[caption caption="Coach Paul Randolph was working on his degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin when coach Mike Riley came into his life. (Photo by Dominic Valente)" align="aligncenter" height="199" id="attachment_126810" width="300"]
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ASU defensive coordinator Paul Randolph was going to be an engineer.
Randolph was working on his degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin, the school he attended and was an all-conference linebacker at before his eligibility ran out and was forced to make a decision.
That’s when Mike Riley came into his life.
Riley was the coach of the Winnipeg Bombers, a team in the Canadian Football League that Randolph latched onto in 1988.
Randolph was a rookie, but Riley didn’t have much more experience, just in his second season as Bombers head coach and the youngest in CFL history at age 34.
Riley approached Randolph one day during camp, and the two had a conversation that ultimately changed Randolph’s future.
“I was going to graduate and be an engineer, but after one of our practices (Riley) came up to me and asked if I ever thought about being a coach,” Randolph said. “Naturally, you don’t say that to a rookie in camp. I said, ‘Are you cutting me coach?’ He said, ‘No, you’re going to play for a long time, but you need to start thinking about becoming a coach.’”
The two had illustrious careers together, winning the Grey Cup in 1988 and 1990 and Riley was named CFL Coach of the Year both seasons.
When Randolph’s playing career ended after the 1997 season with the Montreal Alouettes, in which he was a player-coach, he had another decision to make.
Randolph could either pursue engineering, which he got his degree from Tennessee-Martin in 1990, or continue on to see where coaching led him.
The decision was easy for Randolph, who said his conversation nine years earlier with Riley still stuck with him.
“From that point I started thinking about being a coach, and I loved it,” Randolph said. “He was right. This was what I was born to do.”
On Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium, the two coaches will meet once more, this time on different sidelines.
Randolph is in his second season as the Sun Devils defensive coordinator while Riley is currently in his 13th season as head coach of the OSU Beavers.
Until then, Randolph is focused on getting revenge on Riley and the Beavers, who knocked off the Sun Devils 36-26 in Corvallis, Ore., last season.
Still, Randolph has high praise for the man he considers a mentor and a dear friend.
“He is a strong, Christian man,” Randolph said. “I still laugh because he’s ‘gosh darn it’ and ‘dag nabbit’ and things. He’s not going to curse, and he’s very strong in his views, and that’s the biggest thing about who is he is as a person.”
Randolph admitted he only talks to Riley only once or twice a year now but is excited to see him after Saturday’s game.
If it wasn’t for Riley, there’s a good chance Saturday’s postgame meeting between the two would never even be a possibility.
“For the love of the game, I probably would have found (coaching), but a lot later than I did,” Randolph said. “Being around him at that time and learning the game of football no doubt influenced my career choice.”
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @DsShapi
