Back home, Riley has Beavers riding tough road to respectability

Might as well jump on the coaching carousel. If you want to add another name to Notre Dame's spin cycle, you could do worse than Oregon State's Mike Riley.

Beavers AD Bob De Carolis was surprised to get the call from a reporter on Monday, but it did make sense. Why not Riley, the best, least-publicized, on-the-down-low coach in the country.

"No, they haven't called," De Carolis said of Notre Dame. "We're glad to have him."

Especially this week. Riley is a central figure in Thursday's War of the Roses. Oregon State and Oregon meet with the winner, for the first time, guaranteed a Rose Bowl berth. The loser-leave-town match is the final confirmation that USC has surrendered its stranglehold on the Pac-10.

It's also fun to have some new faces in Pasadena. The Ducks haven't been to the Rose Bowl since 1994. It's been 45 years for the Beavers. That's mostly because Oregon State was one of the most God-awful programs in the country for most of that time -- 28 consecutive losing seasons, a streak that ended in 1999.

Riley, a 56-year-old Corvallis native, arrived in 1997 laying down the foundation that allowed Dennis Erickson to take the Beavers to the Fiesta Bowl in 2000. After three seasons as San Diego Chargers' coach (going 14-34), Riley regretted chasing NFL fame and got the biggest break of his career -- Oregon State took him back in 2003.

Oregon State, currently 8-3, has had one losing season since that year. In the last four, the Beavers have averaged more than nine wins per season. By comparison, Nebraska has averaged eight wins in that time frame, Michigan has averaged seven.

"That's become a lesson I've learned, kind of, the hard way," Riley said. "If you're happy, stay. I'm very grateful Oregon State gave me the opportunity to come back. We have found the green grass is right outside our door."

Riley's Beavers are hard to get a handle on. Under him, the program produced first-round draft choices for the first time since 1963 Heisman winner Terry Baker. Tailback Steven Jackson became a big-time star with the Rams. But mostly they are the gutty, little Beavers. Former walk-on Mike Hass won the Biletnikoff Award (nation's best receiver) and eventually got to the NFL. Quarterback Derek Anderson, taken in the sixth round, became a starter for the Browns. The immortal Sabby Piscitelli was taken in the sixth round by the Bucs two years ago.

Jacquizz Rodgers (1,313 yards rushing, 19 TDs) and Oregon State are one win from Pasadena. (US Presswire)

The Beavers upset USC in 2006 with star Sammie Stroughter passing out stones to teammates beforehand reminding them of David beating Goliath. The next year, they posted nine victories while winning four games by a touchdown or less.

Oregon State broke nationally in 2008 with that Thursday night upset when the nation was introduced to Jacquizz Rodgers. Riley was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

How do they do it? A little bit of everything. Riley mined small-town Texas for Rodgers and his brother James, the core of the offense. It doesn't matter if they could play at USC, they beat USC on that Thursday night.

"I have not seen a team that plays harder," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said.

This season it's a case of being the last Beaver standing. Two weeks ago, more than half the conference had a chance at the Rose Bowl. Oregon State, and its bitter rival, just kept winning.

"Poof," Riley said. "We kind of showed up at the end."

It's more than that. Riley is so well-respected nationally because he is able to do more with less. For a time he was a candidate at Alabama, his alma mater, earlier this decade. The biggest Civil War in the 113-year history of the rivalry is a few hours away with one big question left.

How did two schools in a sparsely populated state separated by a few miles get this far? Let's narrow that down. One of those schools is supported by corporate giant Nike.

The other is Oregon State which Riley proudly keeps referring to as "Lunch Pail U."

The pedigree is impeccable. Riley's dad was a defensive coordinator under former Beavers coach Dee Andros. He played for Bear Bryant at Alabama. Getting back to coach the hometown program was a natural until you consider how bad Oregon State was in 1997.

"I didn't think there was any pride in the program," Riley said. "That is really scary. It puts fear in you like, 'Golly, what are we doing? How is this ever going to get turned around?'"

It wasn't easy. It was Riley.