Two big names have surfaced, but the Cleveland Browns should clearly prioritize Josh McDaniels over Urban Meyer.
As they should out of the gate, the Cleveland Browns are casting a wide net in search of a new head coach. But two prominent names surfaced on Thursday, with reports regarding Urban Meyer and Josh McDaniels.
According to Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports and The Athletic, the Browns have “strong interest” in Meyer. Feldman’s source could very well be Meyer himself, as they are colleagues at FOX. But leaving that aside, Meyer can now be added to the list of candidates in Cleveland until further notice.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, McDaniels loved Baker Mayfield during the 2018 pre-draft process, and would be eager to work with the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner. The parting of ways with general manager John Dorsey theoretically paves a path for McDaniels to Cleveland, as he is considered likely to want to work with his own guy and the Browns can accommodate him.
Even with his excellent win-loss record as a college coach, and good work with quarterbacks at every stop along the way, Meyer is a big name, splashy hire and hardly a slam-dunk to succeed in the NFL. McDaniels was a dud in his first run as an NFL head coach, lasting less than two seasons (2009-10) while posting a 11-17 record with the Denver Broncos, but that black mark has surely faded.
If McDaniels wants the job, as appears to be the case if he is indeed eager to work with Mayfield, the Browns should be doing everything they can to jump to the front of the line to interview him. The aforementioned move to restructure the front office and part with Dorsey would ideally place them high on his list of interviews too.
If it’s ultimately between Meyer and McDaniels, which is hardly obvious given the list of candidates that are out there they want to interview, McDaniels is the clear choice to become next head coach of the Browns.
This is also the Browns, who go through head coaches and front office people like most people go through underwear under owner Jimmy Haslam. So what’s deemed to be the smartest decision from the outside seems unlikely to be the decision that’s ultimately made.