Los Angeles Rams playoff run could delay Cleveland Browns' finishing off their search for a new head coach anytime soon
The Cleveland Browns have a handful of in-person interviews lined up for potential head coach candidates this week. Don't mistake that for their search for a new head man nearing its end, though.
That's because one of the six reported candidates Cleveland hopes to host in Berea in the coming weekends is Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator, Nate Scheelhaase.
With the Rams earning a 20-17, overtime win over the Chicago Bears in Sunday's divisional round of the playoffs, Scheelhaase will now have to wait to take any in-person interviews with teams.
Per NFL rules, candidates on teams that advance to their respective conference's championship game must wait until after said game is played to participate in in-person interviews. That means Scheelhaase wouldn't be permitted to visit Cleveland until Monday, Jan. 26 at the earliest.
Therefore, if the Browns are serious about their interest in Scheelhaase, their head coach search is likely to roll into next week, at least. If he were to emerge as their top choice, it could even linger into February, should the Rams advance to the Super Bowl.
How serious a contender for the job Scheelhaase is, obviously remains to be seen. At the very least, though, he is one of the two candidates on Cleveland's list that allows it to satisfy the NFL's Rooney Rule.
The other is ex-Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, who is reportedly taking his own in-person interview on Wednesday of this week.
Per the rule's official wording, the Rooney Requires that clubs:
Conduct an in-person interview with at least two external diverse — minority and/or female — candidates for any GM or head coaching interview.
Based on this current list of remaining candidates, the Browns can't be compliant with the Rooney Rule until Scheelhaase interviews in person.
What could potentially change that, is if the Browns come away believing they identified their next head coach this week during the interviews and decide to expedite the process by hosting a different minority or female candidate for an interview before Scheelhaase is even available.
The other coaches expected to receive in-person interviews with the Browns are current defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Ubinski, Baltimore Ravens OC Todd Monken and Los Angeles Chargers DC Jesse Minter.
At this time, there is no indications that executive VP of football operations and general manager Andrew Berry plans on speeding up their hiring process. Berry and company, instead, seem willing to take their time vetting the whittled-down list of candidates.
Cleveland is one of nine teams looking for a new head coach this offseason. Two of them have been filled already, with John Harbaugh heading to the New York Giants and former Bronws head man Kevin Stefanski putting pen to paper with the Atlanta Falcons. That leaves seven more vacancies across the league.
For now at least, the Browns seem poised to display patience in filling theirs, but things can change quickly.