The Cleveland Browns are deep into their head coaching search, and if you’ve been following the breadcrumbs, it’s clear this isn’t your typical NFL hiring process. There’s been plenty of chatter suggesting defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was scaring off top candidates, but according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, that narrative doesn’t hold water.
In a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Pelissero pulled back the curtain on what’s really going on in Cleveland. And let’s just say - it’s complicated.
The Browns aren’t just conducting interviews; they’re running what amounts to a full-blown academic gauntlet. We’re talking post-interview essays, personality tests, and multi-part questionnaires.
That’s just to get a second interview.
It’s a unique - some might say exhausting - approach. And it might help explain why candidates like Mike McDaniel, who had no shortage of interest elsewhere, decided to pass on the opportunity. Jesse Minter, meanwhile, had an offer on the table from Baltimore before Cleveland even reached the point of satisfying the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to conduct at least two in-person interviews with diverse candidates before making a hire.
The Browns call it a “data-driven process,” and Pelissero emphasized that this isn’t new for Cleveland. It’s how they’ve operated under owner Jimmy Haslam and GM Andrew Berry - meticulous, methodical, and, at times, maddeningly slow.
But here’s where things get interesting. While Schwartz - who remains under contract and has been involved in the search - was the first to get a second interview, he’s not the frontrunner.
Not even close. According to Pelissero, Schwartz is more of a fallback option if the Browns don’t find what they’re looking for elsewhere.
So who are they looking at? Enter Grant Udinski and Nate Scheelhaase - two young, offensive-minded coaches who fit the Browns’ preferred profile.
Both are bright, forward-thinking, and, as Pelissero put it, part of the “tall, thin guys who came from Ivy League-type schools” archetype Cleveland seems to favor. Neither went to Yale or Harvard, but they check a lot of the boxes the Browns are looking for.
Udinski, just 30 years old, is in his first season as the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator and has quickly built a reputation as a rising star. Scheelhaase, 35, has climbed the coaching ladder with stops at Iowa State and most recently with the Rams. According to Pelissero, both have caught the attention of the Browns’ front office and could be the kind of bold, modern hires that align with their long-term vision.
Still, there’s a lot of uncertainty. Cleveland hasn’t even brought Scheelhaase in for an in-person interview yet - that’s expected to happen after the NFC Championship Game.
And while Schwartz might not be Plan A, he’s still very much in the picture. He’s the only candidate on their current list with NFL head coaching experience, and his work with Myles Garrett and the Browns’ defense over the past three years speaks for itself.
That unit has been one of the league’s best, and Schwartz deserves credit for that.
But if Schwartz was truly the guy, the Browns had their window. After the 31-3 loss to the Bears in Week 15, they could’ve moved on from Kevin Stefanski, handed the interim reins to Schwartz, and used those final three games as a live audition. Instead, they stuck with Stefanski through the end of the season, a decision that now suggests Schwartz was never their top choice.
Right now, Cleveland is one of the last teams in this coaching cycle without a hire. And if they end up circling back to Schwartz after all this - after the tests, the essays, the waiting - it’s going to feel less like a strategic decision and more like settling for what was already in the building.
The Browns are playing the long game, as they often do. But in a league that moves fast and rewards decisiveness, there’s a fine line between being thorough and being left behind.