Browns' coaching nightmare finally put a weeks-old Kevin Stefanski debate to rest

The Atlanta Falcons' decision to hire Kevin Stefanski is aging better and better by the day. Not only did they respond to the John Harbaugh news by hiring one of the most sought-after head coaching candidates available, it also triggered a massive ripple effect that shook up the rest of the NFL.

The Falcons hired the two-time Coach of the Year a week ago and three coaches have been hired since, but one job that's still open is with Stefanski's old team, the Cleveland Browns. By the looks of it, their coaching search is stuck in neutral because of some wild demands from Jimmy Haslam.

While appearing on the Rich Eisen show, Tom Pelissero revealed that the Browns are conducting a "data-driven operation" which has seen them demand their candidates do things like take a personality test, complete a questionnaire, and write an essay to be seriously considered for the job.

"The Browns' search process and interview process is unlike any other in the NFL, and it plays to certain types of candidates They are a data-driven organization in Cleveland, and they have spent an extraordinary amount of time gathering data on their coaching candidates. You're talking about taking a personality test, you're talking about writing an essay, you're talking about completing homework assignments going into both the first and second rounds of interviews."

Tom Pelissero

Pelissero also revealed that their borderline insane demands have seen many candidates balk at their requests, and it's really hard to blame them. Both Jesse Minter and Mike McDaniel dropped out of the Browns' head coaching search and immediately landed superior coaching opportunities elsewhere.

The Browns' nightmare of a head coaching search confirmed Kevin Stefanski was never the problem (and makes the Falcons look better)

No one wants to admit it, but the Browns are much worse off after firing Stefanski. They're one of the leverage jobs of this coaching cycle, meaning that the candidates they're interested in are merely using them to force the teams they actually are interested in to act swiftly to make their hire official.

The Browns' coaching search is so in the dumps that they turned to ex-Chargers and Raiders GM Tom Telesco to assist. This is the same guy who hired Mike McCoy, Brandon Staley, and Anthony Lynn with the Chargers and Antonio Pierce with the Raiders, so take his track record with a metric ton of salt.

The current frontrunners for the Cleveland job are Jaguars' OC Grant Udinski and Rams' passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, but they couldn't even hire one of them yet if they wanted to. The Browns still aren't compliant with the Rooney Rule, which may not change since their requests would be a slap in the face to a minority candidate who may not be seriously considered.

Even though he took the Browns to the playoffs twice despite fielding 13 different starting QBs in his six seasons there, Stefanski was still doomed to fail. He was working with a horrible offense and an owner in Jimmy Haslam who you can argue is among the worst owners in all of professional sports.

As Pelissero reported, Haslam seems to prefer smart (oftentimes Ivy League) coaches who are younger, but Udinski and Scheelhaase are still receiving other looks. If they strike out, they'll have no plan in place since no reasonable veteran coach will want to put up with the clown show in Cleveland.

The 43-year-old led the Browns to their best season in 25 years in his first season, was still fired (for many reasons that were not his fault), and this whole search process is proving why they are always in the cellar, but dropped a coach who can alter Atlanta's fortunes overnight right in Matt Ryan's lap.

Not everybody sees the vision, but now that they led Stefanski walk, Haslam and Berry will have to sit back while he thrives with both better ownership and a superior roster in place with the Falcons, especially since he's bringing some top assistants with him to Atlanta.