The Cleveland Browns are in the early stages of trying to identify head coaching candidates now that they have fired Hue Jackson, and you can probably expect them to make a phone call to Bruce Arians.
Arians, who announced his retirement last year after five seasons as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, admitted on Sunday that he would consider returning to the NFL sideline if the Browns had interest in him.
“Cleveland is the only job I would consider,” he told Steve Doerschuk of CantonRep.com.
Arians has a history with the Browns, as he was the offensive coordinator of the team the last time they made the playoffs in 2002. He believes the pool of candidates who could succeed in Cleveland is “thin,” and he obviously feels he’d be up to the challenge even at age 66. He believes former Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano could also handle it.
“My guy would be Chuck Pagano,” Arians said.
Pagano was also an assistant coach with the Browns when Arians was there, and he later hired Arians to be his offensive coordinator in Indy.
It’s not hard to make the argument that Arians was one of the most underrated coaches in football, as the Cardinals were a playoff contender when he was there and have been a total disaster this season. While we have already heard some high-profile names linked to the Browns job, general manager John Dorsey would be silly not to at least consider Arians.
