Jim Schwartz, who was named NFL assistant-coach-of-the-year following the 2023 season, gets endorsements from his players to succeed Kevin Stefanski as head coach. But management is playing coy about his candidacy.
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said the decision to fire Kevin Stefanski was made “over a period of time.”
Yet in that time, neither Haslam nor GM Andrew Berry, who will head the search for Stefanski’s successor, apparently has considered defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz an automatic candidate for the job.
“You know, we haven’t looked at that yet,” Haslam said. “I would say this: We think a lot of Jim Schwartz.”
Schwartz, 59, was hired in 2023 to succeed Joe Woods, Stefanski’s original defensive coordinator when he took over as Browns head coach in 2020. Under Schwartz, the defense has ranked first, 19th, and fourth in total yards allowed and 13th, 27th and 14th in points allowed.
Schwartz’s attack-oriented scheme has produced the franchise’s two highest season sack totals – 53 in 2025 and 49 in 2023. And, of course, it produced a record-breaking season this year from franchise defensive end Myles Garrett, whose quest for the record of 23 sacks became a rallying cry for the entire team in the month of December.
Every one of the Browns’ five victories this season was generated by the defense, capped off by the 20-18 win in Cincinnati in which the defense scored two touchdowns on an interception and fumble return. The Browns had 10 games this year in which its offense did not score two touchdowns.
And yet … there is hesitation in committing to Schwartz as an automatic candidate to take over the head job.
Perhaps the Browns don’t want to scare away other possible candidates by trumpeting Schwartz as a front-runner for the job. They also have to comply with NFL rules to interview at least two minority candidates from outside the organization and minority candidates recently have shied away from receiving “token” interviews simply to comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule.
“Jim’s an outstanding football coach,” Berry said. “We have a lot of respect for him, a lot of appreciation for him. He certainly has earned the right for consideration. But that’s something that we still have to discuss and obviously discuss with him.”
Schwartz’s only head coach experience came with the Detroit Lions from 2009 through 2013. The Lions inherited the No. 1 pick in the draft after going 0-16 under Rod Marinelli. They used it on quarterback Matthew Stafford. In Schwartz’s first three years, the Lions went 2-14, 6-10 and 10-6 and a wild-card berth, which they lost. Schwartz was fired after the Lions went 4-12 and 7-9 in his last two seasons.
Three home-grown defensive players who have received second contracts from Berry strongly endorsed Schwartz for the job at their exit media interviews on Monday.
“Personally, I have so much love and respect for Coach Schwartz,” cornerback Denzel Ward said. “I would highly recommend Coach Schwartz for a head coaching job here. He’s helped my game tremendously. Puts us in great position. Great leader. I can’t say enough great things about him. He’s a guy who you want in a coach to lead a team. He’s the guy.”
Defensive end Alex Wright said one of the reasons he signed a contract extension this season rather than seek free agency was to play for Schwartz.
“I hope he stays,” Wright said. “I mean, since he’s been here, we’ve been a top defense, top in almost every category.”
Safety Grant Delpit said, “Yeah, I’d be concerned,” if Schwartz were to leave as a result of a coaching change.
“I think over the past three years we’ve accumulated, you know, a number one defense. So I think it goes without saying what kind of coach he is and the energy he brings,” Delpit said.
“Look, I think Coach Schwartz is going to be a great, still-got-it type of head coach. He’s a fiery guy. He’s taken our defense and brought it to an elite level, and kept it there. So I’m excited for Coach Schwartz.”
Berry sounded unfazed by the possibility of losing Schwartz and disrupting the defense that’s been built exclusively for his scheme.
“One of the costs of turnover is that players can kind of get caught in the transition between scheme to scheme,” Berry said. “We do have a number of players who are maybe a little bit more scheme-specific [to Schwartz] but also we have a number of players that are pretty scheme-versatile.
“Ultimately, our thought will be ‘let’s find the right head coach, the right leader.’ Because schemes really do come and go. But we’re very pleased where that side of the ball is. That group is intact, they’re under contract and we really do like the style of play.”