Cleveland Browns: Ranking 7 head coaching candidates in play

The Cleveland Browns are the last team with a vacancy to hire their head coach but how do the seven candidates in play stack up against one another?

One year ago, the Cleveland Browns dropped the ball. Heading into an offseason that would see a runaway hype train sweep up the fanbase, they didn’t want to let Freddie Kitchens out of their grasp, so they made the man who started 2018 as the running backs coach and then became the interim offensive coordinator their head coach for the 2019 season. And it’s hard to imagine that working out worse.

Despite possessing a compilation of talent rarely seen in Cleveland that included Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr., Myles Garrett, Jarvis Landry, Olivier Vernon, Nick Chubb and many others, the Browns missed the mark tremendously, finishing 6-10 on the season. The offense took an enormous step back, the culture became a toxic mess (see Garrett’s incident and suspension as the prime example) and the team didn’t deliver on expectations.

Kitchens was relieved of his duties before Sunday in Week 17 had come to a close and, soon after, general manager John Dorsey was sent packing as well. Now, Cleveland is looking for yet another head coach to try and right the ship. And in the interest of developing Mayfield and finally getting the Browns out of the cellar, this is a hire they have to get right.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Browns hope to have a deal in place by Saturday, Jan. 11. By that time, they will have interviewed seven head coaching candidates, per Hayden Grove of Cleveland.com. So in the interest of making the right hire, let’s rank those seven candidates in terms of who would be the “right” hire for the Cleveland Browns.

7. Jim Schwartz

Coaching Experience: Eagles defensive coordinator (2016-present), Bills defensive coordinator (2014), Lions head coach (2009-13), Titans defensive coordinator (2001-08)

There’s no denying the defensive pedigree of Jim Schwartz throughout his time in the NFL. There’s a reason that he’s either been a defensive coordinator or a head coach every year since the turn of the century. He’s been successful on that side of the ball time and again throughout his career, something that the Browns would love to see given their young defensive talent on the roster.

Schwartz is known for his constructively explosive demeanor when coaching a defense, getting his guys fired up and to buy into what he’s selling. In that regard, he would make sense for Cleveland. He could, in theory, help to remedy the culture in the locker room and help to maximize the talent of the defense.

At the same time, however, the primary focus of the Browns seems to be fixing the offense that Kitchens left vastly underperforming. That’s something that Schwartz simply isn’t equipped to address himself. Sure, perhaps the right offensive coordinator hire could help but that’s not ideally what they should be looking for.

Furthermore, Schwartz’s five years with the Lions as head coach yielded just one winning season (10-6 in 2011) and he was dismissed after a 7-9 campaign in 2013. When you put that with his lack of offensive prowess and his frustrating stubbornness that Eagles fans will surely tell you about, he’s at the bottom of the list of candidates.