BROWNS LOOKING FOR ANOTHER NEW COACH
Browns already have asked to talk to Patriots, 49ers coordinators.
The Browns made the decision to move on from head coach Freddie Kitchens, which means it’s time again for a coaching search. Here is a preliminary list of candidates to watch as the process moves along.
Josh McDaniels has established himself as one of the smartest offensive coordinators in the league, helping build and adjust the Patriots offense and its moving parts over the years around Tom Brady.
McDaniels’ first stint as a head coach didn’t go well. He went 11-17 and didn’t make it through his second season with the Broncos. He also backed out of the Colts head coaching job after the 2018 season.
The Browns have requested permission to interview McDaniels.
Greg Roman has built great offenses first around Colin Kaepernick when he worked under Jim Harbaugh with the 49ers and this season around Lamar Jackson, who is the MVP frontrunner.
The Browns have requested permission to talk with Roman.
The cameras love finding Robert Saleh on the sidelines of 49ers games and rightfully so. He runs one of the top defenses in the league. The 40-year-old Saleh has been on the defensive side of the ball his entire career.
The Browns have requested an interview with Saleh.
Kevin Stefanski was reportedly the choice of the analytics side during last season’s coaching search and was a finalist along with Freddie Kitchens. Stefanski didn’t get the job and returned to the Vikings and has built a solid offense alongside Gary Kubiak.
The Browns are expected to request an interview.
Mike McCarthy has been out of football since the Packers fired him last season. He has spent his time this season preparing for his next job.
McCarthy went 125-77-2 in 13 seasons with Green Bay and won a Super Bowl in 2010.
The Browns are expected to interview McCarthy, something they didn’t do last season.
A national champion in two different college stops,
Urban Meyer’s name gets brought up for NFL jobs regularly. His innovative offense got him to Florida and his recruiting success built a juggernaut in Columbus. His stops with both the Gators and Buckeyes were halted due to health issues.
Jim Harbaugh hasn’t yet reached the heights expected when he took the Michigan job, but he has built a solid program to this point. He took the 49ers to the Super Bowl in the 2012 season and 44-19-1 as 49ers head coach.
His brother, John, coaches the Ravens and beat him in the Super Bowl.
Matt Rhule has resurrected Baylor’s program in the wake of the Art Briles scandal. The 44-year-old worked in the NFL under Tom Coughlin with the Giants before a stop at Temple on his way to Baylor.
Matt Campbell, the 40-year-old Massillon native, has put Iowa State’s program on the map. Toledo made him the youngest head coach in FBS when he took over their program at 32 years old. Campbell is an offensive mind but also carries the traits teams look for in head coaches.
Campbell interviewed for the Browns job last season. He went 5-7 as interim head coach of the Dolphins in 2015.
The Browns’ offensive coordinator in 2009 and 2010 under Eric Mangini,
Brian Daboll has helped build an effective offense around Josh Allen in Buffalo during their run to the playoffs. Daboll also had success working under Nick Saban for a season at Alabama.
Eric Bieniemy doesn’t call plays in Kansas City, but he’s worked under Andy Reid and works on installs and doing some of the nuts and bolts of the offense.
The Kansas City connection makes it interesting, but Bieniemy didn’t get an interview for the job last year.
Lincoln Riley has the connection with Baker Mayfield and will continue to be the hot college coaching name until he’s finally poached from Oklahoma.
Cross Ron Rivera off he list. He has emerged as a leading candidate to take over the Redskins.