On the Pac-12 bombshell, Riley’s tribute to Ad, Mariners’ rookie sensation, Andy Jenkins, GP II, Charnquist, Schonely and Lillard
Mike Riley was driving from Birmingham, Ala., to his family’s vacation home in Gruene, Texas, when he heard the news about the departure of Pac-12 brethren UCLA and Southern Cal to the Big Ten, er, Sweet Sixteen, by 2024.
“I could’t believe it,” the Corvallis resident and former Oregon State football coach said. “It goes with theory I’ve had for some time: Some day there is going to be a super conference that breaks away from the NCAA. You might see it with the Big Ten and SEC.”
That’s not happening — yet, anyway.
But Thursday’s thunderbolt that Bruins and Trojans are deserting the Pac-12 sounded an alarm throughout all parts of the country.
The future of the Pac-12 is suddenly cloudy, perhaps contingent upon whether Oregon and/or Washington abandon ranks of the schools they’ve competed with for as long as a century. So far, the Big Ten is saying no to both schools. If Notre Dame were to come aboard, that might change for either the Ducks or Huskies.
There’s little doubt this is a very bad thing for the remaining, well, let’s call them Pac-10 schools. New commissioner George Kliavkoff is suddenly in the eye of a hurricane, scrambling to keep Oregon and UW in the fold while ostensibly looking to poach new members from other leagues.
There are no geographical boundaries anymore, with Texas and Oklahoma headed for the Southeast Conference. Now UCLA and Southern Cal will be playing against schools in a different time zone, with the nearest rival, Nebraska, some 1,500 miles away. The teams’ longest trip in the Pac-12 was 1,100 miles, to Seattle and Pullman.
“It’s crazy,” says Riley, who served as John Robinson’s offensive coordinator at USC from 1994-96. “I hate it. I haven’t liked the conference changes the past few years. I love the geographical rivalries and the history of all the leagues.
“The Pac-12 is hard to imagine without UCLA and USC. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow must be big.”
Gigantic. I saw one figure that at least $100 million in media rights will be dispersed annually to each member school. A $1.1 billion total for Big Fourteen TV rights was floated even before the LA schools entered the picture.
It’s all about money, of course, and television rights, and being in the most prestigious conference offers better opportunity toward achieving national championship aspirations.
College athletic administrators hate it when reporters use the term “players” for those in college athletics. “Student-athletes,” they say ad nauseam. The travel that will now be involved in the Big Ten for UCLA and SC athletes will be staggering. Less classroom time — and I understand much of today’s college curriculum is on-line — will mean athletes will have to become even more self-motivating. Like that will happen.
Remember, this is not just for football. UCLA and SC athletes in most sports will be making road trips to Rutgers, to Penn State, to Maryland for conference contests. Perhaps money is no object, but the pursuit of an education should be.
I’m holding out hope that the remaining Pac-10 schools stay together. Pie in the sky? Maybe so.
It will be interesting to see what happens to the Oregon-Oregon State rivalry. Were the Ducks to leave the conference, would they stage an annual non-conference game?
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to making such a decision.
The brick purchased by Mike Riley in honor of Ad Rutschman is displayed in the courtyard of the American Football Coaches Association offices in Waco, Texas (Courtesy Mike Riley)
• With Riley’s USFL season ended after his New Jersey Generals’ playoff semifinals loss to the Philadelphia Stars, the former San Diego Chargers head coach made the drive from headquarters in Birmingham, Ala., to Gruene. On the way, he made a stop in Waco, where the American Football Coaches Association is based. Riley was once a member of the AFCA Board of Directors.
“Three years ago, they sent out a notice that you could buy a brick to honor any coach in your life and have it displayed (at AFCA headquarters),” Riley says. “So I filled out a form and sent in a check.”
Riley played under legendary Bear Bryant at Alabama. He was offensive coordinator for the great John Robinson at Southern Cal. He has been around many other notable coaches in a career that extends 45 years.
Yet it was Linfield’s Ad Rutschman whom Riley chose for his AFCA brick. Riley coached six years under the legendary Rutschman, a run that included an undefeated NAIA Division II championship in 1982.
“I learned so much from Ad,” Riley says. “I borrowed some of my coaching philosophies from him. He was a great coach and is an even better person.”
Riley found Rutschman’s brick displayed among thousands in the AFCA courtyard.
And guess what? During his search, he found a brick dedicated to … Mike Riley.
“I knew nothing about it,” he said.
Somebody thought enough of Riley to purchase a brick, just as he had done for his early mentor.
Jay Locey, Riley’s an assistant with the Generals and also a former Linfield head coach who once assisted Rutschman, sent Ad a photo of the brick.
“That’s so special of Mike,” said Rutschman, 90, who still coaches special teams for the Wildcats. “I’m just so proud of him — what he has done, the way he coaches, the impact he has on players and stuff. He’s pretty special.”
• Ad got to spend time with his famous grandson, Adley, after each of the Baltimore Orioles’ games against Seattle at T-Mobile Park this week. It was the first time the Hall of Famer had seen his grandson play at the professional level.
“We didn’t have a lot of time,” Ad said. “He had to catch the bus. My feeling is, it’s not good for a rookie to hold the bus up.”
Ad figures there must have been 1,000 fans from Oregon at the series against the Mariners there to watch Adley, the former Beaver catcher now doing his thing in Baltimore.
“Just about everybody came up and wanted to talk about Adley,” Ad said. “I was kind of trying to hide, because I wanted to watch the game. But I knew a lot of people there, and I loved seeing them. Every one of them mentioned something about Adley other than his baseball — the role model he is for young kids, stuff like that. That makes me real proud.”
• A year ago, the Mariners were one of the surprise teams in baseball, going 90-72 and missing the playoffs by one game.
This season, the Mariners seemed poised to make the postseason for the first time since that unforgettable 2001 season, when they tied the all-time major league record with 116 wins to go with only 46 losses. Seattle beat Cleveland in the division series, then fell to the New York Yankees in five games in the ALCS.
I covered both of the playoff series for the Portland Tribune. There was a tremendous amount of interest in those Mariners, who were strong in the pitching department with starters Jamie Moyer (20-6), Freddy Garcia (18-6), Paul Abbott (17-4) and Aaron Sele (15-5). But their positional lineup was outstanding with the likes of Ichiro Suzuki, Edgar Martinez, Bret Boone, John Olerud, Mike Cameron and Dan Wilson. A shame they didn’t claim a World Series championship.
This year’s Mariners have won eight of their last 10 after Thursday’s win over Oakland. After a poor start, the M’s are 37-41 and as of Thursday, were 4 1/2 games out of the third and final wild-card spot in the AL.
Seattle’s starting pitching is a strength, with Logan Gilbert (9-3, AL Pitcher of the Month for April), Robbie Ray (last year’s Cy Young Award winner) and veteran Marco Gonzalez (a hard-luck 4-8 with a 3.31 ERA).
The Mariners have been a poor hitting team, though, with a batting average of .233. Veteran outfielder Mitch Haniger (Covid, high ankle sprain) has missed most of the season, and first baseman Ty France (10 homers, .316 average) is out of action now with an elbow injury. Veteran pick-ups Adam Frazier and Justin Upton have been a disappointment at the plate.
The best thing the M’s have going for them is Julio Rodriguez, a 6-3, 230-pound centerfielder from the Dominican Republic who is a strong candidate for AL Rookie of the Year.
Rodriguez, 21, is hitting .272 with 13 homers, 39 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. He will soon become the first AL rookie with 10 homers and 20 stolen bases since Tampa Bay’s Rocco Baldelli in 2003. Rodriguez is one of eight players in MLB history to get 75 hits, 10 homers and 15 stolen bases in first 75 games of his career.
This kid is going to be very, very special in the years ahead.
Former Oregon State player and coach Andy Jenkins is out of work at Washington after the retirement of head coach Lindsay Meggs
• Andy Jenkins is due a break.
The former Oregon State standout player and assistant coach is out of a job after one season with the Washington Huskies with the forced retirement of head coach Lindsay Meggs.
Jenkins, who turns 39 on July 23, had spent the previous three years at Cal State Fullerton working under Rick Vanderhook, who retired under pressure after the 2019 season.
Arizona State pitching coach Jason Kelly, a former Husky assistant, was hired as Meggs’ successor.
Now the South Salem High grad is looking for work again.
“Super disappointing,” Jenkins says. “It’s a tough part of the industry when you have to get up and move. Now I’m trying to figure out my next move.”
Washington was 30-26 overall and 14-16 in Pac-12 play last season.
“We were much better than they were the year before,” Jenkins says. “We had a good stretch run of 13 straight wins, and we played a lot of freshman. We were bringing in some good recruits. I felt good about my time there and the success we were able to have.”
Jenkins has served as third-base coach under Pat Casey at Oregon State and at both Cal State Fullerton and Washington. He is a former catcher/infielder who has worked with both positions along with hitting and recruiting during his coaching career. He is a fine, seasoned coach who will be an asset in his next coaching job, wherever that will be.
It’s a tough time for him to be looking at a job. He has two young daughters — Blakely, 6, and Presley, 4 — and wife Jessica is expecting their first son any day now.
Oregon State swept Washington in a three-game series in April.
“They were playing really well, and we weren’t,” Jenkins says. “They had a great season. They buttoned up the program. Mitch (Canham) did a great job making adjustments. They had it all. I’ve got nothing but love for those guys.”
• Good for Gary Payton II to haul in a reported $28 million over three years as the latest free-agent signee by the Trail Blazers.
And good for general manager Joe Cronin to note the value in the former Oregon State guard, who immediately stabilizes things in the backcourt at the defensive end.
The 6-3 Payton isn’t a tremendous offensive threat, but he makes the most of his opportunities, shooting .616 from the field and a solid .358 from 3-point range during the regular season in helping Golden State to the NBA championship. He doesn’t need the ball, making him a good fit to pair with either Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons or Josh Hart in the backcourt.
The son of Hall-of-Famer Gary Payton joins another ex-Beaver, Drew Eubanks, who signed a one-year free-agent contract with the Blazers on Friday. The 6-9 Eubanks did an outstanding job as the Blazers’ center late last season, averaging 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting .646 from the field over 22 games. Eubanks was ostensibly signed to the bi-annual exception, worth about $4.1 million.
Chuck Charnquist as a young sports information director at Lewis & Clark
• The family of Chuck Charnquist recently held a celebration of life at Moda Center for the long-time Trail Blazer statistician, historian and public relations aide who died last October at age 89.
I couldn’t have more pleased to be there to pay respect to the memory of Charnquist, one of the finest people I encountered in more than 30 years covering the NBA club for Portland newspapers.
We often ate dinner together and chatted in the media dining room before games at Moda Center. He was smart, a good conversationalist, always willing to try to help. He was a dry wit, he was opinionated, and when it was appropriate, he was cynical about some of the negative influences who would bounce around the building.
Chuck was always kind to me. He said he was a fan of my writing. I became a fan of him as a person. At his service at Moda, sports cards with photos of Chuck in his early days were distributed. I grabbed a couple. They are sitting in my office at home on a shelf. I’ll look at them often and remember a good man.
An extra special gift for Bill Schonely on his retirement: a leased Toyota Rav4 from Damian Lillard Toyota of McMinnville. The broadcasting legend is shown here with the dealership’s general manager, Brian Sanders
• When the Blazers honored Bill Schonely for his retirement during the final game of the season at Moda Center, there were many gifts and accolades thrown his way.
But one slipped between the cracks.
Blazer point guard Damian Lillard has always held a warm relationship with Schonely, giving him a hug before every home game. Now Lillard was offering something else: the lease of a 2022 Toyota RAV4 from Damian Lillard Toyota in McMinnville.
“I was flabbergasted,” says Schonely, 93. “I still am. The care is awesome.”
Schonely will continue to drive his Cadillac with the “Rip City” plates. Wife Dottie will ditch her Toyota Camry and drive the new rig from Lillard’s dealership.
“Can’t thank Damian enough,” Schonely says. “Love the guy.”
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