Norman, Oklahoma, doesn’t have a professional team, but it’s become a top destination for NFL coaches, scouts and team personnel this offseason.
The reason? Sooners coach Lincoln Riley.
Riley’s creative offensive mind has NFL teams picking it to get ideas for new plays and schemes that have yet to be seen on the professional gridiron.
In his time at the helm, Oklahoma has implemented a philosophy that merges the passing game with the running game and is simple for his team to understand but tough for opponents to defend. When executed correctly, Oklahoma’s offense is an up-tempo attack puts the pressure on and leads to easy yardage throughout the game.
Last season, his first as a head coach, that resulted in the Sooners leading the nation in total yards (8,114), yards per play (8.29), touchdowns (80), yards per game (579.6) and passing efficiency (202.67 college passer rating).
“The first couple years here, I had a true football discussion with maybe one NFL team. The interest in people reaching out to do that has changed a lot. And that’s probably due to some of the players we had, and how much they were studied,” Riley said. “But also, you see what’s going on around the league, and offensively, it’s trending a lot more towards what you see on Saturdays.”
If that trend keeps up, don’t be shocked to see Riley on an NFL sideline on a Sunday in the future.
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