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DON RILEY WAS NOT THE INSPIRATION FOR LUTHER VAN DAM!
It’s time to put this rather unflattering and completely false rumor to rest about the former ETSU football coach, who died this week at 89.
The news of former East Tennessee State football coach Don Riley’s passing went by quietly.
The Buccaneers’ sports information department didn’t release a statement on it until five days after Riley’s passing at the age of 89. Even then, it was a tweet, not a story on etsubucs.com.
There’s no great internet buzz regarding the passing of a former ETSU quarterback- Riley led the 1955 Buccaneers to a Burley Bowl victory against Appalachian State and a 6–3–1 record (his favorite receiver was future Sullivan Central head boys basketball coaching legend Dickie Warren)- turned head coach.
Which goes hand in hand with his coaching tenure at ETSU. A 10–34 record from 1988–91. His career winning percentage of .227 ranks as the second-worst in school history, even worse than George Quarles .273 mark.
A forgettable coaching tenure and one is quickly forgotten. Though he had been a highly successful offensive line coach at UCLA, coaching 17 future NFL players (most notably Irv Eatman) during a 12-year tenure for a Bruins squad always placing in the Associated Press Top 20 at some point of the season, Riley never coached again…
