With 6 secondary head-coach interviews confirmed, the Cleveland Browns seem poised to retain defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz
Plenty of Cleveland Browns fans would love to see the team's current defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, be promoted to head coach. A number of players in the locker room even vouched for such a move as well.
That wish may very well come to fruition in the coming weeks, with Schwartz being confirmed for a second, in-person interview with Cleveland on Monday.
It's the next step in the Browns' process to finding a new head coach, but even if it doesn't end with a promotion for the 59-year-old defensive guru, the list of candidates receiving a second interview makes it seem fairly likely that Schwartz will still be sticking around.
Of the other five candidates, four are offensive-minded coaches. It's a group that features ex-Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, young Jacksonville Jaguars OC Grant Ubinski and Los Angeles Rams pass game specialist Nate Scheelhaase.
That leaves Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter as the only candidate in line for a second interview at the moment, who is defensive-minded, like Schwartz.
If he were to get the job, it probably wouldn't make much sense for Schwartz to remain with the franchise in his current role. Their systems are just too different. But if it's any of the other options, it certainly feels possible that they'd leave Schwartz untouched.
It's already been well reported that Cleveland has talked to potential candidates about retaining Schwartz should they get the job anyway. Now, that doesn't mean they'll force any hire to keep him.
Vice president of football operations and general manager Andrew Berry made it clear that whoever the next head coach is will have full control over building their staff. Still, they've brought it up for a reason.
Any of those offensive-minded guys may feel inclined to lean into keeping the continuity Schwartz would bring, having overseen one of the best defenses in football the last few years.
That's something ex-Browns head man Kevin Stefanski is doing down in Atlanta, where he accepted a job over the weekend and reportedly plans on retaining current Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich on his staff.
It feels especially likely Schawrtz would remain on staff if one of the two young offensive wizards, like Ubinski or Scheehaase, got the Browns' job. Doing so would help make the transition to being a first-time head coach a hell of a lot easier.
They also may simply lack enough tight-knit relationships required to build out an entire coaching staff underneath and around them, making Schwartz an appealing safety net to get a staff settled on the other side of the ball.
Of course, if the Cleveland's brass is as serious as they seem about wanting to keep Schwartz, the path of least resistance is to just anoint him as him head coach. But as the search reaches a critical phase, it feels fairly reasonable to expect Schwartz to still be here in 2026.