🏈 Is Lincoln Riley The Cowboys’ Answer?

The Oklahoma Sooners coach has been universally praised as a QB whisperer. Many NFL teams could use him, including the Dallas Cowboys. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider: Lincoln Riley has all eyes on him at Oklahoma — for several reasons ... LeBron James gives a fan the shoes right off his feet ... and the Dallas Stars will try to make it eight straight wins. It’s easy to get lumbered with a stereotype in football coaching and, once acquired, it can be tough to shake. As with anything in life, there are good things to be known for and bad things. Becoming tagged as college football’s ultimate “quarterback whisperer” is a pretty darn good one. Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley is the man bestowed with that title and as rapid as the 36-year-old’s rise has been, there are many who believe his career trajectory could soon trend upward even more steeply. Bedlam, where the seventh-ranked Sooners will take on intra-state rival No. 21 Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Saturday, looms large as the next stepping stone between Riley’s team and the College Football Playoff berth they crave. Yet the talk around Riley is of even bigger things — such has been the success of his development of quarterbacks such as consecutive top NFL Draft picks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, and current Oklahoma incumbent (and Alabama transfer) Jalen Hurts. Several betting markets list Riley as the favorite to be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys on the first day of the 2020 NFL season, ahead of even current coach Jason Garrett and an entire field of possible candidates, should Jerry Jones decided the time for a change is right. FS1’s Colin Cowherd believes the oddsmakers have it correct. With rumblings of discontent in Cowboy Nation following the team’s offensive struggles in a 13-9 loss to the New England Patriots last Sunday, talk is rife that Garrett may not be long for the job. [STORY IMAGE 1] “(Jones) has not offered Garrett a deal,” Cowherd said on The Herd. “I think Jerry already knows who his next coach is. I’m not sure he’s ready to hire him, but I know who Jerry’s next coach is when he decides to hire him. It may be this year, it may be two years down the road ... It’s Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. “There are two things to think about. Lincoln Riley, first of all, is brilliant. He makes every quarterback work. He made Baker Mayfield into a star. Jalen Hurts was benched in Alabama and he’s a star. Kyler Murray was a baseball guy over a football guy — made him into a star. Dak Prescott ... that’d be a pretty good fit now, wouldn’t it? A QB who needs another level?” The Cowboys are 6-5 and clinging to a one-game lead in the NFC East, a division that has five fewer combined wins (15) than any other in the NFL this season. The campaign has not brought the kind of seamless success that was hoped for when Jones ended Ezekiel Elliott’s summer holdout with a blockbuster contract offer. His next agenda item of player business, it is assumed, is to reward Prescott with his own big, long-term deal, which would only strengthen Riley’s case further. The Cowboys have not beaten a single team with a winning record and Jones is frustrated, describing the nature of the Patriots defeat as a “significant setback.” “The head coach is employed in the world of Jerry Jones,” wrote David Moore in the Dallas Morning News. “And the Cowboys owner is running out of patience. That’s a conversation Garrett can’t avoid.” As for Riley, he has other things on his mind and has repeatedly insisted he is more than content to remain in college football. Bedlam is a monumental occasion in any given season, but there is even more than usual on the line here, in one of the juiciest matchups of a Rivalry Week filled with intrigue. (Bedlam will hit prime time on Saturday, November 30, when No. 7 Oklahoma visits No. 21 Oklahoma State at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.) The CFB Playoff picture could get seriously messy, but if Oklahoma wins this weekend and goes on to take the Big 12 championship, it’s hard to see them being left out of the field of four. [According to]( the Sooners currently have a 43 percent chance of making the Playoff, which rises to 83 percent assuming they win out. [STORY IMAGE 2] Riley — whose career in coaching started at age 20, when he was encouraged to give up playing at Texas Tech and gained internal notice by teaching Graham Harrell the vaunted “Air Raid” system in Mike Leach’s program — is seen as one of the most promising minds in the sport. After positions running the offense at East Carolina and then for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, he was tabbed as Stoops’ successor three years ago. There were suggestions at the time that it might be too much for him, too soon. A 34-5 record — plus the forward-reaching success of Mayfield and Murray, would indicate that certainly has not been the case. When asked about a potential jump to the pros, Riley suggests it’s something that would only happen a decade or more from now. Yet Cowherd insists that for all his comfort and productivity in Norman, Riley would find the Cowboys job too tempting to resist if the offer came his way. “I think he’s going to take this job, I just don’t know when he’s going to take it,” Cowherd added. “Every time Jerry has won a Super Bowl, he has hired a college coach. Jimmy Johnson; Barry Switzer. Jerry’s reality is that these college guys work. He played college football; he loves college football. I think Jerry has his guy.” There is still a lot to play out here. Oklahoma’s season could fall apart on Saturday, with Oklahoma State (yes, the Cowboys) hellbent on trying to make sure that happens. Yet the Sooners still harbor serious national title aspirations for themselves, especially after their thrilling comeback against Baylor to save the season two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the Cowboys (the Dallas variety) face a Thanksgiving matchup against the in-form Buffalo Bills and the looming necessity to get things back on track. With the NFC stacked with powerful Wild Card contenders, winning the division is the team’s only realistic shot at getting into the postseason. Garrett for his part, feels he can turn things around, eight years into his role and with an 83-64 record. He may or may not get the chance to do so. Either way, there is a soap opera brewing in Dallas and Riley, thanks to his own excellence, has given himself a shot to play a starring role in it. [STORY IMAGE 3] Here’s what others have said ... Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk: “The only question is whether Garrett will do enough to keep his job. It might take getting to the NFC Championship Game, something the Cowboys haven’t done since 1995 and something they appear incapable of doing this season.” Tim Daniels, Bleacher Report: “The Cowboys' next four opponents have a combined record of 24-20. That slate includes a crucial road game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16 that could determine the division champion. Dallas has faltered against marquee opponents all season despite having one of the league's most talented rosters, led by quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott and a defense that ranks sixth in the NFL in yards allowed per game (318.5). That must change over the next month if the Cowboys are going to earn a playoff berth.“ Jesse Reed, Yardbarker: “For what it’s worth, Riley has repeatedly stated that he has no interest in taking his talents to the NFL. He seems to revel in the position he has as the head coach of one of the most prestigious college football programs in the nation. However, if Jerry Jones were to come calling with a big, fat Jon Gruden-type of offer, it’s hard to imagine Riley would not at least consider taking the job.“ [IN OTHER WORDS] - [Jared Weiss at]( [The Athletic]( profiles Enes Kanter, a man without a country who won’t stop fighting for Turkey. - Bill Belichick can’t stop drafting good quarterbacks, but it might just be because he’s bored. [Jon Bois at]( Nation]( has the charts and graphs to back up his research. - Teenagers Julian and Jaden Newman have scores of fans on social media and dazzle opponents on the court. [David Gardner at Bleacher Report]( joins the siblings in wondering whether they can prove their legitimacy. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( The debate about whether he’s the GOAT will rage on long after he’s done playing and in the Hall of Fame, but there’s no question that LeBron James is on the Mount Rushmore of kindest NBA megastars. After a recent Lakers game, LeBron instantly made a young fan’s entire year when he stopped on his way to the locker room and gave him the literal shoes off his feet. (He even made sure to remove the stinky insoles first!) Good guy LeBron: you love to see it. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic (ESPN 2, 9:30 p.m. ET) The two-day annual National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame tournament will wrap up on Tuesday night, with Butler facing Stanford in the finals. Dallas Stars at Chicago Blackhawks (NBCSN, 8 p.m. ET) The Stars have been surging as of late, winning an astounding seven straight games and sitting just two point behind defending champions the St. Louis Blues at the top of the Central Division. Can Dallas keep things rolling? WWE Backstage (FS1, 11 p.m. ET) There’s plenty to discuss following the momentous Survivor Series and Seth Rollins’ actions on Raw. Samoa Joe will once again be part of the panel, and Triple H will join the Backstage crew live via satellite from the Performance Center. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( Luka Doncic to record a 30-point triple double against the Clippers: +450 The Mavericks already knew what they had in Luka Doncic, but in the early part of this season, he’s been even better than advertised. That could end up working out in your favor when the Mavs host the Clippers on Tuesday night. Doncic is averaging 32.5 points per game in November and has had six triple doubles this month — all of them including 29 or more points scored. [WHAT THEY SAID] “When you win, nothing hurts.” — Joe Namath [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download the FOX Sports app for live scores and streaming [App Store]( [Google Play]( Available on: [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] Forwarded this message? [Sign up](. Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2019 FOX Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. 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