Riley Cole: LB · South Alabama · #4.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Riley Cole
Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Played for two head coaches in five seasons at South Alabama. The first career honor came in 2020: All-Sun Belt. On tape: 15 tackles against Coastal Carolina, Week 10, 2020.
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
96 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 6.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | South Alabama | 96 | 54 | 6.5 | 2.0 | -- |
| 2019 | South Alabama | 59 | 37 | 9.0 | 3.0 | -- |
| 2018 | South Alabama | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
| 2017 | South Alabama | 55 | 29 | 2.5 | 0.0 | -- |
| 2016 | South Alabama | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 218 | 124 | 18.0 | 5.0 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 10 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 32-21@ Southern Miss | 12 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 24-27vs Tulane | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 10-42vs UAB | 9 | 3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 30-20vs Texas State | 15 | 10 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 15 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 38-14vs UL Monroe | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 17-24@ Georgia Southern | 8 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 6-23@ No. 15 Coastal Carolina | 15 | 9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 10-38@ No. 25 Louisiana | 7 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 14-31vs Georgia State | 11 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 0-29vs Troy | 10 | 7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 96 | 54 | 6.5 | 2.0 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
96tackles this seasonTFL rate
7%6 TFLSack rate
2%2 sacksPD rate
0%0 pass breakups96 tackles · 6.5 for loss · 2 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2020 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 9.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 10.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 10.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 9.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Steve Campbell
Pass share
45.7%
350 pass / 416 run
Plays / game
69.6
11 games
Team sack rate
9.8%
407 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2020
First team in his league at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at South Alabama, 218 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — the college career is complete.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-SUN BELT · 1ST TEAM
All-Sun Belt 1st team (2020)
Weekly recognition
1 weekly honor (2020)
Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week
Coaching lineage · 2016–2020
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Joey Jones → Steve Campbell. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
