It’s now the Cleveland Browns or bust for Josh McDaniels.
The New England Patriots offensive coordinator was slated to interview with the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers for their head-coaching positions, but those teams hired Joe Judge and Matt Rhule, respectively, this week, leaving Cleveland with the only head-coaching vacancy in the NFL.
McDaniels, who has long been a popular head-coaching candidate, could punt on this offseason and return to New England, where there’s always a chance he someday could succeed Bill Belichick as the Patriots’ head coach. But Stephen A. Smith explained Thursday on ESPN’s “First Take” that McDaniels should accept the Browns’ head-coaching job if given the opportunity.
“I think he should take the leap and go to Cleveland,” Smith said. “When you consider the talent that they have available to them, the fact that the head coach is gone and now (general manager John Dorsey) is gone, the door is open for him to really put his fingerprints on that organization. You’ve gotta convince (Browns owner Jimmy Haslam) to have an enormous amount of faith in you. Obviously you’re gonna have a say in who the GM may be. I think that ultimately goes a long way. And then there’s the issue of talent. After coaching Tom Brady as the offensive coordinator and the play-caller (in New England) and seeing what you saw this year, him and the Patriots being bereft of the necessary weapons, Josh McDaniels of all people should appreciate what it can be like for a quarterback if you have weapons.
” … You look at the weapons that (the Browns) have available to them, along with the supposed brilliance of an offensive mind that Josh McDaniels has at his disposal, why the hell would you stay in New England, unless you’re just a lifer there and that’s where you want to be no matter what. Or that you learned that Bill Belichick definitely is planning on leaving soon and you’re guaranteed to succeed him as the head coach for Mr. Robert Kraft in New England. To me, if that’s not the guarantee, then what are you afraid of? Go for it. Because the last time we saw you as a head coach, it wasn’t ultra-impressive in Denver, A, and B, you did renege on accepting the Indianapolis Colts job, which was not a good look. The opportunity is there for you right now in Cleveland, and as far as I’m concerned, the only excuse not to take it is if Mr. Kraft says, ‘Bill Belichick is leaving soon and you are without question scheduled to succeed him.’ That’s it.”
The Browns fired Freddie Kitchens after only one season as Cleveland’s head coach. They then mutually parted ways with general manager John Dorsey, signaling a huge shift for the organization, which underachieved in 2019 after entering the season with Super Bowl aspirations.
Whoever the Browns hire as their next head coach could absorb plenty of power amid Cleveland’s restructuring. Perhaps McDaniels will find that appealing enough to leave the Patriots, especially given the uncertainty surrounding New England with quarterback Tom Brady set to become a free agent for the first time in his career.
Joining the Browns — a franchise notorious for losing — would require a leap of faith, though, namely if McDaniels really is an option to someday replace Belichick as the head coach in New England. And whether he makes the leap will have a ripple effect across the NFL.
