Oklahoma Football: Is Lincoln Riley worth $5 million per year?

Oklahoma football’s Lincoln Riley earned himself a decent pay raise, making about $5 million per year after a strong first season.

When Lincoln Riley graduated from Texas Tech after playing quarterback for the Red Raiders back in 2002, he immediately became an assistant for the football program. Just 15 years later, he’s one of the highest-paid coaches in college football, earning himself a raise on Tuesday.

The new contract for Riley shows that the school has faith in the young coach long-term, but is he worth that $5 million per year price?

There’s two ways to look at this. One, It’s still early in his career, so it’s hard to say he’s worth the $25 million deal and two, he’s earned it after being thrust into the head coaching role after Bob Stoops’ sudden retirement last summer.

So which one is the right mindset? They’re both actually warranted.

Is it too early to tell if Riley is going to be worth the $5 million per year? Probably, but the program sees enough in him to warrant a long contract and the only way to sew him up without watching him leave is to offer him competitive pay.

It’s clear the players love Riley and that showed with his 12-2 record in year one with a playoff berth — the Sooners nearly knocked off Georgia in the playoff, losing 54-48 in overtime. It’s tough being a university which has high expectations for its football program and making a decision like this which will impact the next 4-5 years, but Riley has proven himself.

Not many young coaches can be thrown into the fire and excel like Riley did and he’ll get another chance to prove himself in 2018 as the Big 12 favorite yet again.

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For all the doubters out there, don’t knock the $25 million deal over five years, he’s worth it. Plus, he’s barely making more than his quarterback, Kyler Murray, who just signed a deal with the Athletics which will pay him $4.7 million as a rookie in 2019.