Are You Excited About the Cleveland Browns’ Coaching Candidates Yet?

This is nothing against the coaching abilities of Marc Trestman, Mike Zimmer or Rob Chudzinski, who have all been in Berea during the last few days to interview for the vacant head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns. After all, each brings a little something to the table – Trestman knows how to run an offense, Zimmer is a leader and defense-oriented coach, and Chudzinski…well, he at least knows how to get to the stadium.

One of these guys could be the next coach of the Cleveland Browns, and a strong case could be made for each one’s success. Of course, that is always what happens with a coaching candidate (especially an unproven one). Writers wax poetic about their accomplishments and use as many buzzwords as possible to make it a sexy interview (i.e. this guy’s a guru).

But do any of those names excite you? Sure, the Browns are doing their due diligence in the interview process – and that’s a good thing – but it’s hard to conjure up any unbridled enthusiasm for the list of names that have recently been rolling through Berea. With Chip Kelly deciding to stay at Oregon, and the Browns apparently not as high on Ken Whisenhunt or Lovie Smith for some reason, hiring a smaller name comes with a great deal of blind trust on the part of fans.

Are they ready to provide that?

With bigger names out there – names that are actual fits for this team – it will be hard for the organization to justify even hiring someone like Zimmer, who has been deserving of a head coaching gig for a while now. The Browns don’t seem to be in much of a hurry to find someone with previous head coaching experience in the NFL, though Whisenhunt and Smith have both taken teams to the Super Bowl. While that doesn’t guarantee future success, those are the only two potential hires that could be met with acceptance in the aftermath of last week’s Arizona debacle.

The Browns could very well give another coach his first shot at being a head coach in the NFL. Are you excited yet?