They may have taken the path less traveled, but the Cleveland Browns could finally be nearing the end of one of the more mysterious NFL head coach searches in recent memory.
After much speculation, the Browns could be fully compliant with league rules and ready to announce a hire by as soon as Monday, when team brass is expected to fly to California to interview Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase.
Scheelhaase, the intriguing 35-year-old who has impressed the Browns despite just two years of NFL coaching experience, would qualify as one of Cleveland’s two required in-person meetings with diverse (minority or female) candidates. And while the team has taken on a ton of heat for not leaking a second qualifying candidate sooner, that mystery was finally solved on Saturday.
According to longtime NFL insider Josina Anderson, the Browns flew to Florida to interview Anthony Lynn, the former Los Angeles Chargers head coach who’s also in play for the Buffalo Bills’ HC job.
Lynn would’ve made a lot of sense for Cleveland from the jump. 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, from 2007-08.
Time will tell, but Lynn is most likely in the same boat as Jim Schwartz and Todd Monken — waiting to see which of the Browns’ two young, up-and-coming candidates — Scheelhaase or Grant Udinski — will win the race this week.
The Browns deserve credit by not making a mockery of the NFL’s Rooney Rule
Browns fans were frustrated by the team’s slow-moving process, and it’s hard to blame them.
The team definitely deserves credit, though, for refusing to conduct a sham interview just to hurry that process along.
With Mike McDaniel unexpectedly dropping out of the race, and Scheelhaase unable to meet until after the NFC Championship Game, per league rules, the Browns put themselves in a difficult situation. Their new candidate was obviously going to be diverse, and thus looked at nationally with a critical eye.
Cleveland did, however, meet with more than two diverse candidates during their virtual round of interviews. Meetings have to be in person to satisfy the Rooney Rule, but general manager Andrew Berry clearly isn’t just moving forward with candidates to check a box. The Browns have been methodical in their search from Day 1, and despite plenty of outside noise this week, they stayed true to that process.
Lynn’s a solid candidate, and now joins Schwartz as the only one currently on the Browns’ radar with prior NFL head coaching experience. He was the interim head coach and OC of the Buffalo Bills in 2016, and spent four seasons as head coach of the Chargers, including a 12-win season and divisional playoff appearance in 2018.
Is he likely to get the Browns’ job? Definitely not. But he’s a real head coach candidate, and Cleveland deserves some credit for seeking him out and getting its search back on track.