Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns are now entering Week 2 of the most important 120 days that will revive the franchise, and the interviews for the head coaching position continue to fill the calendar.
So far, general manager Andrew Berry has done a solid for offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz by having an interview with both in-house candidates.
Berry has also completed interviews with Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde, and Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher.
This week will bring an interview with Mike McDaniel, who was fired last week after four seasons as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Berry has also requested permission to interview Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, which could also come this week if the Chargers lose their playoff game tonight against the New England Patriots.
The Browns are also waiting to see if they land on John Harbaugh’s special list of three to four teams he is willing to grant an audience and have the chosen teams grovel for his services.
Berry added a new name to the list on Sunday morning with a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Browns would like to interview Nate Scheelhaase, currently the pass game coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, for the head coach position.
According to his bio on the Rams’ team website:
Nate Scheelhaase is entering his second season with the Los Angeles Rams and serves as the pass game coordinator after spending the 2024 season as an offensive assistant and pass game specialist.
He joined the Rams after spending six seasons on the Iowa State football staff, serving in various roles (2018-23). In 2022, he served as the Cyclones’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Scheelhaase also spent two years coaching the running backs and wide receivers and took on run game coordinator responsibilities (2021-22). Before splitting duties for the program, he coached the receivers for two seasons (2019-20) and the running backs for one season (2018).
It is an interesting move by Berry as Scheelhaase has been linked to offensive coordinator positions, most notably with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but not to any other head coaching spots.
It could be that the Browns are simply interested in picking Scheelhaase’s brain about their offensive issues, especially since he apparently is good at picking up what concepts are working throughout the league, as Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur told Sports Illustrated:
“He’s a smart dude. One, he’s incredibly efficient with finding stuff around the league and what people are doing and keeping up with the times, which is so important. He’s just eager to not just know what we’re doing or what the Houston Texans defense is doing, but he’s eager to know what the landscape of the league is, and that’s a big factor.”
It may be a big leap to go from being an assistant coach for just two seasons to a head coaching job, but there is...
