Well, in the end, I’m disappointed in first year head coach Lincoln Riley because I believe he took the easy way out and made a decision based on national optics and overreaction versus what actually happened on Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas.
At today’s weekly presser, Coach Riley announced Baker Mayfield will not start against West Virginia and will be relieved of being a team captain. I find this interesting because Lincoln Riley in reality is the head coach at the University of Oklahoma because Baker Mayfield has been the engine which turned the OU football program around three years ago when he left Texas Tech as a freshman walk-on to compete for the starting job in Norman in what turned out to be Lincoln Riley’s first year as offensive coordinator.
The first rule of coaching never changes despite what some might want to think:
Rule # 1 … Players make the coach. Period.
When Baker Mayfield walked on at OU the Sooners were a mess. The team had just come off an 8-5 season in which they lost a Bedlam game because Bob Stoops repunted to current Kansas Chief Tyreke Hill and blew a game they never should have lost. The team then went to something called the Russell Athletic Bowl and virtually quit in the first period in getting blown out by Clemson the year before Clemson became a national power.
But Mayfield and Riley joined the team the next year and it was magic. Year 1… a Big 12 Championship and an appearance in the College Football Final Four, last year… a 2nd straight Big 12 Championship and an easy Sugar Bowl win over Auburn, this year so far a No. 3 ranking and the inside track to a second College Football Final Four appearance.
One could say Lincoln Riley melded Baker Mayfield into the leading Heisman candidate heading into Thanksgiving, but one could also say Baker Mayfield made Lincoln Riley into a viable candidate to succeed Bob Stoops for his first head coaching job at the DI level… let alone at a blueblood program like OU where seven national championships are in the trophy case.
I thought Lincoln Riley would have Baker Mayfield’s back a little more than this. I mean, if the game officials had done their jobs correctly and ejected Hassan Defence for the obvious targeting hit… would we even be having this conversation?
And my answer is no. If that play had been called correctly I don’t think we’re having this discussion.
So Baker Mayfield crossed an imaginary line which Donald Trump crosses every morning on his Twitter account unscathed, but for Mayfield he’ll now be demoted on Senior Day at a football school which he was instrumental in restoring to greatness these past three years.
Mayfield said he crossed the line at his presser on Monday and is taking responsibility for his actions which is good. I’m a Baker Mayfield fan either way because like I said this line or the planting of the flag weren’t really that much of a line for me.The deal in Arkansas was a line, these weren’t serious lines. I didn’t always like Mayfield, but he won me over with his love for the game and fearless manner in which he plays the game. I’m a passion guy, I want to see the passion and Baker Mayfield has always brought the passion and restored the swagger to the OU program.
In closing, I’ll write this, if you’ve attended an OU football game these past three years you’ve known one thing for certain, that being, Baker Mayfield would bring his A game and give the fans something for their time and money. And, in the end, whether he crossed a real line or an imaginary politically correct line…I’m a Baker Mayfield fan and sad that his Senior Day won’t be honoring the greatest quarterback in OU football history the way it should be honored.
Here’s the end of Lincoln Riley’s press conference on Tuesday.
The Baker Mayfield Story so far.