BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns have begun the process of replacing Joe Woods as defensive coordinator by requesting permission to speak with multiple candidates Monday.
The team has requested permission from the Steelers to speak with senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach Brian Flores, Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, Seahawks associate head coach and defensive assistant Sean Desai as well as Titans senior defensive assistant Jim Schwartz.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski declined to say if the search will be limited or be expansive, but he indicated it will not be his decision alone.
“I think with this type of decision you want to get everybody’s input,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, I will spend a lot of time with candidates and cover everything A to Z, but I think it is important to get input from everybody.”
Both Flores and Schwartz possess previous head coaching experience, but that does not appear to be a requirement.
“I don’t know if there is one specific set of criteria,” Stefanski said. “We are excited about some of the people who we will be able to talk to, and everybody’s résumé is going to be a little bit different so I am very open minded in that regard. This is a process that you have to stay true to. I want to make sure that we meet with all of the candidates and understand what they are about. I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, so of speak. I want to make sure that we remain true to it, trust in it, really get to know these candidates and see how that vision fits in with what we are trying to accomplish.”
Current defensive assistants are not up for the job.
“I won’t be interviewing them for that position,” Stefanski said.
Flores has 15 years of coaching experience and he went 24-25 in three years with the Dolphins while Schwartz has 30 years on his resume, including five years with the Lions where he led them to the playoffs.
Mayo was a 2008 first round pick for New England where he won All-Pro honors once and a Super Bowl. This is his fourth year in the coaching ranks.
Desai has 17 years experience but none as a head coach. He was the Bears defensive coordinator in 2021.
“We are going to look very hard at all these candidates, and schematically, they look at our roster and they look at our tape and we can start talking ball and what we could do differently,” Stefanski said. “Those are all conversations to make sure that then our personnel matches up in the vision of what we want to do.”
Tennessee has also requested permission from the Browns to speak with assistant general manager Glenn Cook about their general manager vacancy.
Cook interviewed last year with the Bears and Vikings for GM jobs.
The Browns fired Woods following a 7-10 season Monday morning.
