DALLAS (SMU) – Garrett Riley has joined the Mustang football staff as Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach, Head Coach Sonny Dykes announced. Offensive line coach AJ Ricker has been elevated to Co-Offensive Coordinator.
 
Riley comes to the Hilltop after spending the 2019 season as running backs coach at Appalachian State, and was set to be promoted to Offensive Coordinator. The Mountaineers went 13-1 last season, including a Sun Belt Championship and a win in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl over UAB. Riley mentored Darrynton Evans to Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year honors after posting 1,740 all-purpose yards, including 1,250 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.
 
"I think he's a really good fit," Dykes said of Riley. "He's comfortable teaching our system of play, particularly in the passing game. One of the things that intrigued me about him was the success that Appalachian State had running the ball and the unique ways they did so.
 
"He also has a great history recruiting in this area. He knows the coaches and he knows the players. He even knew a lot of things about our current players when we sat down and talked." 
 
Prior to his time at Appalachian State, Riley spent three seasons at Kansas (2016-18) in various capacities.
 
From 2013-15, Riley worked with the offense at ECU, spending the 2015 season as the outside receivers coach and 2013 and 2014 as an offensive assistant. While with the Pirates, Riley coached standout receiver Zay Jones, who caught 98 passes for 1,009 yards in 2015 and went on to set the NCAA FBS career record with 399 receptions. Jones was selected 37th overall by the Buffalo Bills in the 2017 NFL Draft.
 
Riley got his start in the collegiate ranks in 2012 as running backs coach at Augustana College (Ill.), and prior to that was a quarterbacks and passing game assistant at Roosevelt High School in Lubbock, Texas, in 2011.
 
A 2012 graduate of Texas Tech with a degree in general business, Riley played for the Red Raiders in 2008 and 2009 before transferring to Stephen F. Austin for the 2010 season. Riley played in 11 games, helping the Lumberjacks to a 9-3 record and Southland Conference Championship.
 
Riley and wife Lindsay have two sons, Gibson and Greyson.
 
Ricker arrived on the Hilltop in January of 2019 and coached an offensive line that helped SMU to national rankings of seventh in scoring offense (41.8), ninth in total offense (489.8) and 13th in passing offense (309.0). The Mustangs' highest ranking in those categories the previous season was 27th in passing offense, while neither scoring or total ranked inside the top 50.
 
The Mustangs will host Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis and Navy in 2020, with road games at ECU, Temple, Tulane and Tulsa. The non-conference slate includes home match-ups with Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 12) and TCU (Sept. 26), while SMU travels to Texas State (Sept. 5) and North Texas (Sept. 19).
 
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