Baker Mayfield on the sidelines of an Oklahoma game with Lincoln Riley. (Sue Ogrocki, AP)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley couldn't help himself after watching his former star quarterback Baker Mayfield come off the bench to beat the Jets on Thursday night football and give the Browns their first victory in 20 games and 365 days.

He tweeted loud and proud to his 122,000 Twitter followers, "Hey bud, Bet they forgive you for planting the flag now. Congrats."

The tweet immediately went viral, with 20,000 retweets, 71,000 likes and 1,000 replies.

"The tweet was a little fun,'' Riley told cleveland.com in a phone interview on Thursday. "I just thought it was kind of ironic that he ended up in the state of Ohio with all of that."

The tweet referred to Mayfield, who will make his first NFL start Sunday in Oakland, attempting to plant the Oklahoma flag in the middle of Ohio Stadium's artificial turf field after his victory over Ohio State a year ago. Today, Cleveland is his new home and he is the city's new hero.

But it was also indicative of the close relationship between Riley and Mayfield from their three years together at Oklahoma, including one as his head coach last year after two as his offensive coordinator.

Don't Edit

Hey bud-

Bet they forgive you for planting the flag now-

Congrats @bakermayfield #OUDNA — Lincoln Riley (@LincolnRiley) September 21, 2018

Don't Edit

Riley let Mayfield be Mayfield

Don't Edit

"Coach Riley always let me be myself," Mayfield told cleveland.com. "If I wasn't myself, I wasn't a passionate person, then I wasn't playing to my potential and I couldn't fake it. That's the great thing about him. He's adaptable to his players. He puts them in the best position possible. That's why I think he's the best coach in the country.''

When Riley had to announce last season that Mayfield wasn't starting against West Virginia because of a crotch-grabbing gesture towards the Kansas bench, he got choked up.

"No matter how long I go coaching ... I don't know that I'll ever have a player that's as special to me as he is," Riley said then. "We've been through a lot together. He's a tremendous teammate. He's the best football player in America. He has a great heart that a lot of people don't get a chance to see like I do. I'm proud as hell to be his coach."

So forgive Riley if he gets defensive talking about Mayfield. The two became like family in their three years together, and their relationship pre-dates Oklahoma.

"He offered me when I was at Texas Tech and he was at East Carolina," Mayfield told cleveland.com. Then he added with a smile, "so I would've gone there and he would've left me."

Riley steered Mayfield, 33-6 at Oklahoma, through all of his ups and downs, right up to winning the Heisman Trophy and becoming the No. 1 pick by the Browns, to the surprise of many in the NFL.

"He was there at OU even for my first games, so he saw it from the beginning to the very end,'' said Mayfield. "He saw the change in me and he invested so much time in it.''

Don't Edit

Mayfield celebrates after his victory over the Jets. (Ron Schwane, AP)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Riley wasn't surprised by the Jets game

Don't Edit

Riley couldn't help but be like a proud papa when he watched Mayfield come in off the bench Thursday night and bring FirstEnergy Stadium to life.

"I actually got home about the time that they put him in,'' said Riley. "It was fun to see. I liked how he came in in a two-minute situation and kind of came out firing. He wasn't hesitant. He didn't make very many mistakes, but the few he made, he was able to brush them off, so he looked comfortable, he looked composed, he looked confident and it wasn't any surprise."

Riley didn't have to wait long to congratulate Mayfield, who flew to Norman, Oklahoma to watch from the sidelines as the Sooners beat Army two days later.

"I was happy for him, excited,'' said Riley. "I didn't get to see him a ton around our game but just kind of the same message I've had for him before, just continue to stay in the moment and continue to do what you did here, which is keep your head down, keep improving.

"Have fun with it. Understand that there's going to be ups and downs as you go, and you've just got to stay steady and keep building. If you do that, then the results that you want as a player and want for your team those will come, so I think he's just got to stay the course right now.''

Don't Edit

Mayfield talks to Drew Brees before the Saints game. (Bill Feig, AP)

Don't Edit

Drew Brees' comments were music to Riley's ears

Don't Edit

Riley was tickled to hear future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees' remarks from a few weeks ago that Mayfield "can be a lot better" than him.

"That was awesome of Drew to say and if that happens, then everybody in Cleveland's going to be really, really happy,'' said Riley. "I do think there are definitely some similarities between the two, obviously the size, the high release point, the ability to process, the fact they don't get many balls batted down even though they don't have what people call prototypical quarterback height.

"So yeah, they're obviously a little bit different personality-wise, but I do think physically within their game there are some similarities and obviously that's a huge compliment for Baker and I'm sure he took it that way.''

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mayfield celebrates his 2-point catch. (Joshua Gunter, AP)

Don't Edit

He was crazy smart at Oklahoma, too

Don't Edit

Riley acknowledged that Mayfield's high football IQ is one of the things that sets him apart.

"We could do a lot of things offensively, a lot of it based on he could handle so much, he wasn't a rep guy,'' said Riley. "He didn't need to rep something 100 times to be really, really good at it and he could understand adjustments during games. So he's got a really good mind for the game and he works hard to study it. And it just makes sense to him. He's had that all along."

Don't Edit

Ball placement too

Don't Edit

Riley isn't surprised that Mayfield's ability to hit his targets has also followed him to the pro level.

"He's incredibly accurate,'' said Riley. "There's the physical part of it and he's got a very talented arm. He can make any throw, but at the same time, mentally, a lot of accuracy comes from being able to process and understand where things are, being able to anticipate, and then I think having a little bit of that fearless quality that when it's time to cut it loose, there's no hesitation in their game.

"So he has all the makings to be a great one. I got asked about it through the draft process, and I sat back and thought about what I'd seen here over the three years and I just had a hard time believing there was something an NFL team was going to ask him to do that he wouldn't be able to do very, very well.''

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mayfield was on the sidelines for the Oklahoma-Army game Saturday. (Sue Ogrocki, AP)

Don't Edit

What did the Browns get when they drafted Mayfield?

Don't Edit

"They got a lot,'' Riley said. "They got a guy that believes in himself. There's not a situation that he's not going to be confident and prepared for. A competitor and a guy that's going to be completely bought in. Not any one person can turn a thing around. It takes a big group but you've got to have some people up front and I'm excited for Baker to have this opportunity. I know he's really excited about it.

"There will be ups, there will be downs, but he'll continue to get better and I know he'll continue to bring that fire and that edge to that organization just like he brought to our program.''

Riley admired that Mayfield was as much of a straight shooter off the field as he was on.

"I like that you always know what he's thinking,'' he said. "As far as our lines of communication, it was pretty open. And he's a pretty to-the-point guy. It makes it easier to coach him, to get to know him, understand where you're at and how you need to handle him. And then I think just personality-wise, we both hit it off. We both love the game, both competitors, both saw the game very similar, and then just as people, we got along well, always laughed together, kind of enjoyed all the time we spent together, too.

"Anytime you go through all of the stuff that we did, I mean, people could write a book about the stuff that we went through in the three years here, and people probably will. Anytime you go through stuff like with somebody for that long a period of time, that's going to make the relationship even more close.''

Don't Edit

Riley and Mayfield holding his Heisman Trophy. (Craig Ruttle, AP)

Don't Edit

Riley saw him through the tough times

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Riley saw Mayfield through all of his growing pains, including his arrest for public intoxication/disorderly conduct and the corresponding video that went viral. It was a life-changing incident for Mayfield, and Riley stuck by him. Riley's support helped Mayfield go on to win the Heisman Trophy and get within a game of the national championship.

"I always want guys to be themselves,'' Riley said. "If you hamstring them too much, guys aren't going to be able to develop into what they can become. So you try to help grow them, you try to help them mature, but at the end of the day, this is a game, and if you're not having fun with it, I don't care if it's Pee Wee or the NFL, if you're not having any fun, you don't have a chance, as an individual or as a team.

"And ... you've got to do things within the team concept. Of course, if anybody steps out of the team concept that's when you pull the reins, but you've got to let them be themselves, too.''

Don't Edit

Mayfield celebrates with Carlos Hyde. (John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

Don't Edit

Riley says the Browns don't need his help

Don't Edit

While Riley has shared some of his Air Raid-based concepts with NFL teams venturing to Norman, he says the Browns don't need his help. But it wouldn't be surprising to see them borrow from some of his college tape to make him feel comfortable.

"The Browns have really good coaches,'' Riley said. "They have a really good offensive staff and I'm sure they're going to do, like we would with any quarterback, try to do what your guy is comfortable with. Now that that Baker's the guy, maybe you'll see more of that, I don't know, but they've got good coaches there, they don't need to talk to me.''

Don't Edit

He's seen this movie before

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Riley wasn't surprised to see Mayfield, a two-time walk-on, handle his Browns' backup role with aplomb. He never complained about a lack of first-team reps.

"He handled it fine,'' said Riley. "He's still repping the offense, and even if you're not with the first-team offense, you've got to find time to get on the page with those receivers and it looked like he went in and did that. So whatever reps he gets, he's got to make the most of them and then you've got to stay patient and just continue to learn and make sure you're ready for your opportunity and it looks like he certainly was.''

Don't Edit

Go big or go home

Don't Edit

Riley wasn't fazed by Mayfield's bold statement at the NFL combine that "if anyone can turn that franchise around, it's me."

"I knew that's what he believed," said Riley. "I think he would've felt that way about any franchise. He was just being honest. He's brutally honest, which is a good quality. He believes in himself and if you don't believe in yourself, especially in that position in that league, you're going to be in trouble."

Don't Edit

Mayfield acknowledged the crowd after the victory over NY. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)

Don't Edit

"He can be as good as he wants to be''

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Riley believes the sky is the limit for Mayfield.

"It just depends on so much, and to be a great quarterback you've got to have a great system, you've got to have players around you, you've got to stay healthy,'' said Riley. "But he can be as good as he wants to be. I don't think there's anything he can't do. But the Tom Bradys of the world, the Aaron Rodgers, the Peyton Mannings, they've all been in the right place at the right time too and have had great ones around them that have helped them do it.

"But I don't think there's anything out there to accomplish that he's not capable of doing.''