The future of Kevin Stefanski as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns is very much up in the air. Despite bringing success to Cleveland that the franchise had not seen in quite some time, Stefanski has put together two back-to-back terrible seasons and that could cost him his job (one that he might not even want anymore).
One potential candidate to take over for Stefanski should he be fired (or step down on his own) is reportedly Mike McDaniel, at least according to ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler.
"My sense is that McDaniel would be a candidate in Cleveland, should the Dolphins move on and Cleveland's job open. He still has some support in Miami. We will see if that's enough. He has made a case to stay. From what I've gathered, the Dolphins' GM search won't necessarily be centered around fitting with McDaniel; it's more so about finding the best team fit in general."
Browns linked to Mike McDaniel in a move that doesn’t feel like real progress
Browns fans might not love this report because, while McDaniel isn't a terrible head coach, it doesn't feel like he'd be a great fit for this Cleveland team. If anything, he feels similar to Stefanski, and the Browns need to head in a different direction with their next hire, if that's a situation they find themselves in.
While Stefanski did bring the Browns success early in his tenure, it's felt like it's time for the team to hit the reset button and try something new. With how ferocious the Cleveland defense has been this season, why not bring in a defensive-minded guy to run the show? Brian Flores comes to mind there, as his contract is up after Week 18 and pairing him with Myles Garrett and the rest of this defense would be downright unfair to the rest of the league.
At this point, Browns fans will be hoping that Miami doesn't can McDaniel so that he isn't even an option for the franchise to hire. Sure, he had some success with the Dolphins, but it'd just feel like the same thing all over again and we saw that didn't work, so why try it again and expect a different result?