Atlanta Falcons: 5 candidates to replace fired head coach Dan Quinn

Atlanta Falcons Candidate No. 2: Lincoln Riley

One of the top college coaches every team looking for a new head coach in the NFL is trying to pry away from the NCAA ranks is University of Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley.

Riley has been at the helm of the Oklahoma program since 2017, entering his fourth season as head coach of the Sooners here in 2020. Before arriving at Oklahoma, Riley was with Texas Tech from 2003 through 2009, later venturing off to East Carolina from 2010 through 2014 before heading to Oklahoma to be the program’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach until 2017.

Riley has helped turn Oklahoma into one of the more feared programs in the country at the college level, and NFL teams have been trying to pry him to the professional level over the last few years.

At 37 years old, Riley is a young coach who has an offensive mindset that could be at least worth the Falcons looking into. If Riley had a mutual interest in making the move from college to the NFL to join Atlanta, this is a no-brainer of a hire.

Could Riley finally be willing to jump to the NFL this offseason? Atlanta’s offense and being able to lead that group could intrigue him enough to at least consider it.