Oregon State head coach Mike Riley is a simple man. He has been coaching football in one capacity or another since 1975 and likes to stick with the consistent things in his life. Even during the Beavers' early season struggles (which saw the team drop to 0-4 before a 37-27 win over Arizona last weekend), Riley has been consistently positive. It looks like the coach is changing his habits on another front though: according to sports columnist John Canzano, Riley sent his first ever text message the other day.
The response: "Who are you? Why do you have Mike Riley's phone?" That's a legitimate answer when you consider how commonplace texting has become in our lives. In a world where text messaging has turned into an extremely popular mode of communication over the past 10 years, Riley has abstained from participating completely. The response illustrates just how unlikely Riley was to ever use text messaging.
Imagine the consequences of Riley's shift to the texting universe (assuming that he continues sending texts, which is certainly not guaranteed). Riley can connect with his players on a whole new level. He can now coach his players even when he's not on the field: think messages such as "Get PUMPED for Saturday!" or "Them Cougars got nothing on us!"
But let's not get too ahead of ourselves just yet. How will Riley actually use text messaging from here on out? Only time (and texts) will tell.