Lincoln Riley Post-Practice Quotes

Offensive Coordinator Lincoln Riley
March 30, 2015

On Sunday's scrimmage:
“It wasn't too much different for us. We didn't tackle or go to the ground, so it wasn't too much different than what we'd been doing, but to get in the stadium for us and as an offensive staff to get on the headset and just go through substitutions and all that, there is a lot that gets me really excited about the future and the potential we have. There's a really strong edge about the whole team and I think a real hunger with the offensive guys right now. I think there's excitement. Like you're going to have with the first scrimmage there was also a lot of mistakes, but we corrected a lot of those and made a lot of improvement today.”

On the quarterbacks:
“They're playing okay. There's a lot on them right now. We've chosen to probably put a little bit too much in right now on purpose to see what we have and what these guys can and can't do, but they're handling it well. We're repping those guys equal. They're getting a ton of reps and their arms are probably hurting right now, which they're supposed to be. I said when I got hired and I believe it even more right now, that we have everything we need in that room to be a pretty good offense.”

On how he is evaluating the quarterbacks:
“How they move the group. I said it when I got hired, it's not hard to evaluate quarterbacks and look at their production and how other guys play when you're in there and the way they move the ball, the way they take care of the ball and the way they make plays. To me, it's pretty cut and dry. They're doing it or they're not, and right now there are flashes of all four of those guys doing it”

On the receivers:
“It's been a tough transition for them in what we're asking them to do. The way we practice is hard on those guys, and we don't have the numbers there quite yet as far as the number of people, so there have been a lot of reps on these guys, but we have some good talent and we're starting to figure out what these guys can do and what they can't do. In the beginning, you try to peg these guys into certain positions not knowing their whole skill set. I would guess we'll be moving some guys around as we continue to learn more about them, but I like some of the youth we have in there. I like some of the varying skill sets. We've got guys who are different and it's going to be fun to work with and build this thing around what they do well.”

On if he plans to use tight ends:
“Tight ends are one of the great weapons in college football. The hard thing is finding good ones. It's easy to find receivers. It's not too hard to find running backs. Tight ends, the true guys, like the Gronkowskis of the world who can put their hand down and can be in the backfield and can flex out and that cannot limit you, are great players. Where I haven't liked tight ends in the past is where a guy limits you like when he can only put his hand on the ground or only do this or that, but we have some guys who have some versatility that we're excited to use.”

On FB Dimitri Flowers:
“He's a versatile guy. He's played a little bit, and he's one of those guys who gives you some options and makes it easy to put him out on the field because he doesn't limit us.”

On WR Jordan Smallwood's injury:
“It's just disappointing. He's an unbelievably competitive kid, and regardless of what happened the other day, he has a really bright future here. We're still thrilled about him. It puts some stress on other guys, but one man going down is another man's opportunity and our guys see that right now.”

On giving the receivers reps:
“They should be beat up right now. If they aren't then they're not playing hard enough. We're repping them like they've never repped before. They're legs are gone, but they're supposed to be. There will be a time and place for them to get their legs back and for them to be in the shape we need. Coach Schmidt (Jerry) will do a great job with them this summer. There are some things you have to go through first before being ready to play, and they're going through that right now.”

On WR DeDe Westbrook:
“He's a good player. He was coached well. Occasionally a guy from junior college is a little bit behind, but he's been coached well and he has a good mind for the game and some nice explosion. He's been a nice addition here.”

On what he learned from Bob Stoops' handling of the SAE situation:
“I learned a lot from him. That was obviously one of my main reasons for coming here was to get the opportunity to learn from a coach like Bob. Seeing how he handled that whole situation with such ease and class and to really stand his ground for what he believed. He knew the pulse of the team and backed off and allowed the players to do what they needed to do. It was eye opening for me.”

On his opinion of the quarterbacks this spring:
“All of our quarterbacks have different motivations to start. For Baker, he's been out awhile and is hungry to get that starting position. For Trevor, he wants to retain his starter's job. We also have a couple of young guys wanting to dive into the mix. It's going to be a good battle. It's funny because we have four quarterbacks who are all very similar in some ways, very talented, but honestly, personality-wise they couldn't be any different. They've all been fun to work with and I'm excited about the talent we have with them.”

On if the quarterbacks were part of his thought process when deciding to take the job at OU:
“No question. Anybody that takes a job anywhere is going to know what they have at quarterback. After spending time with them seeing the way they've handled everything, putting in the extra time to be better. The progress they're making right now is great and I'm happy to work with them.”

On how frustrating it is has been to lose players like Jordan Smallwood, Keith Ford, and Rodney Anderson:
“I'm just focused on the guys we got. One man gone is another man's opportunity. Those other guys are stepping up and we are eager to show them off.”

On how the offense is picking up the faster-paced tempo:
“We're a little slow, but right now it's all about the installation and execution. When that comes we'll continue to speed it up, but I like where we're at.”