Line of Work

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

When Syr Riley speaks, Palisades High football players listen.

That is because not too long ago he was in their shoes and Riley knows precisely what it takes to succeed at the next level. Riley is back at his alma mater to coach the offensive line until returning to Mississippi in mid-August to finish his Master’s degree in Urban & Regional Planning at Jackson State University, where he finished his collegiate career in 2023, playing in six games on the offensive line.

“I’ll be here up until the scrimmage on Aug. 16, then I have to get back to my apartment in Jackson,” said Riley, who is on track to graduate in May 2025. “It’s nice to return to my old stomping grounds.”

Riley spent four years at Washington State (earning a redshirt) and another at Idaho State before transferring to a school in the Deep South, where he appreciates the hospitality, lightning storms, 90-degree heat in the summer and, most importantly, the love for football. His parents are both teachers, his grandfather was a professor at Compton College before retiring a few years ago and his younger brothers Syaire and Savyour both followed him to Palisades (Syaire playing linebacker and Savyour playing defensive back). “They don’t have too many questions, we’ve all had different experiences,” Syr said of his siblings. “If I had to pick one guy who made the biggest difference it would be Dennis McKnight, our interim offensive line coach at Washington State during the COVID season,” said Riley, who is living in Inglewood, only a five minute walk from The Forum and SoFi Stadium. “He really took me in, helped me grow and made me a lot better. What lessons have I learned playing football? Be a man of your word, be dependable. People have to be able to depend on you.”

As a junior at Pali High, Riley was named Western League Offensive Lineman of the Year and made the All-City Section Second Team. Prior to his senior season in 2017 he was rated the sixth-best guard prospect in the Top-10 Guards in the West by Scout.com. He again earned All-Western League First Team honors after tying for the team lead with 55 pancake blocks in 12 games. He also had a 63-yard interception return on defense.

“At Pali I had about 150 pancakes and if you were in front of me I was gonna’ run you into the ground,” he said. “I was the biggest and most athletic guy and I had that winning mentality. In college, I had to learn technique, posture and fundamentals, all things I lacked in high school.”

Now 23, the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Riley keeps in shape by walking 45 minutes a day, doing cardio, push-ups and sit-ups and watching his diet (he avoids fried foods and consumes 200-300 grams of protein per day).

“I enjoy coaching the offensive line and I’ll even run through the drills with them,” Riley said. “Older coaches can tell them what to do, but I’m young enough to be able to show them as well as tell them. I’m glad to be able to help out Coach [Dylen] Smith. He’s great!”

An entrepreneur with business aspirations, Riley would like to open a bakery and a restaurant one day.

“My fridge is filled with random ingredients like you’d see in an episode of “Chopped,” he said. “I’ve always been good at baking and I have a hell of a sweet tooth. In sixth or seventh grade I’d bake cookies and sell them on field trips. I taught myself even more when I got to college and started specializing in cheesecakes as a graduate research assistant last semester. Now I bake them and sell them myself. My uncle instilled that in me.”

What are his favorite recipes?

“I make all kinds of cheesecakes but my favorites are brown sugar caramel, lemon quake, banana pudding, strawberry crunch, cookie dough, key lime pie, sweet potato pie and caramel apple pie,” he says.”

Riley’s top priority right now, though, is molding the Dolphins’ trench men into a cohesive unit.