Some college football coaches make it pretty tough on people outside their inner circles to get to know them or even to like them.
Oregon State coach Mike Riley has never been one of those coaches. He's one of the good guys, so to speak. Actually, he's the poster boy for the good guys, a coach whose approach to the job and life every other coach ought to emulate.
Now we like Riley even more after he opened up about some of then joy and sorrow he and his family have experienced in the past two-and-a-half years in this insightful story from the Oregonian.
Riley has rebuilt the Beavers into a top 25 team after many in Corvallis were calling for his head just two seasons ago. During the same span he has dealt with the death of his father, Bud Riley, and he became a grandfather.
Two years ago, his then-22-year-old daughter, Kate, gave birth to a son fathered by Jovan Stevenson, who was a OSU running back at the time and is now in his second season as a cornerback for the Beavers.They named their son Elijah Jo Riley Stevenson.
The story doesn't delve much into the relationship between Riley and Jovan Stevenson and how much Stevenson is involved in his son's life. Seems like about as awkward a situation as a coach and player could find themselves in, but if there is a coach likely to handle it well, it would be Riley.
"I didn't know if I was having a heart attack or what," Riley told the Oregonian describing the moment he learned he was going to be a grandfather. "But those words, they just took my breath away."
Riley says he has always made it a point to shield his family from the public spotlight in which he lives, but he chose to discuss how he and his daughter have handled the challenges of the past two years with the thought in mind that he might be able to help someone. He's a coach to the core.
"Maybe this is a good story," he said. "Maybe somebody out there needs to know, there's a plan."
It's definitely suggested reading.
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