Browns to interview Dirk Koetter for head-coaching job

AP

Add Dirk Koetter to the list of candidates for the Browns’ head-coaching job.

Koetter will interview with the Browns, Alex Marvez of FOX Sports reports.

This is the first time Koetter has been tied to the Cleveland job, which became vacant when the Browns fired Rob Chudzinski at the end of the season. The Browns are also planning a second interview with Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, and they remain interested in Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

Koetter has been the offensive coordinator of the Falcons for the last two years, and was offensive coordinator in Jaksonville for five years before that. He has never been an NFL head coach, but he has had two different stints as a college head coach, going 40-34 in six seasons at Arizona State and 26-10 in three seasons at Boise State.

63 responses to “Browns to interview Dirk Koetter for head-coaching job

  1. Now its just a joke.
    This team is a joke.
    Haslam is a joke.
    Banner is a joke.
    Cant say Dumbardi is a joke–he is a nightmare.

    They just need to move forward and stop it already. Stop interviewing and wasting time. Make a hire.

  2. It’s amateur hour in the front office of the Cleveland Browns.

    Haslam, Banner and Lombardi all, supposedly, had contacts throughout the NFL…yet they failed to zero in on a suitable replacement before firing Chudzinski. No plan. None.

    I really hate myself for giving a damn.

  3. I think Mr. Banner needs to explain how these guys are an improvement from Chud.

    If they are not then the same logic they used for firing Chud should apply, there is no improvement in this team.

  4. This guy was a big deal NFL head coaching candidate before he took the Atlanta OC gig.

    This would be a good hire. If he can put up with Dimitroff drafting his players than Joe Banner should be nothing.

    You definitely can’t say that whomever is in charge of finding head coaching candidates in Cleveland doesn’t know their stuff.

  5. Who have they offered the job too? Ill say right now Dan Quinn is the FIRST coach they will offer the job to and he WILL accept. This is about having multiple plans or interviewing people of other positions. People need to take a breathe and know that this is how it is done. You dont sit on your hands while you wait for Quinn to become available. You go out and interview others get perspective. My guess is all the jokers posting outrageous comments have never hired someone, or conducted a search to hire the right person. It takes time. Its not a flip the switch and go….. Side note the super bowl bound Seahawks fired their coach after ONE year (Jim Mora Jr.), The got Pete Carroll, aka the right guy, how is that working out?

  6. I’m a Redskins fan (whispering as I say that), but I really do feel bad for you Browns fans. who are the clowns running this organization( in the head office that is)? They have missed out on some quality coaches! Why are they not trying to interview DC Fangio from the 49ers or their OC Greg Roman???? I would like to see the Browns turn it around and become what Seattle has done over the last 3 years. It’s always good to have someone new in the mix… Keep your head up Browns fans, god knows I’m trying with my disfunctional Franchise!!! HTTR!!

  7. Is there a deadline for hiring a head coach? Of course there isn’t. When did everyone become a personnel expert. I’m willing to wager that no one on this site has ever hired an NFL head coach. If you have, I apologize. Let the Browns hire the best available candidate and judge that hire in a year or two. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there top 2 candidates are still coaching. As for the lesser known candidates or as one astute poster referred to as “bottom of the barrel”. This team is also going to need coordinators and position coaches.

  8. Just shaking my head. Dysfunction all the way around. How long is it going to be before my Browns are competitive again? We were competitive this year, but we fired the coach and all of the coordinators and got worse. They haven’t won a playoff game since before I enlisted in 1995.

  9. Banner: “Mr. Koetter, would you like the job? We have no QB, a convict owner, we’re not making the playoffs, and I plan to fire you after the season.”

    Koetter: “Lol have a nice day.”

  10. What with all the cynicism? Koetter is a good guy and has a solid background as a coach. He was the guy the Jags should have hired instead of Mularkey in 2012.

  11. Jerry Glanville? Rob Ryan? Dennis Green? Lou Holtz? Bobby Petrino? Butch Davis (Chance to redeem himself?)?…c’mon now. The list is endless.

  12. I coached my son’s pee wee football team. Maybe I should consider this as a plausible career move.

  13. They’re doing their due diligence, and good for them. You want to make sure that you make the right decision on who to pay for five years to coach your team for one to two years.

  14. So let’s see… The prevailing logic is you should identify one or two candidates who you believe would be the best hire, if circumstances cause you to not be able to offer the job to your selection you should hire someone else.
    I think the organization would be a deserving of ridicule if they decided to hire someone they believed to be a lesser candidate because the guy they wanted was not available until Feb 3rd.

    I believe Quinn or Bevel (Seattle D) or both have been “interviewed” and vetted, and one has been offered and accepted the job. The more recent interviews are for show to not be obvious the deal is done and/or as fall back plans in case something odd happens like Fox retires after winning and their guy gets promoted in Denver.

    Who do the Cleveland fans want so bad that they are not willing to wait for a coordinator from a SB team?

  15. What must Quinn be thinking when he hears he is linked to this job? “Hmmmm… I’ve got the best defense in the world, in the Super Bowl, team is fairly young and we’ll probably get to multiple Super Bowls. Or, I could be the head guy with the team whose owner is trying to stay out of jail, the front office is completely aimless, all the QBs are backups, and there is little chance of making the playoffs for several years. I think I’ll stay here.”

    If the Browns have any more people turn them down, they’re going to have to call Chud and say, “Uh, we screwed up. You can have the job back.”

  16. At least it’s not the Patriots system of hiring friends of friends within the organization who had abysmal track records in previous coaching experiences…..and then went on to unfathomable success “calling plays” for the Pats only to bomb on opportunities elsewhere. Look for Bill O Brien to fail in Houston and add to the growing number of ex Patriots who can’t coach outside New England.

  17. Can we dispense with the obvious Brown’s bashing with every bit of news that comes out about them? Yes, they have been an embarrassment, but interviewing another candidate doesn’t change anything. Once they actually hire someone, then sure, make an assessment.

  18. The Browns actually have a lot to offer an incoming coach looking to build a team. They have some good young players, a solid defense, and a stockpile of draft picks (2 firsts, 2 thirds, and 2 fourth rounders). If the front office could get its act together, they should be able to attract good candidates. Unfortunately for Cleveland, that does not appear to be in the cards.

  19. I read the headline too fast. I thought it said “Browns to interview Dirk Diggler”. Makes sense. He’s the only one in the country who hasn’t interviewed yet.

  20. They had to make this move after Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry and Blanton Collier withdrew from consideration. In his declination letter Vince said he was changing his job to Wojoahowewicz to avoid any possible linkage of his name to the current Cleveland GM.

  21. I actually agree that Rob Ryan would be the best of the lot right now. Give it to him and be done with it. Or they really don’t realize how stupid they are looking — not just in Cleveland but nationally.

    Or maybe Haslam wakes up and realizes this and axes Larry and Moe…nyuk nyuk nyuk

    Is Sam Rutigliano still alive? Hell, put Bernie Kosar in there!

    Or…does Brett Favre wanna coach?

  22. They had to make this move after Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry and Blanton Collier withdrew from consideration. In his declination letter VL said he was changing his job to Wojoahowewicz to avoid any possible linkage of his name to the current Cleveland GM.

  23. Love the apologists on this site talking due diligence , waiting to get the right guy, and brining up Mora fired after one season. He wasn’t fired by the guys who had just hired him. These are the same guys who did their “due diligence” last year and decided Chud was the man. They also were the first team to fire their coach this off season not even waiting till “Black Monday”. The whole group has proven to be a joke, and any legitimate great future head coach will have zero trust that he has the backing of the organization after. They gave Chud all of 16 games with no quality QB in a QB driven league.

  24. First off, I live in Cleveland and LOVE the Browns. But I also am not a fool. These guys stay at the office late because the janitor went home and they don’t know how a door knob works…. Not because they are doing anything.
    The NFL is dead to me till this team does, well, anything. I have replaced it with playing paintball so at least there is a chance I can win. Let’s just skip this hire and clean the front office out. It stinks in there and I can smell it from across town.

  25. Dirk Diggler may be a more impressive appointment. Browns owner, Jimmy Haslem may be more impressed that Dirk has more to offer than Chud.

  26. Who the hell is this guy? I thought the Dallas special teams coach was bad. It was 2 paragraphs into this article before they mentioned where he worked. The author didn’t even know him. This could turn into the biggest sports fiasco of all time. There are only 32 of these jobs available. I’m sure there is a certain amount of prestige with being an nfl head coach and yet no one seems to want this job. What a freaking joke. 32 of these jobs on the planet and we can’t get anyone to take the job! Jay Leno will be out of work soon, may want to interview him, or , they are so gun-ho on Manziel, make him the player coach. As a life long Brown’s fan I don’t think I have felt this disgusted since Modell, and he moved the freaking team. How incompetent are these guys in the front office! I honestly thought that when Haslam bought the team that maybe this is the guy to make this team a winner again instead of the league laughing stock. I thought with his ego, he may be willing to do whatever is necessary to make this team a winner. Now, it appears he is just after the paychecks that come from one of the most loyal fan bases in the league. No fans or city has been through what we have been through with this team. For God’s sake, PLEASE do something to restore this team. PLEASE!

  27. Maybe Brad Childress can bring his kick ass offense to Cleveland…mike Miller is available unless Whisenhunt hires him in Tennessee

  28. A coaching search is just that…a search. It’s like buying a house. You don’t purchase the first one you see, you look at multiple ones. Of course I don’t agree with the way they fired Chud,but if they want to take their time,so be it. As for guys turning down jobs,everyone has their reasons. There’s only one opening,and the rest of the NFL either have hired or have their coaches locked in for a few more years. These guys may regret squandering a chance. You may be the hot coordinator now,but next year someone else will be hotter. At least this guy has some HC experience,managed to squeeze some O out of Jacksonvlle and did alright with the Falcons.

  29. The longer it takes to find “The Guy” the harder It’ll be to land decent positional coaches.

    Let’s hope and prey that they’ve already had that figured out through the interviewing process or we’ll be picking in the top five in next year’s draft as well!

    Best thing that Haslam can do is give Lombardi and Banner their walking papers before it gets any worse! no better time than now.

  30. Freakin perfect. With the Three Stooges runing the team, we now have an awsome complement for coaches.

    I hear Koetter has already lined up Horshack for OC and Vinnie Barbareno as DC.

    I can’t believe this is my team…

    I can’t believe I long for the Pat Shurmur era.

  31. To everyone thinking they are interviewing for coordinators or pisition coaches – So, they arent going to let thier new coach puck his staff?

    To everyone thinking they should hire a proven coach – They tried, none would even interview for the job.

    I feel SO bad for Browns fans. This is becoming worse by the day.

    That being said, if the NFL is going to force a team to be on Hard Knocks, can you imagine the hilarity of watching this train wreck from start to finish?

    PLEASE, Goodell, make this happen! Highest rated show EVER!!!!

  32. IMHO Rob Ryan or Jim Tressel would be perfect HC fits for Cleveland. Jim Tressel wants the job and has a perfect record of winning. He will tie ALL the loose ends together. Manziel is not the QB. He’s too short. Hoyer should start if he is healthy. Campbell should continue the back up role. A ‘hot’, tall college guy should train in the 3rd spot. We need an OC who can call a QB sneak on a 3rd and one and stop this wasting of downs constantly running up the middle.

  33. “Bill Cower, John Gruden. Get a proven.”

    “Rob Ryan fits perfect in Cleveland!”

    “Jim Tressel = Head Coach”

    “IMHO Rob Ryan or Jim Tressel would be perfect HC fits for Cleveland. Jim Tressel wants the job and has a perfect record of winning. He will tie ALL the loose ends together. Manziel is not the QB. He’s too short. Hoyer should start if he is healthy.”

    As “silly” as these comment sound, they probably will be better than the “FINAL” selection!

    For all of you that consider Cleveland and my Browns (aka “Clowns”) the laughing stock of not only Pro Football but ALL SPORTS. Well….. you are probably right!

    However, Cleveland has some of the Best Fans in the World and for any SPORT! We may all be back woods acting Hill Billy Smelling and DEFINATELY Not the Person you’d want to introduce to some one to impress them. BUT THAT SAID… we are loyal to our Team, We are there to tell you that YOU STINK or you are THE BEST! We have not had many GREAT days RECENTLY… HOWEVER, this is a Storied Team AND it will probably take the SALE OF THE TEAM (hopefully the cheap azzzz city will buy them) AND THE COMPLETE OVER HAUL of COACHES thru Waterboys.. but they will be back and I will still be here.

    So Hurry UP Cleveland Management and OWNER Select SOME ONE! Get past this and let us FAN know JUST HOW BAD IT IS!!!!

    9 0

  34. Have the Cleveland Browns started their search for a 2015 Head Coach yet? I’m getting bored with this year’s effort. It’s almost time to select this year’s class of invalids to draft. Are there any potential draftees with severe brain damage or a history of polio? I can hardly wait.

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