After days of negotiations and back and forth, Jim Schwartz has officially left town. The Cleveland Browns' once-beloved defensive coordinator resigned in infamy with two years still left in his contract.
Whether Schwartz had a right to feel insulted for being bypassed for the head-coaching position is a debate for another day. Regardless of his feelings, it seems like all parties involved could've handled this situation a whole lot better.
Now, the Browns will be left scrambling to find someone to join Todd Monken's coaching staff. According to ESPN's Browns insider Daniel Oyefusi, the team already has two obvious candidates in the building.
"If the Browns wanted to look internally for their new DC, LB coach Jason Tarver and safeties coach Ephraim Banda both have DC experience," Oyefusi tweeted. "Tarver was DC for the Raiders (2012-14) and Vanderbilt (2018-19). Banda was co-DC at Miami (2019-20) and Utah State (2021-22)."
Browns have two internal DC candidates to replace Jim Schwartz
This isn't the first time their names have been brought up as potential replacements for Jim Schwartz. Banda even interviewed for the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator vacancy just a couple of weeks ago, and Tarver's previous play-calling experience in the pros makes him an obvious fit.
Monken claimed that he would rather keep the defensive coaching staff intact, so promoting one of the position coaches sure sounds like the safest bet here. Then again, the fans won't help but feel like the team could've done much better.
If Schwartz was always a threat to leave, the Browns should've had a Plan B in place. They met with Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde for the head-coaching vacancy and, given that he doesn't call plays in Seattle, he would've probably considered the defensive coordinator position in Cleveland had the opportunity presented itself.
Of course, that's not to say that Banda or Tarver aren't good coaches or deserving of a promotion; they are. Schwartz's decision shouldn't have come as a surprise or been dragged out as long as it did, and it just feels like they failed to prepare for a doomsday scenario.
Monken has already revamped the offensive coaching staff, and he should have a couple of interesting candidates more than thrilled to handle this defense as well.
But with the clock ticking and the Browns already planning for next season, they might be better off just getting this saga over with one of their internal candidates.