The NFL coaching carousel right now is like a middle school dance.
The cool kids are asking their crush over for a dance and moving to the middle of the basketball court to have the night of their lives. Some teams are awkwardly trying to signal that they’d like to talk to the person they’re interested in. A few are swapping around, trying to find a match between several parties.
And then there are the Cleveland Browns.
They’re at the dance, right by the punch bowl, slowly drinking, attempting to play it cool after someone rejected their dance request for the umpteenth time that night.
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While that sounds cruel, that’s how Browns fans are feeling Thursday night after the news that Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula has politely passed on the opportunity to interview for the opening head coach job.
If that sounds familiar, the same story broke with former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, who was more interested in joining the Los Angeles Chargers as an offensive coordinator than in interviewing for the Browns head coach role.
The Browns aren’t devoid of talent, boasting a top-ten defense and possibly the most skilled player in football today in Myles Garrett, but the offense has little going for it. Whoever takes over will have to figure out the quarterback position, with rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel both failing to lock down the starting job.
Although some pundits believe the Browns will simply promote DC Jim Schwartz, they do have two young up-and-coming finalists in Jaguars OC Grant Udinski and Rams passing coordinator Nathan Scheelhaase.
Unfortunately for the Browns, they are not the only ones left at the dance without a partner, as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Las Vegas Raiders, and others are still seeing who they want to sign as their future head coach.
With the Steelers comes a franchise that protects its head coaches and hasn’t fired one since 1969. For the Raiders, although the worst team in football, they have the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, which could mean getting to help mentor and raise up projected selection Fernando Mendoza.
The Browns?
They’ll keep trying.
The night isn’t over until the last song plays.