A top-three has emerged in the Cleveland Browns’ search for a new defensive coordinator, but the most likely candidate could not be more clear as head coach Todd Monken nears a final decision.
NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reported Sunday that Monken is keeping Browns linebackers coach Jason Tarver and Atlanta Falcons passing game coordinator Mike Rutenberg “firmly in the mix,” with a round of in-person interviews on tap.
The leader in the clubhouse, though, is the man Browns fans have been expecting all along: Houston Texans passing game coordinator Cory Undlin.
Undlin, 54, not only has history in Berea as a former Browns assistant coach under the Romeo Crennel regime, but he has direct ties to both Monken and Jim Schwartz. Undlin worked on the same staff as Monken with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles during Schwartz’s tenure there as defensive coordinator.
Undlin has spent the past three seasons in Houston working under Matt Burke, who’s a key branch from the Schwartz tree. While Tarver and fellow internal candidate Ephraim Banda make a lot of sense for the Browns, Undlin’s the outside candidate whose voice could carry the most weight with some established locker room leaders.
Browns appear ready to make expected DC hire, but when will it become official?
According to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, Monken’s expected to hire Schwartz’s replacement “within the next day or two.”
“Undlin, 54, and Tarver, 51, are the two finalists with NFL coordinator experience, with Undlin having called the Lions defense in 2020,” she wrote.
Rutenberg’s ties to Schwartz are through Burke with the New York Jets, and a lot less direct than the other two finalists.
The timing certainly points Undlin’s way, as the Browns had plenty of time to craft an internal contingency plan as talks to retaing Schwartz went off the rails. Tarver and Banda were the first reported interviews after Schwartz officially resigned. The Browns didn’t request an interview with Undlin until a week later, and it’s no coincidence that the search now appears to be quickly winding to a close.
It’s also telling that another potential candidate from Burke’s staff in Houston, Dino Vasso, chose a contract extension with the Texans over acting on interest from other teams. The fact that a meeting between Undlin, Monken and the Browns is on the books is a clear indicator.
Barring another Cleveland curveball, Undlin feels like the pick to lead this new iteration of the Browns defense.