Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns are well known for cycling through quarterbacks, but no one should sleep on their ability to churn through head coaches.
Under the ownership of Al Lerner and then his son, Randy, the Browns went through five full-time head coaches from 1999 through 2011. Rather than realize that it is a recipe for disaster, current owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam took it as one of those “hold my beer” challenges, and are now searching for their seventh full-time head coach after Monday’s decision to fire Kevin Stefanski.
Having been through this so many times, it should be easy to pull up a list of available head coaches and create the “three top options” for the next man tasked with leading the Browns to glory. However, reviewing the various lists of candidates leaves one feeling less than enthusiastic.
However, much like Myles Garrett taking the money to stay with the Browns, this is what we signed up for, so let’s set a few guardrails before we dive in.
First off, absolutely no retreads. Everyone believes they are going to find the next Bill Belichick or Andy Reid, but the odds are you are going to wind up with the next Hue Jackson, Lovie Smith, Jeff Fisher, or Ken Whisenhunt. So, thank you for your interest, Mike McCarthy, Robert Salah, Brian Flores, and Kliff Kingsbury; however, we are moving forward with other candidates.
We are also going to work under the assumption that the NFL remembers that Jim Schwartz was 29-51 in five years as head coach of the Detroit Lions, so no one will be giving him a call. That keeps him in Cleveland as defensive coordinator, which means the head coach search will focus on offensive-minded candidates.
Enough stalling, here are three options that, while we may not be fully endorsing them, are names that would be acceptable if the Browns decide to give it a go.
As offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers for two years (2020 and 2021), Brady did not have much to work with at quarterback as the team cycled through Teddy Bridgewater, P.J. Walker, Sam Darnold, and Cam Newton. Those Carolina teams finished at No. 24 and No. 29 in points per game, and were at or near the bottom of the league in yards gained.
But after moving to the Buffalo Bills and taking over as offensive coordinator in 2024, Brady called the shots for an offense that finished No. 2 in scoring and No. 10 in yards behind MVP quarterback Josh Allen. The offense may not be as explosive this season, but the Bills are among the league leaders in both categories and have one of the best running games, which is always popular with Browns fans who love nothing more than running the ball.
Brady also knows what bad quarterback play looks like from his time with the Panthers, which would presumably be helpful as the Browns are planning a “heavy investment” into the offense, which...
