season matchup in 1969, but came up well short against Medford in the A-1 state championship, 27–0. They avenged the loss to the Black Tornado the following year in the regular season 28–14, and again in the AAA state final, 21–10, with left-handed option quarterback Riley throwing two touchdown passes in the second quarter to build a 21–3 lead at halftime. He completed five of nine passes for 76 yards; prior to the final, Riley had thrown only 41 times in 11 games, with 23 completions (and ten wins). He was a three-sport athlete at CHS, also lettering in basketball and baseball. College Riley graduated from CHS in 1971 and opted not to play his college football in the Pac-8, but for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC under head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. He had family connections to the state and school: his father was born and raised in Guin and his uncle, Hayden Riley, was Alabama's assistant athletic director, head baseball coach (1970–79), and the former head basketball coach (1960–68). (Mike's cousin, Major Ogilvie, became a star running back for the Tide in the late 1970s; Ogilvie's mother Peggy was one of Bud Riley's five sisters.) In his four seasons at Alabama as a reserve defensive back, the Tide won four Southeastern Conference (SEC) titles and the 1973 UPI (Coaches Poll) national championship, though they lost the 1973 Sugar Bowl to Notre Dame on New Year's Eve. Until 1974, the final Coaches Poll was released before the bowl games. Coaching career Riley began his coaching career immediately after his playing days ended, first as a graduate assistant at California in 1975, and then as a graduate assistant at Whitworth in Spokane, where he received his master's in physical education. In 1977, he was hired as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. During his stay at Linfield he assisted head coach Ad Rutschman's Wildcats to a six-year record of 52–7–1, which included five conference titles and an undefeated NAIA Division II championship season in 1982. CFL Riley was hired as an assistant coach in the Canadian Football League in 1983 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and was a part of their 1984 Grey Cup championship team. Hired as the Bombers' head coach at age 33, Riley reportedly became the youngest head coach in CFL history in 1987 at Winnipeg but in fact