By Jeremy Kahn

photo credit: sundayblog.domeenoz.com Nebraska head coach Mike Riley

SANTA CLARA–Their record maybe 5-7, but the Nebraska Cornhuskers head into the Foster Farms Bowl with a head coach in his first year in Lincoln.

Mike Riley, who came to the Cornhuskers after a 12-year stint as the head coach of the Oregon State Beavers. In all, Riley spent 14 years in Corvallis, as he also spent the 1998 and 1999 seasons coaching the Beavers prior to leaving to coach the San Diego Chargers during the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

While in Corvallis, Riley went 93-80, and led the Beavers to eight bowl appearances, including the 2007 Emerald Bowl, where the Beavers defeated the Maryland Terrapins and finished number 25 in the Associated Press poll.

Riley also coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as the youngest head coach in CFL history at the age of 33. He led the Blue Bombers to a 40-32 record and won two Grey Cups in 1988 and 1990.

He then returned to the United States in 1991, where he led the San Antonio Riders of the World Football League for two seasons.

Riley then headed to the college ranks, and the University of Southern California, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach until 1996 before heading to Corvallis for his first stint as the Beavers head coach for two seasons.

The head coach headed to the NFL for three seasons, coaching the Chargers, where he went 14-34.