CLEVELAND, Ohio — Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase remained in the mix for the Browns head coach vacancy on Tuesday even though the Browns flew home from his second interview in Los Angeles on Monday night without making him an offer.
In the midst of his lengthy interview with the Browns on Monday, Scheelhaase received an interview request from the Bills for their head coach vacancy, and honored that interview virtually later that night.
But even though the Browns left without a deal in hand, they returned home with the intent of doing more diligence on him and their other finalists, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and Todd Monken, in hopes of closing a deal possibly by Tuesday night. They spent the day at team headquarters in Berea, huddling up and deliberating on their candidates, and zeroing in on a decision.
The Browns also interviewed Commanders run game coordinator Anthony Lynn on Saturday night in Florida, but he wasn’t believed to be one of the top three finalists.
By Tuesday afternoon, Scheelhaase’s opportunity with the Bills dried up when Buffalo agreed to a five-year deal with their offensive coordinator, Joe Brady, to replace the fired Sean McDermott. Former Browns candidate Grant Udinski, offensive coordinator of the Jaguars, had also interviewed with the Bills and was still in contention. Udinski withdrew his name from the Browns’ search on Monday morning.
The Brady hire left three of the 10 head coach vacancies in this cycle still open in the Browns, Cardinals and Raiders. Scheelhaase had also interviewed with the Raiders for their head coach job.
One of the big considerations for the Browns on Tuesday was making sure they could retain Schwartz, either as head coach or defensive coordinator. Both Scheelhaase and Monken were open to keeping him, and he’s under contract through 2026. But it was also a matter of determining if he’d want to stay if he got passed over for the head coaching job that he really wanted.
A pairing of Monken and Schwartz, both 59, has been discussed, with Monken as head coach and Schwartz as defensive coordinator. If Monken doesn’t get the head coach job, he’s expected to take the Giants offensive coordinator post under his former Ravens boss, John Harbaugh.
It remains to be seen if Monken coming on board as Schwartz’s coordinator is an option.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the three finalists were still in the mix, and none had removed themselves from consideration.
The Browns were moving closer to their decision, and could possibly announce it on Wednesday.
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