Mike McDaniel’s and Washington Commanders General Manager Adam Peters both worked for the San Francisco 49ers during the 2021 NFL season.
It’s been just one week since the Cleveland Browns fired head coach Kevin Stefanski after their 5-12 finish in the 2025 season. Despite promising seasons in 2020 and 2023, Stefanski’s clock expired following this dreadful season, and now, the Browns are already deep into the process to find their next head coach.
As of the morning of January 12, the Browns have interviewed two candidates, scheduled three interviews, and requested interviews with three others. Here is the full list from NFL.com.
Notably, the two candidates they’ve already interviewed have been Tommy Rees and Jim Schwartz, both internal candidates.
Two of the Browns’ candidates are still currently coaching in the NFL playoffs: Aden Durde, the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator, and Nate Scheelhaase, the Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator. As such, they will be limited to virtual interviews as long as their teams remain alive in the postseason.
The only current candidate with NFL head coaching experience is the enigmatic Mike McDaniel, who is coming off of four seasons as the Miami Dolphins head coach. McDaniel led the Dolphins to a 35-33 record in those four seasons, with playoff appearances in each of his first two seasons. McDaniel comes from the Shanahan coaching tree, a great offensive mind, though his leadership style has come into question on multiple occasions.
The Browns bright spots this season outside of Myles Garrett were all members of their rookie class. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger made 152 tackles this season and is in line to win Defensive Rookie of the Year; RB Quinshon Judkins was spectacular before his brutal injury late in the season, and TE Harold Fannin exploded in the second half of the year. RB Dylan Sampson also showed flashes of excellence.
Obviously the biggest question is where to go at quarterback. Shedeur Sanders wasn’t great, but he certainly earned himself at least one more kick at the can next season. Will Cleveland be willing to let him keep playing or will they draft another QB?
That might be decided based on who gets hired as their next head coach.
Despite their 5-12 record this season, the Browns defense was a force to be reckoned with. As Cleveland looks to hire it’s next head coach, one of the biggest decisions will be whether they go with an offensive mind like McDaniel, Tommy Rees, Todd Monken, or Dan Pitcher, or if they go with a defensive mind like Jim Schwartz or Jesse Minter.
It’s a legitimate debate: on one hand, the Browns defense was so good that you might think you don’t need to do much to improve it. But on the other hand, if that defense takes a step back and the new coach can’t figure out their offensive problems, Cleveland would be in quite the precarious spot.
The decision the Browns make will show a lot about whats important to the front office: head coaching experience, offensive prowess, or defensive priority.
