Las Vegas Raiders: 5 head coaching candidates for 2022
No. 5: Lincoln Riley
Lincoln Riley, the current Oklahoma Sooners head coach, is a name that nobody should be surprised to see come up when discussing the next head coach of the Raiders. Riley was named the head coach of the Sooners in 2017 after the school had parted ways with Bob Stoops.
Riley is young at just 38 years old and has already achieved tremendous success at the college level. As the leader of the Sooners, Riley has amassed a record of 51-8 and has led Oklahoma to three college football playoff appearances.
Riley has also consistently led a high-powered offense at Oklahoma, averaging 545.7 yards per game in his four complete seasons. He is almost the perfect candidate for today’s NFL game, in terms of his offensive style.
Adding to his accomplishments, Riley has produced two Heisman trophy-winning, first overall pick quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. While both quarterbacks are, of course, tremendously talented, it certainly does not hurt Riley’s resumé.
Over the past few off-seasons, Riley’s name has come up when discussing head coaching vacancies, but nothing has ever come to fruition. If Mark Davis gets his sights set on Riley, though, that could be different this time around.
It is very possible, if not likely, that Lincoln Riley will be in the mix early and often for the Las Vegas coaching search.