It took barely three weeks for the Cleveland Browns’ head coach search to turn into a complete and utter mess.
The worst part? It was all completely self-inflicted and avoidable, with better planning during the virtual stage of the interview process.
When Mike McDaniel bowed out of the Browns’ head coach race on Tuesday, he inadvertently put the team in a major bind. The Browns are now down to four external candidates for their second wave of interviews: Grant Udinski, Jesse Minter, Todd Monken, and Nate Scheelhaase.
Per league rules, Cleveland must host two in-person interviews with diverse candidates (minority and/or female), from outside the organization, before hiring a head coach. Based on the team’s current interview schedule, which was built off its initial meetings last week, only Scheelhaase satisfies the Rooney Rule; the Browns can’t meet with him until the Monday after the NFC Championship Game, at the earliest, per league rules.
The Browns could move the process along by requesting a second interview with Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde, who met with team brass virtually on Jan. 12. But like Scheelhaase, who’s the passing game coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, that interview would have to come next week, and the optics would be poor, as Durde was initially part of a group with Dan Pitcher and Tommy Rees who were not expected to move forward in the process.
That means owner Jimmy Haslam, general manager Andrew Berry and the Browns will be adding at least one new candidate to their interview list in the coming days, and potentially more. They’ll want to both satisfy the league’s hiring rules, while not making their process look like a complete sham — like what owner Shad Khan and the Jacksonville Jaguars did to fast-track their pursuit of Liam Coen in 2024.
The Jaguars moved quickly to interview Patrick Graham, the current defensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders, to gain compliance with the Rooney Rule, while working internally to keep their infatuation with Coen under wraps, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
All eyes will be on the Browns moving forward, and the good news is that there are several candidates out there who could be realistic fits to replace Kevin Stefanski.
Where the Browns should start to get their HC search back on track
Brian Flores, DC, Minnesota Vikings
Flores might already be the biggest missed opportunity of this entire hiring cycle for multiple teams, but especially the Browns. His contract just expired in Minnesota. He’s one of the best and most forward-thinking defensive minds in the game. He’d bring discipline and stability to Cleveland and hold the players accountable, while almost certainly turning its defense into the No. 1 unit in the league.
The Browns could’ve been first in line to interview Flores back when the season ended. Now, he’s already interviewed with both the Ravens and Steelers. The potential to block him from landing with an AFC North rival alone should entice Berry to pick up the phone.
Thomas Brown, passing game coordinator, New England Patriots
As a coach, Brown has ties to Sean McVay and has helped Drake Maye put together an MVP-caliber season working under Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels in New England. He also got some interim head coach experience last year, after the Chicago Bears fired Matt Eberflus. As a player? Brown played running back at Georgia before breaking into the NFL; he spent two seasons on Cleveland’s roster from 2009-10. He preceded the arrivals of both Haslam and Berry, but he’s the exact kind of candidate the Browns should be looking at right now.
Ejiro Evero, DC, Carolina Panthers
It may be too late, as Evero has already interviewed with both the Raiders (twice) and the Steelers. He’s another ascending young coach with ties to McVay and the Rams, winning a Super Bowl with Los Angeles as defensive assistant. He then led one of the NFL’s top defenses in Denver before getting washed out in the mess that was the Broncos’ failed Nathaniel Hackett experiment. He’s landed on his feet in Carolina, which has been a team on the come in recent years. Evero’s time is definitely coming. He’d be well worth Cleveland’s time.
Anthony Lynn, run game coordinator, Washington Commanders
There hasn't been a ton of buzz around Lynn getting a second crack at being a head coach, but he has a well-rounded background, including as a two-time Super Bowl champion running back for coach Mike Shanahan and the late-1990s Denver Broncos. He started his NFL coaching journey on special teams before transitioning to various offensive assistant jobs, including under Bill Parcels in Dallas and Romeo Crennel in Cleveland. He was the interim head coach and OC of the Buffalo Bills in 2016, and is slated to interview as the potential replacement for Sean McDermott. Lynn's probably best known as the former head coach of the Chargers for four seasons from 2017-2020, including 12-win season and divisional playoff experience in 2018. He just accepted a late interview request from Buffalo, and it's possible he'd do the same from Cleveland, given his history here.