The Cleveland Browns opened week two of their search for a new head coach on Monday by interviewing Mike McDaniel, who was let go by the Miami Dolphins last week after four years.
The Browns are one of seven NFL teams in the market for a new head coach at the moment, joining the Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Giants, and Tennessee Titans as franchises searching for that next “great leader of men” that will bring glory to the franchise.
There has been
considerable debate over the attractiveness of working for the Browns as opposed to one of those other teams, with the pros including:
- An owner willing to spend money.
- One of the league’s best defenses is already in place.
- Enough draft capital and (eventually) enough salary cap space to pull off a “heavy investment” into the offense.
- A rabid fan base that has no time for voodoo analytics or any other form of modern football.
The cons include:
- An ownership group that is looking for its seventh full-time head coach since 2012.
- A roster that does not have an NFL-caliber starting quarterback on it.
- A permanent seat at the table of dysfunctional NFL franchises. (With all due respect to Andre Szymt.)
- A fan base (and media) that believes football stopped evolving in 1985.
So while the Browns work their way through the latest coaching search, they are simultaneously waiting to see if they make it on the special invitation-only list of former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
A very important man – he has a Super Bowl on his résumé after all – Harbaugh simply can’t interview with just anyone after being fired by the Ravens. Rather, he is taking his time before deciding which three or four teams he will tap on the shoulder and grant the privilege of pitching him on the qualities of their respective franchises.
Just like every other candidate, there are things to like about Harbaugh:
- He knows the AFC North Division after spending 18 years in charge of the Ravens.
- He won that aforementioned Super Bowl (just don’t look too closely at his playoff record in the 13 years since then).
- His parents have ties to the Cleveland area, so Harbaugh’s “he gets us” rating is off the charts.
Harbaugh will be in demand, of course, and despite their flaws, the Browns may have an edge over the competition in the form of offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
Harbaugh is a bit different than some of the other candidates the Browns are interviewing in that he does not call plays or design the style of play for either the offense or defense. He also does not coach quarterbacks. But what he does well is build a coaching staff that is capable of carrying out his vision while he focuses on establishing a standard, according to Mike Sando at The Athletic.
He also found success in Baltimore despite fielding a mostly average to below-average offense (Baltimore’s average rank in EPA per play on offense under Harbaugh was 15.4) that was paired with a strong defense (average rank in EPA per play on defense of 8.8).
If Harbaugh truly is reliant on his staff, especially on the defensive side of the ball, then the opportunity to work with Schwartz would appear to be a big selling point that the Browns can offer. That is contingent on Schwartz wanting to stay, of course, but no one else is looking at him to be a head coach, and the opportunity to still run a defense with Myles Garrett on it has to be appealing.
It is hard to know what to make of Rees, however, as he only called plays for half of the 2025 season and was hamstrung by having to work with two of the worst rookie quarterbacks of the past 25 years. (It’s true by every metric imaginable. It’s time for everyone to learn it, know it, live it.)
But Rees has had interest from the college ranks (UCLA, North Carolina, and Penn State) as a head coach, and while he may not be “highly regarded,” he appears to be respected among his coaching peers, so he has that going for him.
If Berry can convince Harbaugh that there is a plan to fix the quarterback position, then having a ready-built defense under Schwartz and an offense that already has Rees in place could appeal to a coach who wants to focus on creating a system and being an overall leader of the team.
The first step is to be deemed worthy of Harbaugh’s time. But if he does grant the Browns an interview, Berry may have more to sell about the club than people realize.
What do you think, Browns fans? Can the Browns use Schwartz and Rees as selling points to Harbaugh? Let us know in the comments!
