Lincoln Riley's Oklahoma Offense (Origins, History, and Film Study; new USC Head Coach)

In this video, see how Oklahoma Sooners' head coach Lincoln Riley has adapted the Air Raid offense that he inherited from Mike Leach. See how he's added in a Counter run game, and then built both a play-action and a Draw/Shovel Pass counter off of that base run game. Then, see how his offensive line has struggled to make that run game a true weapon, allowing defenses to play with light boxes and defenders at depth to take away the quick passing game. That hasn't been too big of a problem, though, because with guys like QB Spencer Rattler and WR Marvin Mims, the Oklahoma Sooners' downfield passing game has been a potent weapon that's kept the offense dangerous. After this season, Lincoln Riley became the Head Coach of the USC football team.

[@CrewsTheWildDawg]

I love how Riley has combined the best qualities of the Air Raid and the Smashmouth Offenses. Nobody’s done it better than him.

[@rob_taylor7]

great breakdown I love the GT counter

[@botomcgee808]

the creativity that riley has is unreal. very shanahan like. excited to see his mind in the league one day. great video!

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@mrmike9803]

Awesome content. I’m glad I’m getting on the bandwagon early

[@ultimatebulldog2824]

Great stuff. I hope your content gets more recognition.

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[@Trojan0304]

Thanks for review. Looking for his Offense philosophy since he is now our HC .

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

This is the only offense that I watch where there's something new/interesting in every game. Not necessarily something completely new, but just a different way to run some of their base stuff that's gameplan-specific. I think SC's in really good hands on O, which is a huge change from the last 5-6 years.

[@lynndollar1013]

@@TheCoordinatorProject That would reflect what I saw in games, OU jumps out to good lead in the first half, then opposing DC adjusts, and OU is hanging on in the 4th qtr to win , or even lose. That happened often.

[@lynndollar1013]

Bob Stoops said Riley became a good OC in the 2015 season after he learned OU could run the ball. And with the Oline and RB's OU had in his first season as HC, running the ball became even easier. All but one offensive starter is now in the NFL.

[@TeddIdle34]

Bunch of bs It was Lincoln Riley and Brandon Jones who were all about running the football with a version of the GT counter at Texas Tech, but Mike Leach thought it was sub optional. So they implemented it at ECU to roaring success. And, it was by way of Brandon Jones, who gave Bedenbaugh/Gundy game tape of their run game, that made Riley's offense more well-rounded. Stoops had nothing to do with that process other than to allow for Riley to do what was best for that Oklahoma team. "Bedenbaugh, who was a four-year starting offensive lineman at Iowa Wesleyan under Hal Mumme and Mike Leach, says they ran a play called G-Fold that was similar to GT. “We ran it, we practiced it,” Bedenbaugh says. “But it wasn’t a huge play. So we kind of went away from it.” Leach’s Texas Tech team, with Bedenbaugh as the offensive line coach, ran it two times against UTEP in 2006. “That stuff got choked out,” says Brandon Jones, Texas Tech’s center that day and now Houston’s run game coordinator and a protégé of Bedenbaugh. “Leach was like, we’re not running that shit anymore. We worked it. We repped it like crazy and then we kinda got away from it.” When Riley left Texas Tech to become East Carolina’s offensive coordinator in 2010, Jones was hired as the Pirates’ offensive line coach. The Pirates ran the play - which used to be called 30 - that was designed to go against a 4-1 defensive box where the center back-blocked the 1-technique (the defensive tackle lined up on the strong side of the center) and the strongside guard pulled to the middle linebacker. If the defense showed a 4-2 front, with a second linebacker in the box, the quarterback was expected to check out of the play. But if he didn’t, the backside offensive tackle would pull. Bedenbaugh studied ECU cut-ups after the 2014 season when Riley was hired at Oklahoma to take over the offense. Bedenbaugh called Jones to find out his rationale for the play, and then the Sooners’ line coach and Riley went to work brainstorming. “And then you look up and (Bedenbaugh) had kinda mastered it,” Jones says. “I know he had wanted to do it previously and that had kinda given him the green light. That next season, they ran it to a T. They perfected it. They can run it versus any front. He’s got adjustments forever. “The stuff they do is unreal as far as adjustments and answers. They’re probably the best in the game. I don’t know how they get to some of the stuff they do, but they do. In the Big 12 everybody plays Bear, it’s like those defense’s Kryptonite. " ----- "ECU ran a man-blocking scheme when Jones and Riley were on staff. Oklahoma runs a gap scheme. The idea for the play evolved late in the 2015 season when the Sooners were playing Clemson in the Orange Bowl. In prepping for the Tigers, Oklahoma had noticed that Notre Dame had run something like the GT play against Clemson with some success, Bedenbaugh says. “It was another year we were inexperienced up front,” he says. “We had two freshman tackles. We had a sophomore guard. We’re just trying to do something to find angles.” Says Riley, “We ran it on the first third-and-long of the game, and we got it. We continued to have success with it, and it just kind of fit our personality and our physical nature. As people have adjusted to it, we’ve continued to adapt and been able to do it up out of a few different formations and alignments. “We just got good at it and found some different ways to use it, and it’s just kind of grown and grown and become a bigger part of who we are on a week-to-week basis.”

[@shirleygorre6003]

Coach Riley just happens to have a photographic memory too btw.

[@vincentdavis1926]

No the key feature of counter is going one direction and then back the other ...usually behind pullers. It counters over pursuit by scrapers.

[@tobiahsoto9464]

You should do a video breaking down Iowa States defense!

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

That's actually the next video up!

[@vincentdavis1926]

That is power

[@travisr3]

OU offense should have the experience this year to light up the scoreboard, but a lot depends on how the O-line gels.

[@2ASHKENAZI]

Perhaps it is time to make a generous offer to DAN LENNING Defensive coordinator from UGA.

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

Are you thinking that for the OU HC job?

[@vincentdavis1926]

The DB only has a TE to worry about the LB would have underneath crossers and RB out

[@mrmike9803]

Any plans to make a video on Todd Monken?

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

I can make plans! It looks like a couple of viewers are interested in other SEC content, so I'll figure out what defenses people want to see and try to look at their games vs. UGA.

[@jacobconnolly273]

Somebody tell TCU that they are allowed to rush the passer

[@TennisDaninTN]

Can you give a breakdown of Oklahoma's new OC

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

I did Ole Miss' game against Arkansas earlier this season. You can check it out here! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oajJkK2kpNiqbKM

[@edricjordan7093]

Does Lincoln Riley run alot of gun doubles sets with the hb to the strong side?

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

I've charted three games from 2020 and 2021 now, and he actually doesn't run a lot of doubles (4-wide, 2x2 just to be sure we're referring to the same formation). In the games that I charted Gun Near Doubles ranged from 4 to 7 snaps/game, and it was almost exclusively a passing set, so he's not running a ton of his offense through it.

[@clw22580]

Your right about the struggles running early last season rumor has it the oline came into camp COMPLETELY over weight and out of shape Riley’s O has always run the rock well

[@vincentdavis1926]

The left HB lead blocks that is not counter

[@AK-ug1md]

What is the link to your Pateron channel ?

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

I'm not posting new stuff there regularly anymore, but it's here: www.patreon.com/berk18

[@vincentdavis1926]

He let the TE get inside the 5 without getting in his hip or between the TE and the ball.

[@ricksaunders8074]

Lincoln Riley was never a SOONER Lincoln loves himself Since 1947 No coach ever left OU fired n retired is another story Lincoln will head to Dallas in 2024

[@jpsou76]

OU offense sputtered in 2020 and again in 2021

[@vincentdavis1926]

Please don't tell me you coach somewhere. That was not his drop

[@AK-ug1md]

Locked in the closet or something ...lol Great information love how you mix in a lil history to get us some insight. How long before he ends up in the NFL ? Wasn’t coach b Jones the OL coach for Ruffin while Riley was there?

[@TheCoordinatorProject]

Right or wrong, any shot that Riley has at the NFL in the near future will be tied to Kingsbury's record. The league's getting a little more open to spread college guys, and if some of these early hires work out then it could open things over the next decade, but there's still a lot to prove. My concern with an Air Raid-style simplified offense is that defenses have so many schematic tools at that level, offensive complexity has traditionally been necessary to put pressure on them. Yes, Jones was at ECU with Riley. He's now a co-OC at Houston under Holgorsen, so he's still climbing and could move up soon. It's interesting, at ECU Riley had the elements of the run game that I talk about in the video, but his play-calling was much more pass heavy. At Oklahoma he's really taken a hard pivot toward the run game. It'll be interesting to keep breaking down more of these next-generation Air Raid guys, because none of them are running a pure Leach offense, but they aren't running the same thing as each other, either.

[@AK-ug1md]

@@TheCoordinatorProject great analysis

[@SugoiEnglish1]

Boomer! How about something on the Wrs and routes?