (418.8), ninth in yards per play (6.12) and 10th in rushing touchdowns (32).
The 2021 season also saw Riley guide Beebe to All-Big 12 First Team honors, while he picked up votes for the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year award. Additionally, Noah Johnson and Josh Rivas earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades as the Wildcats ranked third in school history with 6.3 yards per play and sixth with 4.83 rushing yards per attempt.
Additionally, K-State tied for second in the Big 12 with 29 rushing touchdowns, just one behind the leader and two away from entering the school’s top-10 list. The Wildcats finished the 2021 season with 362.3 yards of total offense per game – their best mark since 2017 – while they ranked fifth in the league by allowing 1.85 sacks per game.
Riley hit the ground running in 2019 as he tutored four linemen that earned All-Big 12 honors from either the league’s coaches or Associated Press, the most by the Wildcats since 2012. The group was headlined by seniors Scott Frantz (second team), Adam Holtorf (honorable mention) and Nick Kaltmayer (honorable mention), while Rivas, then a sophomore, was a first-team performer by the Associated Press.
The Wildcat line paved the way for 178.0 rushing yards per game to rank fourth in the Big 12, while K-State’s 29 rushing touchdowns were the third most in the league. Thanks in large part to Riley’s guidance of the line, K-State led the nation in red zone offense (96.2%) – the best mark by the Wildcats since at least 2001 and the best by a Big 12 team since at least 2004. Kansas State also ranked ninth in the country and first in the Big 12 in time of possession (33:27), its best figure since 2011.
Coming into the 2020 season with no returning starters from the previous campaign – and without any spring practices and limited preseason work due to the COVID-19 pandemic – Riley brought a new line together throughout the year and turned it into one of the top units in the Big 12 toward the end of the season. The Wildcats had their two best rushing outputs in the final two games, totaling 256 yards at Baylor and 274 yards against Texas, each of which ranked in the top 10 of the Big 12 for total rushing yards in a conference game during the 2020 season.
Protecting a true freshman starting quarterback for most of the season, the Wildcats’ front line ranked 22nd in the nation and second in the Big 12 in sacks allowed (1.40 sacks per game) and helped K-State lead the league and rank fourth nationally in red zone offense (93.9%). Spearheading the Wildcat line was a walk-on turned team captain in Johnson, who was an All-Big 12 Second Team honoree by the league’s coaches and also earned votes for the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year award.
Riley came to Manhattan from North Dakota State where he coached the previous six seasons – including the final five tutoring the offensive line under head coach Chris Klieman – helping NDSU win five national championships during his tenure.
Each of Riley’s six years on the NDSU staff, the Bison averaged at least 235 rushing yards per game and ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing, including a highwater mark of 286.2 yards per game in 2018 to rank seventh the nation and a 272.2-yard clip in 2017 to rank fourth. North Dakota State resided in the top 10 in time of possession in three of Riley’s five years coaching the line, including a first-place mark in 2015 (36:38). Riley’s lines also finished highly in fewest sacks allowed, ranking 10th in 2016 and eighth in 2018.
Riley’s 2018 offensive line blocked for the best in Bison and Missouri Valley Conference history in terms of points scored (622), touchdowns scored (80), total rushing yards (4,293), total offense (7,076) and rushing touchdowns (54). Additionally, NDSU set a school record for yards per play (7.37) and ranked second in yards per rush (6.41).
The 2018 season also saw the Bison line help NDSU rank second nationally in first down offense (327), third in third-down percentage (.524) and sixth in scoring offense (41.5).
Riley coached multiple All-Americans at NDSU, starting with fullback Andrew Grothmann in 2013, and continuing with offensive linemen Joe Haeg (2014, 2015), Zack Johnson (2015, 2016), Landon Lechler (2016), Austin Kuhnert (2017), Tanner Volson (2018) and Zack J. Johnson (2018). Haeg, a former walk-on right tackle, developed into a fifth-round NFL draft pick.
In 2018, Volson was named the top offensive lineman in the country by the FCS Athletic Directors Association, the fifth-straight Bison under Riley to earn the nod after Kuhnert (2017), Zack Johnson (2016) and Haeg (2015 and 2014). Volson also won the 16th annual Rimington Trophy as the top center among all FCS, NCAA Division II, III and NAIA players, and he was also named a First Team All-American by HERO Sports and STATS.
Volson and Zack J. Johnson each earned 2018 First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, and Johnson added a First Team All-America honor from the Walter Camp Foundation.
Riley went to NDSU as tight ends and fullbacks coach in 2013 before molding one of the top offensive lines in the nation the next season. With four new starters and a fifth who was changing positions, the 2014 Bison rolled to a 15-1 record and national championship.
Riley spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons as the offensive line coach at Sacramento State where the Hornets’ blockers allowed just seven sacks in 11 games during the 2011 season.
Prior to working on the west coast, Riley was the offensive line coach and running game coordinator at Omaha from 2007 to 2010, which included a No. 4 national ranking in rushing offense during the 2009 season.
A 2003 graduate of University of Nebraska Omaha, Riley began his collegiate coaching career at UNO as a student and graduate assistant from 2003 to 2005. He left his alma mater to become the offensive line coach at Concordia University-St. Paul in 2006.
The Omaha native enjoyed a standout high school career at Creighton Prep. He began his collegiate playing career at the U.S. Air Force Academy, then transferred to Kansas before heading to UNO in 1999.
After redshirting his first season, Riley was named the North Central Conference’s outstanding lineman twice in his three-year career. Following his senior year, he earned 2002 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Daktronics All-America first team honors. Riley was a second team Division II All-American as a junior in 2001.
He and his wife, Christy, are the parents of two daughters, Cate and Claire.
