After interviewing former Dolphins head coach, Mike McDaniel, to thier DC, Jim Schwartz, the Cleveland Browns might finally be locking in on a candidate.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano has predicted who the next head coach of the Cleveland Browns will be. Spoiler: It's someone who is incredibly innovative when it comes to the offensive side of the ball.

“Cleveland’s perpetually challenging quarterback situation could make this job a tough sell, but McDaniel is quirky, creative and confident. And he had success in a challenging QB situation during his first two seasons in Miami. It’s not tough to imagine the Browns’ front office wanting to tap into McDaniels’ ideas about how to design and run an offense.”

The worst thing abou the Browns in the 2025 season was their offense. Mike McDaniel has the potential to fix that. The Browns' offense has lacked speed and space, which is exactly where the former Miami Dolphins can center his gameplan around.

He comes with an ideology of consistently producing explosive plays from a schematic standpoint on the field.

Plus, his offense uses pre-snap motion to read defenses, create favorable matchups, and disguise play intentions. His number with the Dolphins speaks for him.

He worked with players like Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel, helping quarterback Brian Hoyer to his only 3,000‑yard passing season. And Graziano isn't the only one saying this.

“If I had to just make an educated guess, again, this is a guess, but this is based on some of my conversations. I think he’ll [McDaniel] end up being a prime candidate in Cleveland, so we’ll see where it goes,” ESPN senior NFL reporter, Jeremy Fowler, said.

Who else are the candidates for the Cleveland Browns?

Other than the former Miami Dolphins head coach, the Browns have interviewed 5 other candidates. These include:

• Todd Monken - Offensive Coordinator, Baltimore Ravens
• Aden Durde - Defensive Coordinator, Seattle Seahawks
• Dan Pitcher - Offensive Coordinator, Cincinnati Bengals
• Jim Schwartz - Defensive Coordinator, Cleveland Browns
• Tommy Rees - Offensive Coordinator, Cleveland Browns

Other than these, they are reports that they have requested an interview with Jesse Minter (Chargers DC), Grant Udinski (Jaguars OC), Chris Shula (Rams DC), Nate Scheelhaase (Rams pass game coordinator), and John Harbaugh (former Ravens HC).

Harbaugh seems to be taken by the Giants, as per the latest reports. But is there anyone else you would consider ahead of Mike McDaniel?

Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu