Browns interview McAdoo for OC

The Browns interviewed former Giants coach Ben McAdoo for the job of offensive coordinator Jan. 16, according to a league source.

McAdoo was fired by the Giants on Dec. 4 when the team was 2-10. General Manager Jerry Reese was also swept out in the purge. The Giants went 1-3 in their final four games of 2017.

Browns GM John Dorsey is very familiar with McAdoo because Dorsey was the director of college scouting in Green Bay when McAdoo was the Packers’ tight ends coach from 2006 to 2011. McAdoo coached the Green Bay quarterbacks in 2012 when Dorsey was the director of football operations in Green Bay. McAdoo also coached the Packers quarterbacks in 2013, the first year Dorsey was GM of the Chiefs.

McAdoo, 40, was the Giants’ offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015 under Tom Coughlin. The Giants finished 10th and eighth, respectively, in total offense those two years with veteran Eli Manning at quarterback. They finished sixth and 13th those years in points scored. McAdoo was named Giants head coach in 2016. They finished 11-5 and were an NFC wild card.

The Browns interviewed Texans quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan for the offensive coordinator job Jan. 10 and are interested in fired Titans coach Mike Mularkey for the same job, according to a report by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Head coach Hue Jackson designed the offense week to week and called plays in 2016 and 2017. The Browns were 1-15 his first year and 0-16 in 2017.

Jackson said he didn’t hire an offensive coordinator for either of the first two years because in his opinion the offense hadn’t developed enough.

“I’ve said before that at some point in time I would like to do differently because I think it’s important to coach the team,” Jackson said Jan. 1 in his season-ending news conference. “Now that I truly understand the situation and have been through it and have looked at it. … Again, I didn’t want to put that pressure on somebody else early in this situation.

“Now knowing, now seeing and now truly believing that the team is going to take a step forward, I think everything is on the table.”

Looking back, Jackson said being head coach, offensive coordinator and play caller might have been too much to handle, but he said he doesn’t regret not hiring one earlier.

“It could have been too much,” Jackson admitted. “When you look back, there are all kind of decisions that you could say, ‘Man, I wish I would have done this differently.’

“I don’t regret (not) putting somebody in a situation to not be successful. I just don’t believe in that. I believe I got this job because I was very good at what I did, which was call plays. Obviously, that hasn’t been the case here that way.

“I just think it would have been somebody else’s issue, and I don’t think that would have been fair. I think as we move forward, it’s something I will really think through of what’s best for the team and what’s best for the organization. If that’s what it is, that’s what it is.”

Jackson could hire an offensive coordinator and still call his own plays on game day.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Then-Giants coach Ben McAdoo, right, lost his job shortly after benching quarterback Eli Manning.