When the Browns fired head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley on Monday, questions immediately swirled about whether Cleveland would hire a new coach whose offense was more suited to the skills of franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield. A coach like Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, who coached Mayfield to the Heisman Trophy last season.
Mayfield was asked about that today, and he avoided the question, saying instead that he’s focusing on playing for head coach Gregg Williams and offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens.
“He’s doing his thing and I’m doing mine,” Mayfield said of Riley. “I’m not worried about that. Coach Williams is our head guy right now, Freddie is our offensive coordinator, and we need to roll with that. We have a team that’s capable of winning in this locker room right now so we need to trust them.”
For his part, Riley said he’s not interested in coaching in the NFL “right now,” leaving open the question of whether he’ll have interest in coaching in the NFL in two months, when the Browns open up their search. Mayfield and Riley have worked well together before and it’s easy to envision it happening again, even if neither man wants to say so yet.
