Oklahoma Football: Lincoln Riley gets the contract he deserves

(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Second-year Oklahoma football coach Lincoln Riley appears to be staying put in Norman for the foreseeable future, and he deserves a monster contract.

The school bumped Riley’s 2019 salary to $6 million, up from the $4.8 million he received this past year. The boost places him in a tie for eighth with Florida’s Dan Mullen, just ahead of Tom Herman from Texas.

Riley’s new deal also has plenty of incentives in place, including a stay bonus of $700,000 each year he remains with the Sooners. If he is still at Oklahoma in April 2021, Riley earns an extra $1 million, with more bonuses for his performance as head coach.

And this is the right deal for both Riley and the Sooners.

Alabama’s Nick Saban sits atop the list at over $8 million with the recently-retired Urban Meyer placing second. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher and Auburn’s Gus Malzahn round out the Top-5.

If you take a look at the list, provided by USA Today, you would be hard pressed to take anyone over Riley at this point in his career. Mullen, Herman and Nebraska’s Scott Frost are among the “young” crowd with Riley, who is just 35 years old.

Rumors of Riley heading to the NFL gained steam this past year with the Cleveland Browns viewed as the frontrunner. Former OU quarterback Baker Mayfield is settled in, and the pairing would seem a natural fit. Riley, though, never followed through with it, opting to continue building his legacy in college football.

Since taking over for Bob Stoops in 2017, Riley has gone 24-4, leading the Sooners to a pair of Big 12 titles and spots in the College Football Playoff. Oklahoma has yet to advance to the championship game.

If you had to look for a possible future NFL coach that is currently dominating the college game, Riley would be it. Oklahoma, though, is one of the elite programs in the nation, and with this latest salary increase, they are showing that they view Riley in that same regard.