As the world of the NFL turns, every day is a new adventure. At least, every day but a few weeks in the middle of the summer before training camp. Weeks after “Black Monday” brought about the departure
of Cleveland Browns HC Kevin Stefanski, and a number of others around the NFL, the Buffalo Bills have reportedly decided to part ways with their head coach, Sean McDermott.
As the Browns look to move on to second interviews in their head coaching search, their first in-person interviews are this week, the Bills, with QB Josh Allen, now shoot to the top of the list of job openings, along with Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens.
Cleveland also has an opportunity to right a wrong with McDermott now available. Years ago, with Sashi Brown in charge, with a young Andrew Berry as his vice president of player personnel, the Browns brass wanted to hire McDermott over Hue Jackson, but were overruled by owner Jimmy Haslam:
After a few rounds of interviews, the brass voted. It was 4-1 in favor of Sean McDermott, the Panthers’ defensive coordinator, a coach who had crushed his interview and was known to be open to new ideas.
While Paul DePodesta has recently departed the team, years ago, he pushed hard for Haslam to reconsider hiring Jackson over McDermott:
DePodesta wrote Haslam an email arguing that the Jackson hire went against many of the characteristics of successful coaches they had discussed. Brown met with Haslam — there’s always a race to be the last one to talk to Haslam before a big decision — and told him he thought hiring Jackson would be a bad call. “I hear you,” Haslam said.
Then Haslam flew to Cincinnati and hired Jackson, who would report directly to ownership.
With the Bills, McDermott proved Brown and DePodesta right:
Now, with Buffalo becoming a prime destination for candidates, Cleveland has a chance to head back to the McDermott well and see if they still like what they see.
Do you think the Browns should quickly interview McDermott or should they stay the course with their current search?
Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below
