Browns to interview Teryl Austin, Adam Gase, Doug Marrone

By foxsports
Published

By Josh Poloha

With the firing of Mike Pettine following Sunday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the season finale, the Cleveland Browns are (once again) in search of a new head coach. While many names will eventually be in the hopper and interview room in Berea, the Browns reportedly already have three interviews lined up with current coordinators: Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin (Tuesday), Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase (Wednesday), and former Buffalo head coach Doug Marrone (Thursday).

Austin, who some believe the Browns are interviewing for the sake of the Rooney Rule, has been with Detroit since 2014. The Lions defense dropped back to the middle of the pack in 2015. But, the drop was thought to be due to the Lions defense being gutted with the loss of defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley plus linebacker DeAndre Levy. The 50-year old’s dominant defense in the NFL in 2014 was second in total defense (300.9 yards per game) and best in the league in rushing defense (69.3 rushing yards allowed per game). Before taking the defensive coordinator job in Detroit, Austin spent three seasons in Baltimore as the Ravens defensive backs coach.

Gase, who removed himself from consideration for Cleveland’s head coaching search in 2014, has been with the Bears for just one season. While Chicago was a disappointment in 2015, Jay Cutler dropped his interception total from 18 to 11 and increased his QBrating from 88.6 to 92.3 under guidance from Gase. The quarterback rating was the highest in the 10 year career for Cutler despite missing most of his top receiving weapons throughout the year. Alshon Jeffrey and Eddie Royal missed seven games each, Martellus Bennett missed five games, and Matt Forte missed three games.

The 37-year-old coach spent his previous six years in Denver with the final two as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator. While the offensive coordinator of Denver – his offense, which was led by Peyton Manning – led the league in scoring offense (34 points per game), total offense (430.1 yard per game), and passing offense (315.8 passing yards per game). They were also second in plays of 20 or more yards (157) and third in third-down conversions (189-of-418 or 45.2 percent).

While Cutler improved with Gase in charge of the offense, Manning had a career-worst year without him, as Michael Bode pointed out in Monday’s Browns coaching selection game: Conspiracy, Snark, or Rational? post. Gase also made game plans to protect Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler. With the Browns also in the midst of a shaky quarterback situation, he could be the right man for the job.

Marrone, who is currently the assistant head coach and offensive line coach in Jacksonville, was previously the Bills head coach, before opting out of his contract prior to the 2015-16 season. While in their previous coaching search in 2014, the Browns were “very impressed” in their interview with Marrone, before he decided to fill the Bills’ head coaching vacancy. While leading the Bills to a 9-7 record in 2014-15 (were 6-10 the previous season), the 50-year old has spent nine years in the NFL.

Whoever decides to be the leading man for the Browns will not have history on his side. No head coach has finished his tenure in Cleveland with a winning record since Marty Schottenheimer (1988), and not a single coach has lasted more than 65 games in the orange and brown since Bill Belicheck (1995). Also, since 2008, the Browns have had five head coaches (soon to be six), while the rest of the AFC North – Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh – have had their same head coaches, respectively.

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