Almost a decade later, I can still remember the feeling I had when I saw the first image of Mike Riley in a Nebraska polo. It was disorienting—something that had always seemed so familiar suddenly being so foreign. I had a friend who drove a 1970s VW Bus in college. It was creamsicle orange and had surf company stickers in the back window. As his time in Corvallis wound down, he decided to sell it. I never left the area, and neither did that VW bus. For years after, I would see that thing driving around campus and instantly get happy, only to realize that my friend was no longer behind the wheel and have my emotions whiplash the other way towards nostalgia and a hint of sadness that I would not be taking a 2:00 am ride to Shari’s in that bus ever again.

The sight of Jonathan Smith in black and green today did not elicit those same emotions. It was more of a disappointment than anything else. In 2013, Mike Riley was the lowest-paid coach in the Pac 12 at $1.51M. He had been at OSU for more than a decade, had coached OSU to within one win of the Rose Bowl twice, but towards the end of his second tenure, success had been sporadic at best, and a large portion of the fan base was dissatisfied with the direction of the program. Nebraska was coming off seven straight seasons of nine wins or better under Bo Pelini, and likely would not have made a change had Bo not been caught on tape disparaging everyone at Nebraska other than himself. Riley was in his sixties, if he was ever going to take a shot at running a college football blue blood, this was his last chance. 

OSU hired Gary Andersen and immediately paid $1M more than they ever paid Riley. He was still 10th or 11th in the conference in coaching salary. He was also a very bad fit at OSU, for a variety of reasons. 

Jonathan Smith’s salary this season was the sixth highest in the conference at $4.8M, per USA Today. He was supported by the university financially in a way that no other coach before him ever was. It was his alma mater, and he was largely beloved, aside from the occasional grumbling about his 4th down choices and special teams adventures. 

I think that’s what makes this so hard. We provided so much for him. Giving him his first head coaching job, and paying him handsomely for his efforts. Ponying up to boost assistant coaching salaries and keep an excellent staff around him. 

Make no mistake, conference realignment played a significant factor in this. Maybe it’s the only factor. Jonathan Smith is the only one who knows for sure, but I doubt he takes Michigan State’s offer, regardless of how much money they offered, if the Pac 12 conference had a future. 

Nobody knows what Smith was offered to stay. Nobody knows what concessions OSU tried to make to gain access to one of the P4 conferences, despite the people (mostly from other fan bases) that will tell you that OSU obviously didn’t “do enough” to get into another conference, or that administration “didn’t do enough” to keep Smith. Maybe they didn’t, but it’s also equally likely that nothing within reason would’ve kept him here at this point. So he left.

This is the worst part of being a fan. We don’t have anywhere to go. Our coaches jump ship amid an uncertain future. Players hit the portal as the coaching staff departs. Recruits decommit. The terms we agreed to when we became fans no longer apply.

Maybe it’s time to start treating college football like minor league baseball, at least if you’re not at one of the 15 or so “blue blood” programs. Our best players are only here temporarily to gain experience for the next level, to rehab their image or recover from an injury, and the main objective should no longer be wins and losses. Fans of the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders don’t care nor expect their players and coaches to stick around. They don’t expect pitchers to go on short rest to win a series vs. the Toledo MudHens. Largely, they show up for the experience. To congregate with other baseball lovers to enjoy an evening at the ballpark and marvel at the skill and ability of the players and to just watch and enjoy the game they love. Nobody cares if they win or lose, though they’ll always cheer for the home team and good-naturedly boo the other guys.