The Cleveland Browns are knee deep in their head coaching search after letting Kevin Stefanski go despite ending the season on a two-game winning streak. Stefanski won Coach of the Year twice and broke this franchise’s decades-long playoff victory drought, but it was clearly time to get a new voice in the building.
At this stage of the coaching search, the Browns are still casting a wide net and entertaining a wide array of candidates, including both current coordinators Tommy Rees and Jim Schwartz, as well as Mike McDaniel, Dan Pitcher, and more. It’s an exciting list of names so far, but one former player recently floated the idea of hiring another big name who hasn’t seen his name come up in rumors around the league.
During a recent appearance on Speakeast, player-turned-analyst Emmanuel Acho suggested that the Browns should hire Deion Sanders as the head coach. He explained that because Shedeur Sanders is the future at quarterback, it’s important to bring in a coach who can help him the most.
“If Shedeur is going to be the future, you’re not going to draft a quarterback, you can’t get (Fernando) Mendoza, it’s not a quarterback class. Who has always gotten the most out of Shedeur? Deion Sanders.”
He explained that Sanders isn’t a great X’s and O’s coach and is more of a motivator, so it’s important to find an offensive coordinator who can fit that technical role and keep Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator. He added that landing Deion as coach will be more helpful for Shedeur than anything the front office can do from a personnel perspective.
This is a wild take from someone who has a history of wild takes.
Deion has been adamant that he is still committed to the University of Colorado, and Shedeur didn’t show enough in his seven starts as a rookie to convince the front office to do something this drastic. The team is bigger than just him, and the fact is that Deion may not have the amount of experience and coaching success that an NFL team would want from a head coach.
It’s a fun idea, but it’s incredibly short-sighted for so many reasons. Unless Deion lands an interview, this sounds like a complete nothing-burger.
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