Cleveland (92.3 The Fan) – The search for the Browns next head coach officially entered it's second week Monday with no clear-cut indication where the organization is leaning.
Here's what we know.
The Candidates
Browns interim head coach and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams interviewed on Jan. 1, former Lions and Colts head coach Jim Caldwell on Jan. 2, Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski Jan. 3, Saints assistant head coach and tight ends coach Dan Campbell on Jan. 4, Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores on Jan. 5 and Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus Sunday. Offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens interviewed Monday and it remains unclear if former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy will interview this week.
There are at minimum 7 known candidates for the job and potentially 1 or 2 more could still interview after that.
The search committee
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Sunday night that general manager John Dorsey, who is leading the search, has been joined by owner Jimmy Haslam, executive vice president JW Johnson, assistant general manager Eliot Wolf, chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta and vice president of player personnel Andrew Berry.
Out of the running
Bruce Arians: Arians campaigned for the job throughout the month of December but did not receive an interview and it appears he is headed to coach Tampa Bay despite saying during that media campaign that the Browns job was the only one he'd come out of retirement for.
Josh McDaniels: The Patriots offensive coordinator did not receive an interview during the window that assistants from playoff teams were permitted to speak with the Browns. Dorsey and the committee can't talk to McDaniels now because league rules prohibit interviews with assistants of teams still alive until after the conference championship games and those are reserved for second interviews.
Ranking the candidates
Our top 3 that we believe to be in legitimate consideration are Campbell, Kitchens and Eberflus. It's a toss up as to who is 1, 2 and 3 in that race.
Caldwell is sellable because of the work he did in Detroit to turn the Lions around, a Super Bowl appearance in his first season with the Colts, and by making the playoffs in 4 of his 7 seasons as a head coach. Working against him is the fact that outside of the Super Bowl appearance, he did not advance past Wild Card weekend the other 3 times.
Stefanski served as the Vikings offensive coordinator for 3 weeks and it stands to reason he has a better chance of being considered for a coordinator job than the head coaching job with the Browns.
Williams, despite his outstanding work to get the Browns out of the AFC North cellar by going 5-3 in the second half of the season, appears to have the longest odds in our view.
The timeline
Dorsey is not holding himself to a definitive date to decide, however the status of the search will come into focus this week. If the Browns don't announce a coach by weeks end, it stands to reason through the process of elimination that the primary candidates of interest would be Eberflus, Flores or Campbell – all whom remain in the playoffs.
League rules prohibit the Browns from interviewing any coaches that remain in the post season until after the conference championship games, but prior to traveling to the Super Bowl, assuming the timeline and search gets that far.
Cleveland Browns coaching search enters second week 1
Daryl Ruiter-92.3 The FanCleveland Browns coaching search enters second week 2
Daryl Ruiter-92.3 The FanCleveland Browns coaching search enters second week 3
Tim Fuller-USA TODAY SportsCleveland Browns coaching search enters second week 4
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY SportsCleveland Browns coaching search enters second week 5
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsCleveland Browns coaching search enters second week 6
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsCleveland Browns coaching search enters second week 7
Matt Kryger/IndyStar (via USA Today sports images)Cleveland Browns coaching search enters second week 8
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