As John Harbaugh whittles down his list of potential head coaching opportunities, the Cleveland Browns may make the final cut this week, according to a new report
If you're holding out hope that John Harbaugh will come to Cleveland, well, your dream may not be so far-fetched.
The Harbaugh Sweepstakes appears to be nearing a critical inflection point as the 63-year-old head man spent the weekend reportedly weighing his options and plans on whittling his decision down to three-to-four teams that he'll actually take interviews with.
According to at least one report from Jonathan Jones of CBS, the Browns may just be in the running.
Two sources on interested teams said their belief is Harbaugh's top choices among the vacant jobs are the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons in some order. Those sources added the Tennessee Titans are in third place, while a third, different source said there is real and mutual interest between Harbaugh and the Cleveland Browns.
Jones' report follows one from Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot last week that Harbaugh apparently has a legitimate interest in coaching the Browns. It's fair to assume that where there's smoke, there's fire, with multiple outlets now providing context to the situation.
It's been well documented that Harbaugh has a connection to Northeast Ohio. His mother, Jackie, grew up in Cleveland and attended Shaw High School. She met Jack Harbaugh in college at Bowling Green University.
After a matchup with the Browns in Cleveland last year, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh told a story about his parents getting married and attending a Browns game for their honeymoon the next day.
Whether or not there's a sentimental draw pulling John to at least explore an opportunity remains to be seen. He is expected to have options, as numerous reports indicate that seven of the eight teams currently looking to fill a head coach vacancy (the Ravens who just fired him are the eighth) have reached out to the veteran head coach.
It sounds like the Browns will know in short order if they made the final cut. To this point, the Browns have interviewed five candidates for the job, including Harbaugh's most recent OC in Baltimore Todd Monken.
Cleveland is expected to hold a sixth interview on Monday with recently fired Dolphins OC Mike McDaniel. All signs point to the franchise hoping to also host Harbaugh in the coming days as well.