At the very least, it can be said that the Cleveland Browns are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to filling the head-coaching vacancy created last week with the firing of Kevin Stefanski after six years running the team. On the same day the Browns were set to meet with former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel for the job, the team also sought an interview with Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski.
There’s no doubt that Udinski has made an impression during his coaching career, going from the Vikings and the system of respected head coach Kevin O’Connell–where he was an assistant to the head coach, an assistant quarterbacks coach and an assistant offensive coordinator–to the offensive coordinator of the Jaguars this season.
Jacksonville was No. 6 in points and No. 11 in yardage this season, after having ranked 26th in points and 25th in yardage last year. And what makes Udinski stand out distinctly as a candidate is that he only turned 30 years on Monday.
Grant Udinski a ‘Really Unique’ Coach
As NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported about the Udinski addition to the Browns cast of head-coaching candidates: “Sources: The #Browns requested to interview #Jaguars OC Grant Udinski for their HC job. Udinski turned 30 years old today. He worked with Liam Coen and Trevor Lawrence this season and was with Kevin O’Connell and Sam Darnold last year.”
Udinski was a defensive end during his playing career in college, at Davidson and Towson State, but has gained a reputation for his ability to work with quarterbacks, which figures to be a key part of the job for whomever takes over the Browns–no matter whether Cleveland sticks with Shedeur Sanders as the quarterback or brings in a new quarterback, they’ll need a coach who can bring the most out of the player.
As Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said of Udinksi, “He’s helped a lot. He’s really unique. I’ve never really met anyone like him. The way he approaches the preparation process, the attention to detail, just the game-planning in general, the things that he thinks about, the conversations we have throughout the week. It’s a very detailed process. It seems like, there’s no stones that are left unturned in his approach with us in the QB room.”
GettyCleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry.
Browns Will Explore ‘Different Archetypes’
And while there is plenty of momentum for an experienced head coach to take over these Cleveland Browns–whether it is McDaniel, or Jim Harbaugh, formerly of the Ravens, or defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz–GM Andrew Berry does take some pride in thinking outside the box and giving relatively unknown coaches their chance.
That could be the case with Udinski.
Here’s how Berry described it last week: “I think there are a number of different archetypes of successful head coaches. I think about Kevin, I think it’s easy to forget now that he has, you know, two Coach of the Year awards on his mantle. … He had no head coaching experience, and we were the only team that interviewed him.
“And so, I think our responsibility is to search far and wide. There are good coaches out there. You know, we’ve just got to do our homework and find the right fit for us. We’ll have no preconceived notions as we go into the search.”
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