Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator search just took another turn thanks to a move an NFL team just made with one of its own
The Cleveland Browns are in search of a new defensive coordinator and things just got a bit more interesting.
The Cleveland Browns’ decision to hire Todd Monken as head coach set off a chain reaction that led to Jim Schwartz leaving the team.
Cleveland is in search of a new defensive coordinator and the search has been going on for a week. The Browns have had multiple candidates for the job, including safeties coach Ephrahim Banda and linebackers coach Jason Tarver internally.
One outside candidate the Browns were interested in is now off the table.
John Harbaugh assistant coach with the New York Giants is no longer a candidate for the Browns
Giants outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen is one of the coaches the Browns requested to interview for their open defensive coordinator position. Cleveland can cross Bullen off the possibilities for their DC opening, as he’s staying with the Giants.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafalo, Bullen will remain with the Giants and has added defensive run game coordinator to his job title. Bullen is expected to be a top candidate again next year after the pay raise from the Giants, but that’s not going to help the Browns now.
Bullen is a 41-year-old Illinois native who got his start as a student assistant with Iowa in 2007. Bullen’s first NFL job came in 2012 with the Miami Dolphins where he stayed until 2018 working his way from a defensive assistant to assistant linebackers coach. Bullen has coached linebackers with the Arizona Cardinals and Illinois additionally before joining the Giants in 2024.
Cleveland still has multiple candidates in the mix including Houston Texans’ Cory Undlin, Carolina Panthers’ Jonathan Cooley, and Los Angeles Rams’ Aubrey Pleasant.
The Browns are adamant about keeping the same system for their defense from the time Schwartz was in town. Cleveland has an attractive opening at Freddie coordinator with a group led by Myles Garrett. While the offense isn’t good, coaching the Browns’ defense could be a great chance to leap into a head coaching job.
Bullen dropping out of the mix is just part of the game in a job search in the NFL. Expect the Browns to get moving with this thing and have a coordinator hired in the coming days.
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