The Browns Should Go Hard After Lincoln Riley [UPDATE]

The Cleveland Browns finally put Hue Jackson out of their fans’ misery. As much as you may want to scoff at this idea given their history since they re-entered the league. that is a very promising head coach opening because the team has a strong GM in John Dorsey and a lot of great young talent. Dorsey’s first phone call should be an exploratory pitch to Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley.

We are seeing an NFL that has finally opened itself up to offensive innovation by borrowing a lot of techniques from the college game. Riley is 35 years old. Maybe five years ago it would have been borderline unthinkable for an NFL team to hire someone his age, but Sean McVay is 32 right now and he couldn’t have worked out better for the Rams.

Riley coached Baker Mayfield with a lot of success at Oklahoma, and is the type of energetic figurehead the Browns need as a zag from Hue Jackson, who yesterday professed not to remember what happened in the first half of a loss to the Steelers.

Beyond Mayfield, Nick Chubb has a lot of promise at running back and Jarvis Landry is signed for a few years at wide receiver. On defense DE Myles Garett and safety Denzel Ward are two studs that you can build a whole unit around. OLB Christian Kirksey and DT Larry Ogunjobi are also solid players.

Maybe Riley feels like he has not been at Oklahoma long enough and that there is unfinished business and/or that he would be a weasel for leaving already, but he should definitely be the Browns’ first call.

UPDATE: Hmm