The 4-12 Cleveland Browns have one more game against the Cincinnati Bengals on the schedule before a long offseason filled with plenty of questions. There have been plenty of promising developments up and down this organization, but there is still a lot to be desired in the win-loss column that needs to be addressed ahead of 2026.
One major area of focus is going to be the head coaching spot, as two-time Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski is on the hot seat after another disappointing campaign. He could be fired on Monday following the Bengals game, which will surely usher in a coaching search that should have a lot of interesting names involved.
Tony Rizzo threw out an interesting name on The Tony Rizzo Show on ESPN Cleveland ahead of the Week 18 game.
As exciting as it would be to make this hire, Browns fans shouldn’t get their hopes up because it’s incredibly unlikely with how much success he is having at Indiana.
“You know who I want to coach the Browns? I’d take Curt Cignetti right now.”
"You know who I want to coach the Browns? I'd take Curt Cignetti right now," – Rizz 👀👀👀
Do you agree? https://t.co/S2VnkvPrDa pic.twitter.com/0kwW1QfgUd
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) January 2, 2026
Cignetti has turned Indiana into an absolute powerhouse in just two years and is riding high coming off a dominant 38-3 win over Alabama in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff. He’ll now lead his 14-0 Hoosiers into a matchup with Oregon for a spot in the National Championship game.
Cignetti would be an interesting coach for the Browns because he’d have an outside chance of being able to coach his Heisman-winning quarterback at the next level if the Browns can find a way to trade up. Likely No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza joining his coach in the NFL would be a fun story, as unlikely as it may be.
We can’t get too ahead of ourselves here, as it’s far from a sure thing that Stefanski will be fired. If he is, general manager Andrew Berry will likely at least make a call to Cignetti to gauge his interest.
NEXT: Former Player Points To Key Area Shedeur Sanders Must Improve
