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Joe Burrow’s first ‘real’ scholarship offer? LSU’s QB says it came from East Carolina assistant Lincoln Riley
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Long before he developed into a star quarterback in Baton Rouge, Joe Burrow was just a kid from Ohio searching for scholarship offers to play college football.
While he may have dreamt of receiving offers from the likes of Nebraska and Ohio State, at one point, Burrow was simply looking for something other than his dad to offer him an athletic scholarship.
As fate would have it, the first college scholarship Burrow received — outside of the one his father’s Ohio team offered — came from a relatively unknown East Carolina assistant named Lincoln Riley. Before serving as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach, Riley was ECU’s offensive coordinator from 2010-2014.
During his Tuesday media availability, Burrow was asked about his first “real” scholarship offer.
“My only offer at the time was my dad’s team, and I didn’t think that was a real offer, I just thought my dad’s team throwing an offer out there,” Burrow said. “Coach Riley called me and offered me a couple of months later. So, I’ve always had a bunch of respect for him. Was actually really impressed with him on the phone, very early. I didn’t really want to go to East Carolina but I thought about it because of Coach Riley. He’s a great coach and you see that that last couple of years.”
That comment serves two purposes: it continues to show what an outstanding eye for quarterback talent Riley has and it shows Burrow has a keen awareness for people with an outstanding football IQ. Who knows, had Riley been at Oklahoma when he offered Burrow that scholarship, the Sooners may have followed back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray with the 2019 award winner.
Thankfully for LSU, Riley’s offer to Burrow wasn’t the only one the Ohio native would receive, paving the way for his eventual road to Baton Rouge.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
