Riley would be wise to pass on Cleveland
Trepidation drifts through Norman and all state precincts that vote crimson and cream.
NFL. Baker Mayfield. The prodigy movement. All are elements conspiring to tempt the Cleveland Browns to want Lincoln Riley and Lincoln Riley to want the Cleveland Browns.
My original nickname for Riley upon his ascension to Oklahoma head coach — Too Good To Be True — suddenly carries potential mockery. If Riley next October is trying to beat the Steelers and not the Longhorns, he indeed was too good to be true.
But the apocalypse, a Riley exodus to the pros, is borrowing trouble.
That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. It means worrying won’t help, and common sense says Riley stays.
Maybe the Browns want Riley. Probably the Browns want Riley. Why wouldn’t they? In this age of wunderkind NFL coaches, Riley is a prime candidate.
Sean McVay has changed the landscape. Hired as a head coach at age 30; has the Rams unbeaten halfway through the season at age 32. Sharp offensive mind. Relates great with players, since he’s of their generation.
The NFL is a copycat league. What’s good for the Bears is good for the Bills. The Rams and their Millennial head coach are all the rage. So 30-somethings like Riley and Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, and NFL assistants like the Rams’ Zac Taylor (Norman’s own) and the Patriots’ Brian Flores, are hot prospects who in an earlier time wouldn’t have registered on headcoaching radar.
And when you’ve got the Riley/Mayfield connection — each kick-started the other into gridiron glory — it’s a natural leap to think Cleveland would come hard after Riley.
Of course, it’s not a natural leap for Riley to
go. The Browns should not appeal to sharp coaches with good jobs. Riley qualifies for both. If you’re an NFL assistant, or a coach at little-engine that-could Iowa State, OK. Jump at the chance to coach the Browns.
But if you’re getting paid $5 million a year at a place guaranteed to win big, do you want to align with a clown show like Cleveland? The Browns are a dysfunctional organization, and despite the solid move of hiring general manager John Dorsey, ownership remains squishy.
Jimmy and Dee Haslam
have not proven they are capable of providing the stability necessary for sustained success. Solid ownership is the most important ingredient in professional sports. Not great coaching, not great market, not great quarterbacking/pitching/point guarding.
Ownership. And the Browns don’t have it. The Haslam are quick-triggered and reactionary.
Riley knows that. If Mayfield was quarterbacking the Steelers or Patriots, the Giants or Bears, then light a candle and hit your knees. But the Browns? The Sooners
are a better job than the Browns, and the only way that changes quickly is if Riley burns out on recruiting. Anyone see any signs of Riley burning out on recruiting?
“Opportunities like this, I realize how lucky I am to have gotten one — really, two — here,” Riley said this week, referring to being hired as OU offensive coordinator at age 31 and head coach at age 33. “Really like living here. I just like everything about this place. They’ve been good to me and we’re doing some great things right now and I think the future’s going to continue
to get better and better.”
So rest easy. The reason the Cleveland job is open (franchise dysfunction), the reason the Browns got Mayfield with the No. 1 overall draft pick (franchise futility), the reason the Browns could want Riley (incredible Sooner success), all are reasons for Riley to stay in Oklahoma.