Ashton Grant is currently on the Patriots' staff working for Mike Vrabel, but prior to that was on the Browns's staff as an Offensive Assistant for Quarterbacks.
What about a young quarterback coach that worked with Mike Vrabel and Jameis Winston in Cleveland and in New England under Vrabel as his Quarterbacks Coach? Plus, if you feel like he is not quite ready to be Head Coach, you could make him an offer to be the Offensive Coordinator. Ashton Grant is the young Coach I'm talking about. Remember that name. Remember also that these hotshot offensive coordinators from other teams are not eligible to jump ship and join the Browns unless they are promoted. However Grant could join the Browns as either Head Coach OR Offensive Coordinator, and he also complies with the all-important Rooney Rule for minority interviews.
You might as well also accept the fact the Browns get last choice anyway because candidates are turned off by the disastrous salary cap situation and the automatic quarterback controversy generated by Shedeur Sanders.
The next person who says "Controversy? What controversy?" gets a pie in the face. Sanders can not help who his father is, but you might as well accept that that 50% of the fan base loves him and 50% hates him and that is not going to change. The new Head Coach will have to navigate that automatic controversy. It's not an ideal situation in Cleveland. Then there is the minor issue of a fellow named Deshaun who is still on the roster and is owed $130 million dollars.
The master plan of complying with the Rooney Rule by interviewing two and only two candidates--Mike McDaniel and Nate Scheelhaase--blew up on two counts. McDaniel turned them down before interviewing and Scheelhaase cannot be interviewed until after his team is out of the playoffs. Even then, how do you know he won't get hired by another team before interviewing with the Browns? As of Jan 24, zero Rooney-compliant interviews means the Browns cannot hire a Coach.
Like Scheelhaase, Ashton Grant cannot be interviewed until his team is no longer in the playoffs. That may be okay once you accept that the Browns are going to select last anyway. Grant did a great job for the 2024 Browns, working with Jameis Winston on an otherwise poor offensive team with a weak offensive line and no running game. Nevertheless, Winston had some impressive games. Grant must be given some credit for that. Winston's mental lapses which resulted in interceptions are not the result of coaching.
Grant definitely impressed Mike Vrabel, who you will recall was on the Browns' staff that year. Vrabel took Grant with him to New England and Drake Maye has responded with an outstanding year.
Thus, Grant knows the Stefanski Offense as well as the Vrabel Offense with Josh McDaniel as the Offensive Coordinator.
Other candidates who are already OC's on other team such as Scheelhaase or Grant Udinski of the Jags, are not eligible to laterally transfer to the Browns as OC, but can only change teams if it is a promotion to Head Coach.
So, the Browns should at least interview Grant, maybe hire him as Head Coach, but he is also eligible to be hired as Offensive Coordinator for the Browns.
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