Jim Schwartz was always considered a fallback option in the Browns' head coaching search. The Browns may be close to exercising that option after two twists in their search that occurred on Monday. (Cleveland Browns)
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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.
Have the Browns found their new head coach?
After Monday’s events in the Search That Wouldn’t End, the answer is … maybe, but not yet.
The day started with 30-year-old candidate Grant Udinski, the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator but not play-caller, withdrawing from consideration. He was the third Browns’ candidate to drop out, following Mike McDaniel, who opted to join the Los Angeles Chargers as Jim Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator, and Jesse Minter, who succeeded John Harbaugh as Baltimore Ravens head coach.
Udinski reportedly received a nice raise from the Jaguars but was still alive in the strange mix for the Buffalo Bills head coach vacancy.
The day ended with Sean McVay-protégé Nate Scheelhaase, the Browns’ pole-sitter after a seven-plus hour interview in Los Angeles with owner Jimmy Haslam, GM Andrew Berry and Berry consultant Tom Telesco, honoring a commitment to a Zoom interview with, yes, the Buffalo Bills.
Scheelhaase, 35, also may be considering the option of a promotion to Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator under McVay if current OC Mike LaFleur gets the head coach job with the Arizona Cardinals.
All are bad optics for the Browns, of course, and ultimately may result in defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz backing into the head coach job.
Schwartz was the first serious candidate interviewed and has the support of the locker room but didn’t fit the profile set forth by Berry in his first attempt to hire an NFL head coach.
It was always presumed that Berry wanted to pair a young, up-and-coming offensive-minded coach with Schwartz as his defensive coordinator.
Berry preferred a complete break from the Kevin Stefanski offense that grew stale over the last two seasons. An unproven, young coach also would be a fitting “thought partner” in Berry’s age group who would defer to his personnel decisions.
It’s unclear if Scheelhaase simply got cold feet about the Browns’ job, or Haslam cooled to him and failed to make a formal offer. The fact that a deal with him did not get done was another twist in a coaching search that has been unusual, to say the least.
If Scheelhaase is dropped from consideration, the only remaining candidates would be Schwartz, 59; former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, 59; and Washington Commanders run game coordinator Anthony Lynn, 57.
A decision is expected on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, existing NFL coaching and personnel staffs are descending on Mobile, AL, for the start of Senior Bowl practices – the first milepost of the pre-draft season – and teams that have changed head coaches are filling out their assistant coaching staffs.