BEREA — Who will be the next head coach of the Cleveland Browns?
That’s now the question after the team fired coach Kevin Stefanski on the heels of a 20-18 win over the Cincinnati Bengals that wrapped up a 5-12 season. While Stefanski was 8-26 in the last two seasons, he also departs as the winningest coach in the Browns’ expansion era dating back to 1999, and the fourth-most wins in franchise history.
The Browns decision-makers, specifically owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam and general manager Andrew Berry, are in the very early process of lining up the potential candidates and sending out interview requests. So the exact list of potential replacements remains fluid.
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What follow is more of an introduction to the potential candidate pool the Browns could be involved with once they get into the process. Some of these names won’t be targeted at all, while there’s always a mystery candidate or three who may not be listed.
Still, if nothing else, allow this to be a quick guide to some of the names you’ll potentially hear over the next few weeks. Nothing to in-depth, but enough to get an idea of the cast of characters on this year’s coaching carousel.
Potential in-house candidates to be Browns coach
- Tommy Rees, offensive coordinator: The 33-year-old offensive coordinator is a favored son within the Browns organization, and comes with some big recommendations from the likes of Nick Saban and Mike Vrabel. Do they try to get in on the ground floor for a potential young up-and-comer? Could he be part of a package deal with the next person on the list?
- Jim Schwartz, defensive coordinator: The in-house candidate who feels like not only the more likely one to emerge as a potential target, but who may actually be the final target? The 59-year-old has coordinated Browns defenses that have twice been top-two in the league, and he’s been a head coach before more than a decade-and-a-half ago with the Detroit Lions. There would be a certain segment of both the locker room and the fan base that would love this move.
Potential candidates to be Browns coach who are former NFL head coaches
- Brian Daboll, former New York Giants head coach: «Dabes» could just decide to count his buyout cash after being fired by the New York Giants during the season. If the 50-year-old does want to immediately jump back into it, he’s not unfamiliar with Cleveland, having been Eric Mangini’s offensive coordinator in 2009-10. The man’s also responsible for helping Josh Allen turn into a consistent Most Valuable Player candidate.
- Kliff Kingsbury, Washington Commanders offensive coordinator/former Arizona Cardinals head coach: Do the Browns was to roll the dice on being the 46-year-old’s rebound head-coaching job? Kingsbury was tremendous with Jayden Daniels while coaching with the Commanders. However, he had his struggled as Kyler Murray’s head coach with the Arizona Cardinals.
- Mike McCarthy, former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys head coach: This generation’s Norv Turner, the offensive-centric retread head coach who’s going to get mentioned in every cycle. To be fair to McCarthy, he won games in both Green Bay and Dallas. However, the number he won never felt like it was to the level it should’ve been.
- Robert Saleh, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator/Former New York Jets head coach: Want a guy with head-coaching experience who’s a defensive coach who runs a scheme similar to what the Browns already do run, at least with their front? Saleh, the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator, can use the lessons he learned working for Woody Johnson’s New York Jets and put them to use working for the Haslams’ Browns. The Haslams did like him a lot as the second option when they originally hired Stefanski.
Potential candidates to be Browns coaching who are offensive assistants and would be 1st-time head coaches
- Klayton Adams, Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator: Never heard of Adams? You wouldn’t necessarily be alone. However, the Cowboys offensive coordinator has background working under former Browns assistant coach Drew Petzing during his time as the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive line coach. Adams’ strong suit is the run game, which he helped design with Petzing, which could get him noticed on the carousel. The lack of play-calling in his background could prevent him from getting much run.
- Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator: What the overall thought on the Buffalo offense is may dictate how some view Brady, who’s one of the few offensive coaches who feel like a top of the wish list type this cycle. Allen at quarterback? Obviously elite. The Buffalo run game? Again, top of the league. The struggles that offense has had at times recently? Not ideal. Brady’s clearly a strong offensive mind, especially if you dig into his college background. The coach who helped scheme up that 2019 LSU juggernaut? That was Brady. The only shame is that none of those players on that 2019 LSU offense would be able to join him.
- Thomas Brown, New England Patriots pass game coordinator/tight ends coach: The 39-year-old comes with the stamp of approval from Mike Vrabel and Sean McVay. His last two stops have directly allowed him to work with two of the top young quarterbacks in the league: Chicago’s Caleb Williams and New England’s Drake Maye. Obviously, there’s a relative lack of play-calling in his background, although he did do it twice: Carolina in 2023 over the final 11 games and Chicago last year on an interim basis as well. He also spent about a month as an interim head coach for the Bears in 2024. Feels like someone who’s just about ready for his own show to run.
- Klint Kubiak, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator: There’s a familiarity in the building with Kubiak because he was just in the Browns’ building a year ago to interview for the offensive coordinator vacancy. Rees, obviously, got the job, but it at least gave the son of former NFL head coach Gary Kubiak some face time with the Browns. Here’s the question, though. What Kubiak runs is very much along the same lines as what Stefanski ran. Yes, there’s been success with Seattle and Sam Darnold this season, but there’s no head-coaching experience in his background. If you’re going to hire a Stefanski clone with no head-coaching experience, why not just keep the guy who did win 11 games twice with a franchise that has mostly struggled to win more than six for the last 27 season?
- Mike LaFleur, Los Angeles Rams assistant quarterbacks coach: LaFleur’s resume includes direct connections to both McVay and Kyle Shanahan. That should allow for him to pick his job in the NFL. Ah, but his resume also includes a stretch as the Jets’ offensive coordinator and play-caller, which very much is what people will point to as a knock against him. Depending on what Green Bay does with its head coach, he might not even be the No. 1 LaFleur on the market. Second chances are certainly allowed, and that would be a big argument for him to teams interested.
- Davis Webb, Denver Broncos pass grame coordinator/quarterbacks coach: Want to really get in on the ground floor of a coach who has all sorts of fans around NFL coaching circles? That’s Webb, the longtime practice squad quarterback for teams like the Bills and the Giants who has taken the fast track in his coaching career since retiring as a player in 2022. He’s currently working hands-on with Bo Nix, who had two outstanding seasons with the Denver Broncos. You can argue that head coach Sean Payton has something to do with that, and it’s certainly true that he would have some of that. But Payton’s coaching tree isn’t nearly as picked over as some other prominent NFL head coaches, and that feels like a missed opportunity.
Potential candidates to be Browns coach who are 4-3 defensive assistants and would be 1st-time head coaches
- Lou Anarumo, Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator: The Colts defense certainly faded down the stretch this season, and his last couple of defenses in Cincinnati were, shall we say, porous. The defenses which helped the Bengals get to back-to-back AFC championship games and with 90 seconds or so of winning a Super Bowl? Those were pretty good. Browns fans got a good look at what he could do with a top pass rusher with Trey Hendrickson. Myles Garrett, the reason why a four-down defensive scheme is the coin of the realm in Cleveland, certainly could do some things in that as well.
- Matt Burke, Houston Texans defensive coordinator: Burke’s direct mentor is Jim Schwartz. What do you think his defense is going to look like? Burke was finally given play-calling duties in Week 4 from Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, and the Texans have been nasty on that side of the ball ever since. The only question would be, if you’re going to pick a Schwartz disciple, wouldn’t you just pick Schwartz himself?
- Jeff Hafley, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator: The Packers have a high sack rate with Hafley at the helm. They have also been, along with the Browns, one of the best all-around defenses in the league this season. Hafley has head-coaching experience, albeit at the college level from his time at Boston College. He also was the defensive coordinator at Ohio State, if that’s the sort of thing that matters to you. Hafley’s going to be one of the names to watch in the coaching cycle this year. Will it be one in Cleveland?
Potential candidates to be Browns coach who favor a 3-4 defensive scheme
- Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator/former Miami Dolphins head coach: There’s no one who questions the way Flores can rattle an opposing offense with his schemes. The Browns have seen it first-hand the last two years between a 2024 joint practice and a 2025 game in London. The question is about how to make Garrett fit within that scheme. There’s some who would simply say you find a way. Something says it’s not that easy. A third person would remind everyone who was a candidate to be the Browns’ defensive coordinator job when it went to Schwartz. That’s right, Flores.
- Jesse Minter, Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator: As with the other two on the list, the initial caveat is the 3-4 scheme and how the future Hall of Famer on the Browns fits within that scheme or an adjusted version of the scheme. He’s certainly going to get plenty of interest, so maybe this is one where he turns his attention elsewhere.
- Chris Shula, Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator: This is absolutely a schematic issue. Don Shula’s grandson? John Caroll University connections all over? That would just scream top of the list to come back to Northeast Ohio. The fact he’s coaching under McVay — whose legendary grandfather, John, was from Massillon, just to extend the Northeast Ohio ties — only strengthens the connections to a potentially strong offensive staff. But again, repeating a litle bit, but you do have to make sure you make Myles Garrett happy with your defensive scheme.
Potential candidates to be Browns coach who are current college head coaches
- Ryan Day, Ohio State head coach: Day currently possesses the best job in college football. Full stop. Now, the best job in college football also comes with a special breed of headache known as over-the-top expectations. If Day would like to try his hand at being a head coach in the NFL, few college jobs better prepare you for all of that than the one he currently has in Columbus. If Day were to try his hand at being an NFL head coach, would he want it to be with a team whose wide receiving corps may be worse than the one he’s usually working with at Ohio State?
- Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame head coach: Freeman did sign an extension with the Fighting Irish just recently. That was done in connection with reported interest from the Giants. That doesn’t mean the right NFL job couldn’t still pull him from South Bend. There’s three big-time football coaching jobs in Ohio: Two in the NFL and one in Columbus. It’s hard to see Cleveland, at least right now, being ahead of either the other Ohio NFL job or the Ohio State job, especially for the ex-Buckeye player.
- Dan Lanning, Oregon head coach: There’s just been something about Lanning that has appeal well beyond the college world. The question is if he wants to leave what is still one of the best jobs in college football that’s backed by all that Nike money to take on the NFL challenge?
Potential candidates to be Browns coach who are current NFL head coaches
- John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens head coach: Every few years, it feels like the Ravens and Harbaugh are heading toward a divorce. Then they realize how good they have it together and they make up. It just seems way too far-fetched that they would separate this time, even with the struggles this season and the questions about Harbaugh’s relationship with quarterback Lamar Jackson. However, the 8-9 season this year and missing a year in Jackson’s prime, even with his own issues, might be the tipping point. Teams would trip over themselves to get a chance to speak with him if he came on the open market.
- Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins head coach: It’ll be interesting to see what’s done with McDaniel in Miami. The first two seasons he was with the Dolphins resulted in playoffs. The last two? Losing seasons and questions about his future. That his name was floated out there by some national reporters as a potential Browns’ target certainly is intriguing, although still need to see a lot more to believe there’s fire with that smoke.
- Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steeelers head coach: And now for something totally absurd. There’s a sizeable segment of Steelers fans who are tired of 9-8 and losing in the first round of the playoffs. There’s no indication that Tomlin’s bosses with the Steelers are among those in that group.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
