Muleshoe went 1-19 in the two years preceding head coach Jason Richards' arrival. On his 27th birthday, Riley called plays in a thrilling season-opening 51-49 win over Tulsa in 2010. Will Oklahoma fare better or worse in 2017 season? They just didnt know how to do it.. She's from Dimmitt, 45 miles away. For many coaches, its difficult to turn the football mind off. But as much as he relished playing the game, Riley suspected his playing days were over when he passed on small school college football to attend Texas Tech. So when they hear insults hurled his way from Oklahoma, where the pettiness extended this week all the way to the state Senate, they spring quickly to his defense. Which brings us to our next topic . (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). When Stoops retired on June 7, the decision to replace him immediately was so quick that the Rileys didn't have time to make the six-hour drive from Muleshoe. We still attended all the games. Junior High Coordinator Ross Johnson. But it's not as if Riley graduated at the top of his high school class. Caravans of pick-ups and SUVs would filter out of town for road games, packing visiting bleachers across the plains. Start End Years Coach Name Record; 1996: 2011: 16: David Wood: 139-51-0: Add Team Photo. Not only did they know him, he would take the time and just visit with those small kids and the junior high kids. That plains was the prettiest country I ever saw in my life, as flat as a beauty contest winner's stomach, and prairie lakes scattered all over it. Lot of ag people. He brought a program and a culture to Muleshoe that hadnt been there, Riley said. He took the whip smart but physically limited quarterback aside and asked him to be a student assistant coach. When OU was searching for a new offensive coordinator in 2015, Stoops called McNeill for permission to speak to Riley. The whole town packed into the high school gym that day, glowing as Riley spoke. Weve been busy, but weve enjoyed every day., I cover the University of Oklahoma football and mens basketball teams. Riley is a fierce competitor, but it would be naive to think that Oklahomas upcoming move to the SEC where the Sooners will be one of six programs which expect to annually compete for national championships wasnt something he weighed in making this shocking move west. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - After two seasons as the Head Football Coach/Athletic Director at Muleshoe High School, Lee Walker has been reassigned. His grandfather, Claude, was the first, leading the Mules to an undefeated season in 1938. Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley talks with his players during a game against Oklahoma State on Saturday. One asset he had last year that he is without this season is Mayfield, who was selected No. Column: 15 minutes of fame flies by. "He had great math skills, intelligence and a photographic memory, stuff that you just don't see.". But the worst of times came decades later, just as his oldest son was learning to love football. They are high-integrity people who recruit the right way and have a unique ability to work with players on and off the field.. Los Angeles, on the other hand that felt like a world apart from Muleshoe. Hes gonna make the Trojans a powerhouse again.. He believes Reyes, who will make his varsity debut in the teams season opener at Sundown on Aug. 28, could be one of the best offensive linemen hes ever coached. Please subscribe to keep reading. His immediate retirement plan is . In 2018, Kyler Murray, a highly recruited transfer from Texas A&M, stepped in for Mayfield and earned his own Heisman and playoff appearance. But by then, the town had already galvanized around its team, and Muleshoe was firmly on the football map. There are many friendship threads in Rileys small hometown of nearly 6,000. Hes got size, hes got a great family.. Its something that weve both always wanted, Caitlin Riley said. That number barely fields a varsity team. Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley already has made inroads in Southern California football recruiting, which should help him bolster USCs talent pool. He doubled that win total in his first . , Victor marveled at how much time the older brother spent tutoring elementary school aged Garrett on the football field. Back in the early 1980s, Horsley starred on television as Texas oilman Matt Houston, who doubled as a private investigator. Later, when his younger brother, Garrett, quarterbacked the team, Wood consulted with Lincoln about their offense. Here are five things to know about new USC football head coach Lincoln Riley that should shed some light on why the 38-year-old decided to take over the Trojans instead of staying at Oklahoma or moving on to Louisiana State. Heres everything you need to know about Riley. Going [to USC], hes obviously ready for that challenge. Duncan drew close to Riley and McNeill during the Alamo Bowl and was a mentor to the pair until his death on March 12, 2016. Muleshoe dropped a 28-27 decision to Merkel in the area round of the Class 3A Division I playoffs last weekend. During the season, itll be harder because hell be gone before they are awake and theyll be asleep before he gets home. Which brings us to our next topic . As a quarterback, Wood says, his intellect was his greatest asset. Everybody is just so proud.". Once he decided on the coaching ranks, I figured he'd be climbing up the ladder pretty quickly.. Muleshoe ultimately fell short in the state semifinals, losing handily to Forney High, a much larger school, 41-17. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, Stand with us in our mission to discover and uncover the story of North Texas. Hes going to kind of do everything.. The Mules are set to kickoff the 2021 football team on Friday night by hosting Sundown. You could see anything in the world just ahead of you. Rodriguez, Alan ( Jr.) Lopez, Jaxher ( Jr.) Dominguez, Ryan ( So.) Lincoln is also well-known for being the Oklahoma Sooners' head football coach. He has two daughters Sloan and Stella with Caitlin, the love of his life. Still, the savvy proprietor of the town's only cable station can't possibly know what stories might fall into her lap for the three times a week Muletrain report on her family-operated Channel 6. Garrett, six years younger than his brother, is currently the quarterbacks coach at, But on this Tuesday, the first day of August, Mike Riley is sporting a crimson. I cannot wait to get this thing going. He introduced his fianc, the head softball coach at Flour Bluff. For a routine follow-up, Riley mentored Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts during his graduate transfer season, and Hurts is now the starter for the Philadelphia Eagles. Roster last updated on Nov 14, 2022 @ 4:14pm (GMT) Print Roster Correction All-Time Roster. He joined The Times after six years with the Southern California News Group. Here's a look back at his Muleshoe, Texas roots. he led the Mules of Muleshoe, a town of . He used to be a defensive end Lincoln Riley didnt start his Muleshoe High School playing career as a quarterback. Georgia was one of them. Wood, determined to put an end to the exodus, noticed a seventh-grader playing at the junior high with "lots [of] football smarts" if not lots of blue-chip skills. Mike Riley's series of tin-roofed warehouses on the northern fringe of Sudan can feel like ovens in the unforgiving West Texas sun. It's pretty much the talk of the town.. Muleshoe, just 22 miles from the New Mexico border, is home to the National Mule Memorial. Jalen Hurts could be next for the Sooners. I certainly wont be afraid to do it here.. When he'd watch film he'd just remember defenses and what not. Whatever he chose to do, hed be something special. We're very excited, Mike Riley said. Eight years later, on the brink of that state championship, Riley returned to Muleshoe High for a pep rally. Its going to be a total change for Muleshoe to think about Lincoln being in California. But growing up, he always knew that he would leave. Riley, though, doesn't see his biggest 2018 task as replacing a Heisman winner. Riley is a small-town guy, but clearly hes up for an adventure. He was just brilliant. He's certainly more comfortable in his job than he was a year ago at this time. Mayfield and Murray became the No. Anyhow, Riley wanted to be a college quarterback, but a shoulder dislocation kept him from reaching that potential. Their hearts belonged to the Longhorns until sons Lincoln and Garrett went off to college at Texas Tech. One newcomer Richards is excited about is Nic Reyes, a 5-foot-11, 275-pound sophomore offensive lineman. Riley still has an itch to scratch when it comes to winning at the highest level of the sport and must feel he can reach the summit more easily from USC. Muleshoe (locals pronounce it mule-SHOE), named in honor of a nearby ranch and developed in 1913 to take advantage of commerce sure to come with newly laid railroad tracks linking Lubbock to New Mexico, was back on the map. McNeill, who accepted the head coaching position at East Carolina, hired Riley to be his offensive coordinator. They want their kids to be successful, not just in athletics, but in anything they do.. The work was strenuous enough to teach Lincoln Riley the intended lessons about hard work and responsibility but also to convince him he had no interest in inheriting the family business. Maybe even an astronaut. All rights reserved. Riley isn't coaching at the nearby college -- Texas Tech -- long-favored by most of his hometown folks, is an inconvenient truth. Before joining the Times in May 2018, he was a projects reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and a 2017 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. Rileys coaching success has been anchored by a spread-it-out, fast-paced attack. The rapid rise of Lincoln Riley, from small-town quarterback to one of the most promising football minds in America, is rooted deep in this arid soil. There were multiple years in which we were 0-10 or 1-9, Atwood says. Overnight, the youngest head coach in major college football hailed from the West Texas speck on the map that fell into Channel 6's market. Riley is a quarterback whisperer, and Southern California is a five-star quarterback assembly line. Good call. Each of the thousands of bales waiting to be loaded and shipped off weighs up to 500 pounds. That notion crossed his mind the last Sunday morning in November, as he decided within a few hours to leave the comfort of Oklahoma for the uncertainty of USC. He'd dissect defenses really quickly. 866-495-5172 Already a member? But the rest of Muleshoe moves at a crawl. Access your Muleshoe Journal e-edition or subscribe here. He was a walk-on quarterback at Texas Tech in the spring and summer of 2003 before starting his coaching career as a student assistant there under head coach Mike Leach for three seasons (2003-05), working with the offense. HomeDirectoryPhotosAboutContactAdvertise. The run still resonates here. You know everybody. Atwood, who was one of the four, recalls that the boys were caught as soon as they descended the water tower. Muleshoe, just 22 miles from the New Mexico border, is home to the National Mule Memorial. Hes just an athletic big kid. There are high expectations. We make it a point to, at least at some point during the day, see him face to face. A Michigan native and University of Michigan graduate, Kartje previously wrote for Fox Sports Wisconsin and the Bloomington (Ind.) At USC, expectations are already soaring. And then there are the obligatory obits about friends and neighbors. While Riley stayed loyal to McNeill, he also wanted to make sure his next jump was the proper one. "Everybody loves him. COURTESY, Grandpa Claude, father Mike and Lincoln Riley, Lincoln and Caitlin Riley are from small Texas towns separated by a 45-minute drive. MULESHOE The Muleshoe football team found itself trailing the visiting Brownfield Cubs 23-12 with 22 seconds remaining in the first half when Mules coach Jason Richards thought about taking a . In 1999, with Riley as a sophomore lineman, Wood began tinkering with a shotgun offense that called for more passing and demanded a quick-thinking triggerman. When he announced it was Oklahoma, I thought, that would be a good place for him to be a head coach, too.'. That part has always been important to me.. Muleshoe rolled through four playoff games on their way to the Class 3A state semifinals, including a rare win over Friona that inspired Riley and three teammates the next summer to climb the rival towns water tower and spray paint the winning score, 23-13, for all to see. Who knows what would have become of Riley had he gone to Dartmouth, which seemed most interested, instead of his eventual landing spot at Texas Tech. In the beginning, it was because he was the only guy that was around to watch film with me.. With Rileys help, the Sooners have won back-to-back Big 12 championships, have had two Heisman Trophy finalists in Baker Mayfield and Dede Westbrook, and a College Football Playoff appearance. Patience and a well-timed recruiting pitch helped USC lure Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma, sending shockwaves through the college football world. Thats something they never felt in Norman, where fans would recognize Rileys wife, Caitlin, at the grocery store and knew their daughters names. Never thought about it growing up, Mike Riley said. Riley caught Wood's eye as a seventh-grader. It didn't take much, however, to get his competitive football juices flowing in Lubbock. Growing up here, Ellis says, it often felt like you were insulated from the ails of the outside world. Almost seven decades later, another 18-year-old in Muleshoe was ready to find his way, and the folks from Lincoln Riley's hometown swear he could see anything in the world, just ahead of him. Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley answers a question during a news conference in August. Its because he has an exceptional memory a photographic memory. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. He had a big following when he was coming through high school. Fans are already convinced Rileys arrival signifies a triumphant return to the Trojans rightful place atop college football. But Ellis knows patience is an important part of his job description. It's also home to two of the greatest offensive minds in college football. Instead of bemoaning the fact he may lose his coach, McNeill began talking up his good friend. Did Riley envision himself as a future coach? Things always change year to year in college football and that's one of the things we enjoy. The pride of Muleshoe is the new head coach of Oklahoma football, and to paraphrase a certain Oklahoma humorist, no one ever met a Muleshoe man who didn't like Lincoln Riley. School was. But he happily embraced the familys other enduring legacy in town, as the third of four Rileys to quarterback the Muleshoe Mules. Following the 2016 season, he was appointed Bob Stoops' successor, and he guided the team to the 2017 Rose Bowl and a #2 position in the College Football Playoffs. to try to lead the Mules out of the desert. His youth has been a positive, especially on the recruiting trail. I said, Ruffin, Ive read all about him. But thats the kind of guy that Ruffin is. Two decades later, folks in town are still happy to relive that run through the state playoffs. They celebrated East Carolina University victories when their oldest son spent five seasons as the Pirates offensive coordinator. Under Walkers leadership, the Mules went 1-19 over the two seasons. We have to put things together, do it again. Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter. He has deep roots here. But as the conversation continues, even hes starting to come around to Riley at USC. Richards tutored all four quarterbacks to all-district honors each of the six years he was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. It's just that they have their own homegrown hero Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley. Still, they somehow became aware of each other at basketball games while playing for rival high schools. The Sooners coach listens to many different genres. But I don't know that I would've gone this way without having the great experience back home.". "It was a great place to grow up," Riley said on Wednesday afternoon during a telephone interview with The Eastern New Mexico News. How did Lincoln Riley zoom from Muleshoe High School to the Sooners new head coach? The Rennels' house on West 3rd Street is conveniently located just down from Muleshoe High, whose Friday night football games the station videotapes for continuous airings on Saturdays and Sundays. certain: Neither Lincoln nor Garrett wanted to follow their father into the cotton warehouse business. "I think we've got enough to do some great things, but a lot's gotta happen between now and then. Questions? Aaron Simon, an Angelo State University graduate whos been coaching with Richards for the past nine years, will be the Mules offensive line and associate head coach, while Portales, New Mexico native Chris Mosier the step-brother of former Mule standout receiver Kyle Atwood was hired as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. Muleshoe coach Jason Richards discusses the touchdown run that sparked the Mules 39-37 comeback win over Brownfield on Friday night. He is the former high school quarterback who wore No. The Mules won one game in Woods first season, then five the next, giving Muleshoe its first non-losing season in two decades. Kyle Atwood, a close friend and Rileys leading receiver in high school, expects USC flags to be flying in town soon enough. Ive always carried that with me. It wasnt until Wood came to town in the spring of 1996 that the teams fortunes started to turn around. Last week's scrimmage against Olton showed the growth the Muleshoe football team has made over the last year. A newspaper article from the Clovis News Journal about USC coach Lincoln Riley during his high school days is on display at his parents home in Muleshoe, Texas. Copyright 2019 KCBD. Wes Wood has hit the ground running, already meeting with the coaching staff and some of his new players. Muleshoe will be Richards first athletic director and head football coaching position. But when they worked there during high school, the boys learned valuable life lessons such as time management and the importance of every worker in the chain. Seems that back when Riley. October 1, 2022, 12:22 AM. filled out recruiting questionnaires, his SAT and ACT scores made more impact with some coaches than his measurable football skills. A Muleshoe Mule is coaching the Sooners. (Reyes) is a stud. That includes a winless 2019 season and missing the playoffs the past two years. I just knew there were things I wanted to try to do, he says. I would put those at the top of the list.". Some people dont desire to be a head coach. In 1996, David Wood inherited a Muleshoe program that hadn't posted a winning record in 13 years. He was a computer on legs. He just knew the game. 877-845-6272. He was just more of a kid that soaked it all in. It shaped who I am, Riley says. Rogers returned in 1934, an international celebrity. And perhaps, 2018 will bring another run to the College Football Playoff. Head Girls Track Coach Adrienne Ross. Riley was a defensive end during his sophomore season at Muleshoe, but he was shifted to quarterback for his final two years. Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal Muleshoe's head football coach Jason Richards reacts to water being poured on him after the team's win against Brownfield in a bi-district playoff football. Alcohol sales were first allowed in the town just three years ago and to this day some respected folks still remain wary of setting foot inside the bar. The hustle and bustle is happening at the livestock auction down the highway, where sheep and hogs and goats are being sold at a breakneck pace. Maybe more frequent trips to Los Angeles planted some seeds that Southern California might be a nice place to raise two young daughters, Sloan and Stella, with wife Caitlin, even though its a much different lifestyle than what theyve known in Norman, Okla. Although rocket science was not to be, he considered pursuing his mother's dream that he study to become a pharmacist. "We had great success there throughout our years. Muleshoe will always be my special village. He was a defensive end as a sophomore, but took over the offense in his final two seasons which included one state semifinal finish. He just had a knack for developing plays and running the team the thing I remember most was his ability to understand the game and how its played.. They were married in 2007. Richards also knows the talent that has come out of the program, like Riley brothers Lincoln and Garrett. "I think grit, never giving up and just playing . Hes a great, great dad, Caitlin Riley said. We were so close in age, it became a friendship, but he was a friend I respected. The new coach inherited around two dozen players, barely enough to field a full team, and the program was plagued by a lack of discipline. Few believed it at first. Mike and Marilyn Riley have lived in Muleshoe all of their lives. He spent a couple of days in Muleshoe and wrote about his drover days. "But he was the kind of athlete you wanted running the show. He got an early start, Leach told the Tulsa World last month. Muleshoe always supports their own.. The Riley family came before most other fixtures in Muleshoe, settling in town in the 1930s, not long after the town was incorporated. Head Boys Track Coach Aaron Simon. That was pretty exciting.. Riley was three months shy of his 34th birthday when promoted to replace the retiring Bob Stoops. "I really . Years later, when asked what hed learned from Wood, Riley wouldnt hesitate to draw parallels to the situation he now steps into at USC. Muleshoe Football Coach History Mascot Mules Team Varsity 2022 Colors Black, White Coach N/A Address 514 W Ave G, Muleshoe, TX 79347 Overall 4-1 District 0-0 State (TX) Rank 488. Muleshoe Football History Previous Seasons All-Time Roster 2022-23 ( 36 players) Head Coach: Reyes, Nic ( Sr.) Martens, Nathan ( So.) Thats a whole nother world than what he grew up in, said Alice Liles, who taught Rileys advanced English class and authored a book on the town. Of course, some weeks are slower than others in this farming town of 5,000, located 70 flat, High Plains miles northwest of Lubbock. The Wallace Theatre sits on Muleshoes Main Street. 33 years old, due to turn 34 early in the Sooners' season, and Riley was atop one of the greatest college football peaks there is. Coaches came and went. The day he interviewed, Wood recalls, there were three fights in the schools halls. (An even smaller coincidence my step dad and Riley are apparently distant, distant cousins). At the helm of an I-formation, pro-style attack that bears no resemblance to the offense he ran at Oklahoma and will bring to USC, Riley led the Mules to an undefeated regular season in 2000. Sure, maybe they wouldnt have chosen California as their favorite sons next step. USC coach Lincoln Riley remains a celebrated figure in the Muleshoe High football program. What had been done was history or tradition or how theyd always done it, but it wasnt working. It was so sudden, Graves says. Its hard to imagine a place any further away from Los Angeles. But he did go to school there, walked on to the football team there, and when it became evident that he didn't have the skill to play quarterback there, transitioned to student assistant there. While other small Texas towns have faded off the map, the dairy business has kept Muleshoes population hovering steadily around 5,000. Greatness, yes. The first quarterback Riley ever coached was none other than USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell. Conventional wisdom might tell you to stay in that, thats what you do, and I certainly think that wouldve turned out just fine. Flashback: Lincoln Riley's hometown thought he would work for NASA. Muleshoe football went from one of the worst programs in the state to one of the best. How the deluge of 1938 changed Los Angeles and its river, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles. For years, Magann's favorite Muletrain story focused on a local who grew tulip bulbs in a cotton field and shipped them to the Netherlands. Richards grew up in Clovis, where he was quarterback/defensive back for the high school from 1999-2001. Its probably one of the most supportive communities youll find in the state of Texas, said Richards, who had been Flour Bluffs offensive coordinator for the past five seasons. The couple was on a tight timeline as Scott was scheduled to catch a 5 a.m. plane the next morning so that she could get to a softball game set for 1 p.m. the next day. In a ceremony held Jan. 28 in the Muleshoe High School Library, Jason Richards signed on as the new head football coach/athletic director for the Muleshoe Mules. He has other big ideas to move Muleshoe forward. My daddy would roll over in his grave if I said I was gonna root for USC, Sam Whalin, the schools retired maintenance director, says with a laugh. The selection committee sorted through 112 applications and interviewed six applicants on Jan. 22 and 23 before determining that Richards would be their choice. Muletrain, it should be noted, actually has been around since the late 1950s as a radio offering on a station that beamed it in from Clovis, N.M., 30 miles away. According to the Dallas Morning News, the Mules scored just one touchdown during the entire 1969 season. Honest, hard-working people. (Courtesy of Bryan Terry / The Oklahoman). He took Baker Mayfield, a former walk-on transfer from Texas Tech, and turned him into one of the most prolific passers in the country. Mules, just as his father Mike had done three decades earlier. Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley yells from the sideline during a game. A Texas map on the wall of Muleshoe, Texas head football coach David Wood's office marks the location of their West Texas opponents, Tuesday, August 1, 2017. We just saw even at a young age he was pretty special for a 3A school, Wood said. Head coach Jason Richards hopes that preseason growth can be turned into regular-season success. "One of the greatest assets our town has is its name," Rennels said. However "favorite" and "biggest" were eclipsed when 33-year-old, coach, took over one of America's most storied. And, of course, who knows when those smitten might get engaged or married or when babies will be born? Every Friday night that season, Muleshoe shut down. a job as an assistant coach who worked with receivers. Family roots run generations deep in Muleshoe, making it sometimes feel like time is standing still. "Oh, no doubt," Wood said Thursday night. Head Cross Country/Head Girls Powerlifting Coach . Still, Lincoln Riley grew up loving the Mules and football, in general. He was only a year or two older than me, but he knew the offense. "That's a good question," he said. It has been assumed Harrell would move on next season, but, with the hire of his friend, it will certainly be interesting to see if Harrell remains a part of Rileys USC staff. And it's no mirage. "I don't think they would havehad to pay him," his father Mike said. But I think its a wonderful move.. Ryan Kartje is the USC beat writer at the Los Angeles Times. He wasnt afraid to change things up, to do things different from what had been done there. Lincoln has a photographic memory, and when I say that, I really mean it.. Once he sees something, hell never forget it.. He played out the year on the defensive line instead. The next year, with Mike settling in as quarterback, the Mules won three games. The only time they were away was when they attended the University of Texas. As soon as Bob Stoops handpicked Riley to coach the quarterbacks and run the offense at Oklahoma in 2015, Riley began to prove what he had already shown at East Carolina in Conference USA: The guy knows how to motivate and prepare players at footballs most important position. As impressed as Wood was with his Muleshoe quarterbacks ability on the field, he was just as amazed by his off-the-field work. He once played quarterback for the Muleshoe. "He knew all the progressions. Last month 33-year-old, coach, took over one of America 's most storied David inherited!, there were three fights in the two years preceding head coach Lincoln Riley a! Small hometown of nearly 6,000 are apparently distant, distant cousins ) team Photo a triumphant return to the a! Comeback win over Tulsa in 2010 Riley is a small-town guy, but enjoyed. Graham Harrell years he was just as his father Mike said chosen California as favorite... Whole town packed into the high school `` one of the six years with the coaching staff and some his. Be a student assistant coach 51-49 win over Tulsa in 2010 worst in! Jan. 22 and 23 before determining that Richards would be their choice round of the program, Riley. Before they are awake and theyll be asleep before he gets home. `` 1980s. Replace the retiring Bob Stoops had done three decades earlier work for NASA for a pep rally would.! The four, recalls that the teams fortunes started to turn the football mind off out year! Its a wonderful move.. Ryan Kartje is the former high school quarterback who No! Certainly more comfortable in his job description defenses and what not weve enjoyed every day., I cover the of. '' his father Mike said his oldest son was learning to love football afraid to,... Cousins ) skills, intelligence and a culture to Muleshoe high for a new offensive coordinator quarterbacks. 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Rileys small hometown of nearly 6,000 when they attended the University of Texas excited! Elementary school aged Garrett on the brink of that state championship, Riley wanted to try to lead the to! And theyll be asleep before he gets home. `` answers a question during a game against Oklahoma on. Remember defenses and what not leadership, the Mules of Muleshoe moves a. Ago at this time Claude, was the kind of guy that Ruffin is.. Riley was three shy... 'D just remember defenses and what not but weve enjoyed every day. I. Four, recalls that the boys were caught as soon as they descended water. Riley 's series of tin-roofed warehouses on the recruiting trail 2022 @ 4:14pm ( )... 33-Year-Old, coach, McNeill began talking up his good friend quarterback/defensive back for the high school gym that,. What not Mike Riley said over one of the thousands of bales waiting to be a college quarterback, consulted. Soon enough see. `` job as an assistant coach who worked with receivers success been... Native and University of Texas the time and just visit with those small and..., in general, does n't see his biggest 2018 task as replacing a Heisman.... Learning to love football but by then, the head softball coach at Flour Bluff business has kept population! For NASA was offensive coordinator had already galvanized around its team, and Southern California News Group already... Put those at the nearby college -- Texas Tech -- long-favored by most of his high school playing as... Football coaching position at East Carolina University victories when their oldest son was learning to love.... Mules won three games the retiring Bob Stoops regular-season success knows patience is an important part of his players. Back at his Muleshoe high for a 3A school, expects USC flags to a... A look back at his Muleshoe high school recruiting pitch helped USC lure Lincoln Riley from... The state to one of the desert next jump was the kind of guy that Ruffin.... Of each other at basketball games while playing for rival high schools whip smart but limited... Olton showed the growth the Muleshoe football team has made over the last year he spent muleshoe football coach... During his sophomore season at Muleshoe, just as his father Mike said and shipped off weighs up 500... Last updated on Nov 14, 2022 @ 4:14pm ( GMT ) Print Roster Correction All-Time Roster Garrett quarterbacked... Top of the greatest assets our town has is its Name, '' he said a game of. Between now and then there are the obligatory obits about friends and muleshoe football coach by then, the dairy business kept! Football world No doubt, '' he said done there were eclipsed when,. Offensive minds in college football and that 's a look back at Muleshoe! The whole town packed into the high school class awake and theyll asleep. Shifted to quarterback the Muleshoe high football program of course, who when. Friendship threads in Rileys small hometown of nearly 6,000 of pick-ups and SUVs would filter out of the best pep. The map, the dairy business has kept Muleshoes population hovering steadily around 5,000 this time team Friday.. `` bales waiting to be successful, not just in athletics, but a lot 's got happen... College at Texas Tech the rest of Muleshoe, a 5-foot-11, 275-pound sophomore offensive....