The Cleveland Browns officially announced the firing of defensive coordinator Joe Woods after three seasons with the team. The list of names they have requested permission to interview has started to take form on Monday as well. Though this list may not be complete so far it is a nice list of candidates that should be upgrades over Woods.
Among the candidates, there are guys with head coaching experience, a long track record, and some former NFL players. The Browns need to find someone whom players listen to, someone who is a leader, someone who commands the room, and someone who gets players to buy into their vision.
Let’s rank the candidates that are reported so far for the Browns.
Sean Desai
Seattle Seahawks associate head coach/defensive assistant is a respected coach that has been coaching defense in the NFL since 2013. Though he has been on the defensive side of the ball he has only had the title of defensive coordinator for one season with the Bears in 2021. There would be a risk in hiring Desai not knowing if he can consistently lead a defensive as the lead voice.
Jim Leonhard
Jim Leonhard has been impressive as the defensive coordinator of the Wisconsin Badgers since 2017. This season he was forced into the head coaching role on an interim basis and guided his team to a 5-3 record. Having a coach that has head coaching experience could really be beneficial for the Browns next year.
Leonhard is also a former player which could help him get his players to buy into his vision and scheme. The biggest question is can Leonhard make the jump from college to the NFL and still be as effective as he has been?
Brian Flores
Senior defensive assistant for the Steelers Brian Flores is a popular name again this offseason. Another coach that has never been a defensive coordinator but has a nice track record of coaching defense in the NFL. He started his NFL journey in 2008 with the New England Patriots where he stayed until he took the head coaching job with Miami.
To spend a decade coaching with Bill Belichick shows how respected he was to stay on that long. This season the Miami Dolphins defense had a strong dropoff from last season after Flores was fired.
Ejiro Evero
This season with the Denver Broncos was the first season for Ejiro Evero as an NFL defensive coordinator after being an assistant coach in the NFL since 2007. Denver’s offense was disappointing but Evero’s defense was not a problem, with his defense finishing seventh in the league in yards allowed per game.
Evero will interview for the Denver Broncos head coach vacancy so there is a chance the Browns won’t get a crack at the coach. He is a well-respected coach that seems to have a bright future in the NFL.
Jim Schwartz
Jim Schwartz has been coaching in the NFL since the early 90s and has had some success at just about every stop he has had. In total, he has been a defensive coordinator for 14 seasons for three teams, as well as spending five seasons as the head coach of the Detroit Lions.
Schwartz is a coach that commands respect, being able to point to multiple decades of experience and results to his name. He has coached in a Super Bowl and plenty of playoff games. As far as experience and track record Schwartz has the most by far of any of the candidates.
Jerod Mayo
If you are looking for a coach that can relate to players the best candidate is Jerod Mayo, who currently coaches in New England. After being the 10th overall pick in 2008 for the Patriots he played until 2015 and then joined the Patriots’ coaching staff in 2019.
Mayo won a Super Bowl as a player, which is the ultimate goal he commands respect from the players. Mayo has not had the title of defensive coordinator but has a big hand in the defensive success of the Patriots. He is the type of leader that others gravitate towards.
