Smiley Riley

If there is a time when Mike Riley isn’t smiling, I don’t want to be there. I’ve seen lion cages and lava pits that are more enticing. I understand that the halftime speeches and film sessions aren’t lollipops, candy canes and hip-hip-horays, but you get the idea. If Riley didn’t have a smile on his face people would ask what happened.

And I don’t know if I’d want the answer.

Here is a guy who started this season, much like last, with high expectations and endured a few weeks of interesting results. Another 2-3 start? Meh. Just get better with every game, he said. He smiled through disappointment, smiled through frustration and smiled through the criticism. He’d probably smile through a broken ankle or a root canal.

It begs the question, though. If he is always smiling, what’s he so happy about? Two years in a row there have been 2-3 starts, two years in a row there has been questionable decisions by his players on and off the field. What’s got him so giddy?

He entered the post game press conference after the Emerald Bowl, as usual, with a huge smile. It’s the smile you’d find on a seven year old boy listening to baseball cards in the spokes of his new bike. Pure bliss. His smile was contagious. Soon I was smiling. So was the guy next to me. And the guy next to him. I looked behind me and smiles were perking up all over the room. Even the event staff was smiling.

That’s when Riley gives out his first clue; he loves the game of football. Maybe that’s why he’s smiling.

“I think this is where a game like this is kind of fun.” Riley said, “There is some mystery to the whole preparation for the game and the intrigue about a team that you never see.”

Most people in football don’t like mystery and intrigue because it means you are seeing something new. New is a hazard. New is a tic in the L column. New is scary. But “New” doesn’t bother Mike Riley. He is undefeated against “New,” a perfect 4-0, maybe that’s why he is smiling. As gracious as he is, though, he wouldn’t take the credit. It wasn’t him it was the rest of the team and the fans. What did he do? He’d probably say he just wore a headset and called a couple plays. No big deal.

The team was peaking at the right time, his coaching staff had his players ready, his players were making plays and the fans were showing up.

“I’m excited for our fans, I think they were awesome.” Riley said, “I think they caused a couple penalties.”

The Beaver fans love to support their team and their coach. Maybe that’s why he is smiling. Being loved by thousands will do that to a person. When thousands of people travel hundreds of miles to watch you do your job you might open your eyes a little faster in the morning.

And why shouldn’t the fans love him. Has he started seasons slowly? Yes. Are his play calls predictable? Mostly. But for the last two years he helped this team finish in a more than just a flurry. It’s been a blizzard. Last season the Beavers finished the season winning eight of their last nine and this year seven of their last eight.

How? It’s simple. By doing what he does best, smiling.

He might start a season a little shaky but he never gets down, never is upset. Just tries to get better with every game, and succeeds. The Emerald Bowl was no different. Get better whenever possible and win however possible.

“It came down to finding a way to win it.” Riley said, and he did, like usual with a smile on his face.