Sometimes, a past relationship is an impediment to a new one.
There had been a presumption that, with former Packers coach Mike McCarthy available, with the Browns looking for a coach, and with plenty of former Packers front-office executives populating the front office in Cleveland, McCarthy would be a viable candidate to become the next coach there. It’s now looking like he won’t even interview.
The temporary hold on a sit-down appears to be on the verge of becoming a permanent one. Which meshes with word that was trickling on the grapevine over the weekend.
It was believed at the time that G.M. John Dorsey knows who he wants to hire, that he was keeping his preferences to himself, and that his choice for the job wasn’t McCarthy. Which could be regarded as an indictment of McCarthy, given the various connections to former Packers execs like Dorsey, Alonzo HIghsmith, Eliot Wolf, and highly influential unofficial consultant Ron Wolf, a former Packers G.M. with plenty of influence over the current Browns power structure.
News that the Browns are focused on offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens and Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski underscores the notion that the guy who took Aaron Rodgers to a Super Bowl win won’t be getting a chance to do the same with Baker Mayfield.