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Even before the Detroit Lions officially fired head coach Jim Schwartz, there was talk that he could receive interest from the Cleveland Browns. It was assumed that the Browns would be interested in him for their vacant head coaching job, but that may not be the case after all. Instead, Jason La Canfora reports that Schwartz is actually expected to end up in Cleveland as the Browns' defensive coordinator. (Via SideLion Report)
Schwartz, recently fired as head coach of the Lions, is held in high regard by some in the Browns organization and he is the prime candidate to replace Horton, league sources said. Particularly if Malzahn is hired, who has a limited NFL background, it would be imperative that the Browns have some established NFL coaches around him.
As mentioned in the above quote, it turns out that the Browns are interested in Auburn's Gus Malzahn for their head coaching job. They also reportedly have interest in Vanderbilt's James Franklin. Originally it was thought that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was the favorite to replace Rob Chudzinski, but perhaps the Browns will go with a college coach instead.
Considering how well Schwartz did as the Tennessee Titans' defensive coordinator, it's no surprise that he is already being mentioned for another defensive coordinator job. However, it seems a bit odd that the Browns already have someone in mind for their defensive coordinator job despite not actually having a head coach yet. Also, it seems strange that they're willing to let current defensive coordinator Ray Horton go considering he is pretty highly thought of, but it appears they are moving on and have Schwartz in their future plans.
