On Friday, the Browns kicked off their search by interviewing offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. However, according to an NFL expert, at least one of these interviews was nothing but a courtesy.

On an episode of 92.3 The Fan, Daryl Ruiter and host Ken Carmen discussed the Browns’ interviewing two candidates in a day. During their conversation, Ruiter explained why he believes Schwartz has the better shot.

"I don't think Schwartz was a courtesy interview. That was legit. I think Tommy Rees is the courtesy interview," said Ruiter.

"Given his exercise of prepping for NFL head coach interview and then going through that, I would be surprised if Tommy Rees is ultimately the guy selected, even though we all know how respected he is," added the sports media veteran.

The hosts discussed how Schwartz is someone the Browns can sell to the fans, and this season's performance may be the reason why.

Writer Noah Monroe penned that the Browns’ “offense ranked in the bottom six in the league in passing, rushing, and total yards per game, as well as points per game.” Rees’s unit reaped poor results even after former head coach Kevin Stefanski gave up play-calling duties mid-season from Week 10.

Meanwhile, the defense performed significantly better in comparison, led by Myles Garrett's record-breaking 23-sack season.

The Browns Have Just Started Looking for a Coach

While Ruiters believes that Jim Schwartz has a better chance than Tommy Rees, it's not down to just the internal candidates.

The Cleveland Browns have more head coach candidates lined up. “I mean, they’re gonna talk to Dan Pitcher today, I can tell you right now that’s not gonna be a courtesy interview. They’re gonna talk to Aden Durde as well," said Ruiters.

"I think that if their plan and their process here is to interview candidates multiple times, just like we see in the normal job world, i think these are the initial interviews," he added.

Reports indicated that the Browns also wanted to interview John Harbaugh. However, the former Ravens coach wasn't ready to jump into interviews immediately after parting with the Ravens, and so Cleveland is also looking at other candidates.

So while Tommy Rees may not be the frontrunner for the head coach position at Cleveland, it's too early to say who will fill Kevin Stefanski's.

Written by

Akanksha Biradar

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi