Insider’s brutal one-liner says it all about Jim Schwartz’s Browns future

There’s been a sense around the Cleveland Browns’ ongoing head coach search that Jim Schwartz, with his strong roots within the organization, has been the reason strong candidates like Jesse Minter, Mike McDaniel, and Chris Shula have passed or dropped out of the running.

According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, that’s not the case. Not even close, actually.

During a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Pelissero detailed how “the Browns are the Browns,”  and how “their process is different than anyone else’s.” Different, as in requiring candidates to complete questionnaires, multi-part essays, personality tests, and additional “homework assignments” after the first interview — just to get into the second round.

It’s no wonder, then, why a coach like McDaniel, who received at least nine interview requests for vacant head coach and offensive coordinator jobs, decided to pass on Cleveland. Minter had a job offer from the Baltimore Ravens before the Browns got even halfway to compliance with the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to host at least two in-person interviews with diverse (minority or female) candidates before making a hire.

Cleveland’s “data-driven process,” as Pelissero called it, wasn’t the only bombshell in that conversation with Eisen. He also described how Browns brass, led by owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Andrew Berry, is intrigued with young candidates Grant Udinski, 30, and Nate Scheelhaase, 35, a pair of forward-thinking, offensive-minded  coaches who “fit the pattern” for what the Browns typically go for, Pelissero said.

As for Schwartz, Cleveland’s defensive coordinator who remains under contract and fully involved in the search, as the first candidate to receive a second interview? Judging by what Pelissero’s hearing, he’s nothing more than the fallback guy at this point.

Browns insider reveals brutal truth behind Jim Schwartz’s 'default' label

Cleveland’s head coach search seems to get more fascinating by the day, but at least they’re not pulling a Pittsburgh Steelers, and hiring a retread like Mike McCarthy.

The Browns are currently linked to four candidates, with at least one more coming due to the Rooney Rule. Two of them are more old-school, grizzled veterans in Schwartz and Todd Monken. The others are the young, brilliant minds in Udinski (Davidson, Towson) and Nate Scheelhaase (Illinois).

Cleveland’s type, per Pelissero, is what he described to Eisen as the “tall, thin guys who came from Ivy League schools.” They didn’t go to Yale or Harvard, but Udinski and Scheelhaase are the candidates who fit that mold best right now.

“I would tell you, Rich," Pelissero said, "the sense is that the Browns are very intrigued by the Udinski and Scheelhaase possibilities because they’re both guys who were… I mean, Grant just turned 30. He’s in his first year as the Jaguars OC but he’s unbelievably brilliant. Scheelhaase is in his mid-30s, was at Iowa State, most recently with the Rams. Those guys fit the pattern. If ultimately the Browns, on their scorecards that they collect, do not decide that those guys are the best candidates, then the belief within the league is — the default would be Jim Schwartz. Then, you’re trying to figure out, alright, well now what do you do on offense to pair him with? Who is willing to take that offensive coordinator job? There’s just a lot of steps in the process but the Browns… this is not new. They’ve done this for a long time.”

It would be foolish to rule Schwartz out completely at this point. The Browns haven’t even met with Scheelhaase in person yet (that’s coming after the NFC Championship Game), and he’s the only candidate on their list right now with prior NFL head coaching experience; he’s also coached up Myles Garrett and the Browns to one of the best defensive units in the league over the past three years.

But if Schwartz was really the guy, the Browns already blew it. They could’ve fired Kevin Stefanski after their 31-3 debacle in Chicago back in Week 15, promoted Schwartz to interim head coach, and collected three games worth of data on him.

Clearly, they favored their process, and at this point, no Browns fans will be celebrating if their team is the last of the 10 teams in this cycle to make a decision — and their default guy all along is the hire.