With the Cleveland Browns’ head coaching search intensifying, there is growing uncertainty around the future of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Schwartz has already interviewed for the head coach opening with the Browns and remains a serious candidate, but there is also a possibility that they could lose him if the team hires a defensive-minded head coach.
According to Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, one in-house candidate is already on the radar.
“One possible candidate for the Browns defensive coordinator job is safeties coach Ephraim Banda, who’s interviewed for the coordinator jobs in Dallas and with the Jets,” Cabot wrote.
Banda has been with the Browns since 2023, when he joined the staff as safeties coach after spending more than a decade coaching at the college level.
Banda has already interviewed for defensive coordinator positions with both the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Jets, signaling that other teams view him as a legitimate rising candidate.
If Schwartz were to leave, promoting from within would give the Browns continuity.
Of course, no decision is imminent. Schwartz remains very much in play for the Browns’ head coaching job, and the Browns are also interviewing a wide range of candidates for that role.
Whether or not Schwartz stays, the Browns appear determined to protect what has become the foundation of their team: a dominant defense. And if change does come, Banda is now firmly on the short list as a potential next leader of that unit.
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