The Cleveland Browns’ head coaching search is now over two weeks old, and it doesn’t sound like there are any obvious favorites in the clubhouse to succeed Kevin Stefanski. A few candidates have received second interviews, such as defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, but nothing has materialized just yet as the team continues to work through a handful of external interviews.
Some exciting coordinators around the league who could still be in the mix are Dan Pitcher and Grant Udinski, both innovative young offensive minds who are highly coveted around the NFL. Recently, another exciting young offensive mind withdrew from consideration to be Cleveland’s next head coach, which brought great joy to local media legend Bruce Drennan.
During a recent episode of Bonus Time with Bruce Drennan, Drennan discussed the recent development of former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel withdrawing from a second interview with the Browns and opting to join the Los Angeles Chargers as offensive coordinator. Drennan isn’t upset about this turn of events whatsoever.
“Why would we want him? [Miami] is so happy that he’s gone. Our hapless Browns stunk, and we annihilated the Dolphins when we played them,” Drennan said.
Bruce Drennan may be the happiest man in America that the Cleveland Browns will not be hiring Mike McDaniel. 😂😂😂
"Why would we want him? Our hapless Browns stunk and we annihilated the Dolphins."
presented by @drinkgaragebeer https://t.co/UsJc4UIb6p pic.twitter.com/Gp31Tercuq
— Bruce Drennan Show (@Bruce_Drennan) January 21, 2026
With the way McDaniel was fired, it would appear that the decision-makers went back and forth on the decision, as they waited a few days until after the season ended to get rid of him. It was a surprising twist after it was reported that McDaniel’s job was safe and he’d play a role in helping the team find a new general manager.
He did a great job in Miami and even avoided losing the locker room and pushing the team to seven wins this past season with Quinn Ewers taking over for Tua Tagovailoa down the stretch. To discredit all of his work in Miami because the Browns blew them out this past season would be disingenuous.
This gives off “you can’t quit, you’re fired” energy. The Browns would have benefited greatly from landing a head coach like McDaniel, and it’s damning that he chose to be an OC elsewhere rather than become the Browns’ head coach.
It makes you wonder whether this is a sentiment shared by other potential candidates, because you only get so many chances to be a head coach in the NFL, and McDaniel might never have gotten another one if he had taken over the Browns and things had gone poorly for reasons beyond his control. This is still a team without a quarterback and over the salary cap due to owing Deshaun Watson $80 million in 2026. It’s easy to act like they didn’t want McDaniel in the first place, but there isn’t a strong contingency plan in place right now.
This coaching search has gotten uncertain and confusing, and the Browns need to stay hard at work to find the right guy with so many viable candidates already landing elsewhere.
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