Well, it’s safe to say no one in Husker Nation saw Mike Riley signing on to take over the Big Red.
Even Vegas would have given our off the radar candidates a better chance of ending up in Lincoln than the man who guided the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to two Grey Cups.
And the way Huskers announced the news was about as stealthy as the search itself.
#Huskers, help us welcome Coach Mike Riley to the Big Red family!#GBR
— Nebraska Huskers (@Huskers) December 4, 2014
Naturally, such a subtle announcement made fans burned by days of coaching rumors highly skeptical.
@Shit__DerekSays @Huskers i believe the source is the official Nebraska Huskers twitter account
— jacky (@JackWilliamRtF) December 4, 2014
Still, Derek remained undeterred by this dose of logic and doubled down by saying a “news source” is better than a Twitter account- even if the people behind the account would be telling the “news sources the news.”
And if Derek trusts, the “news sources” surrounding the Huskers, he clearly wasn’t on Twitter yesterday.
Here’s your “news source”, in action Derek.
BREAKING: @OWHbigred reporting that their sources have confirmed that Bret Bielema is officially the new Head Coach at Nebraska.
— HuskGuys (@HuskGuys) December 4, 2014
Faux Pelini couldn’t believe the news.
KNOCK KNOCK!
WHO'S THERE??
MIKE RILEY!
MIKE RILEY WHO??
YEAH THAT'S WHAT I SAID TOO— Faux Pelini (@FauxPelini) December 4, 2014
(If Faux would have dropped the Twitter mic right here, he would have gone out like a boss but he had to get some things off his chest before apparently peacing out for good.)
Every Day Should Be Saturday couldn’t believe the news either.
But when they did, they got on board the Mike Riley Express quick.
Quick true story that makes us kinda stoked about the Mike Riley hire: The night of the Huskers’ comeback win against Wisconsin, I got too hammed to drive home so stumbled from our watch site to the In-N-Out (a Mike Riley favorite) across the street and told a group of skaters I was buying Double Doubles for whoever could ollie over a bus stop bench. One kid could do it. Good times.
Back to the tweets.
There was disappointment.
I have not been this disappointed since Nebraska had the plane waiting for Huston Nutt
— Lance (@_LanceLawson) December 4, 2014
Shawn, we can fix this. Burn the contract copies, claim your computer was hacked, and meet me at Misty's in 20 minutes. #DONOTPANIC
— Not TomOsborne (@FakeTomOsborne) December 4, 2014
Then a great voice of reason chimed in.
Watch this and tell me this is a guy that you can't get behind. I'm more stoked by the minute. #Huskers #GBR http://t.co/rhEy6K5UJo
— Brett Baker (@BrettSBaker) December 4, 2014
Along with some retorts.
To everyone hating on the fact that we hired Oregon State's coach… I think you're being a little hard on the Beaver.
— Tunnel Walk of Shame (@TunnelWalkShame) December 4, 2014
And mildly drunken rage.
This. Give me some time. Gotta go hairball all over Harvey's desk. pic.twitter.com/sPQaDssSxr
— Meowt Rhule (@Ndamukat) December 4, 2014
@boshuskercat Poor Bo Pelini's cat… #Nebraska #huskersfootball #TheresNoPlaceLikeNebraska #SaveBoPelini pic.twitter.com/WI8z580soI
— Keri & Henry🐾🐾 (@keriqbaum) December 4, 2014
And a fond remembrance for the dearly departed.
Me too @boshuskercat… me too. pic.twitter.com/kI89CIMCcp
— linsey chamberlin (@miss_linseylynn) December 4, 2014
But who has time to get sentimental when there are god damn parody twitter accounts to make?
The battle for the official unofficial parody account for @Coach_Riley has also begun. #Huskers pic.twitter.com/VSTzIPz0PZ
— Hurrdat (@Hurrdat) December 4, 2014