Mike McDaniel understands what taking the Cleveland Browns job means. He was jettisoned in Miami with an offense more talented than Cleveland’s, so the fact that he’s removing himself from consideration makes more sense that it might seem. In fact, the Browns job is so undesirable that he’d rather return to his offensive coordinator roots instead.
For McDaniel, he gets a chance to mentally recoup from being a head coach and focus on what made him such a strong head coaching candidate back in 2022. Taking a job like the Browns would further set himself up for failure and effectively ruin his head coaching reputation. You also can’t blame him for eyeing the Los Angeles Chargers as his ideal landing spot.
Why Mike McDaniel passing on the Cleveland Browns job shouldn’t surprise you
The Browns job is certainly a rebuild in every sense of the word. The current quarterbacks are Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, who looked equally disappointing in their respective rookie seasons in 2025, and Deshaun Watson. It’s why the argument for Kevin Stefanski to stay had brevity.
If there was a time for change, though, this was probably the season to do it.
The Browns aren't going to be contenders in 2026 and they have the Watson contract looming over them for one final year, plus a young core that needs time to develop. That’s why the Browns targeting a fresh face in Grant Udinski makes the most sense. Andrew Berry, regardless of how you feel about him, is an experienced general manager. With Berry in the fold, it just makes sense to bring in a first-time head coach during a transition year.
McDaniel in Cleveland would only set the Browns up for frustration and further dig their grave into the depths of the NFL bottom-feeders. If McDaniel was going to take a head coaching job, it was going to be a team like the Buffalo Bills or Baltimore Ravens, with an offense that hardly has cracks.
Former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel informed the Browns he’s withdrawing from their head coaching search ahead of a scheduled in-person interview Wednesday, per sources.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 20, 2026
McDaniel — who is still a candidate for the Ravens and Raiders HC vacancies — is interviewing for the… pic.twitter.com/qirkrsvbWX
Cleveland should focus less on former head coaches and more on new faces that can breathe new life into a roster that is young, has a lot of potential and needs time.
Mike McDaniel zeroing on Chargers OC job could save Justin Herbert
You can’t blame McDaniel for looking at the LA Chargers as an ideal landing spot. Jim Harbaugh has turned the Chargers into playoff contenders, but Justin Herbert just can’t win when they get there. The offense has been mundane and really hasn’t been anything to appreciate come the postseason. Harbaugh is a coach who thrives on the run and uses that as a weapon to open up the passing game.
That said, Herbert needs a coordinator who better fits his strengths. In three playoff appearances (all losses), Herbert hasn’t had a game with 300 passing yards, doesn’t have a multiple passing touchdown game and has four total interceptions – all of which came against the Houston Texans in 2024.
Opponent | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions |
|---|---|---|---|
Jaguars | 273 | 1 | 0 |
Texans | 242 | 1 | 4 |
Patriots | 159 | 0 | 0 |
McDaniel was able to turn Tua Tagovailoa into a respectable weapon, though things fizzled out. Herbert is better than Tagovailoa so with McDaniel, it could be the secret weapon that finally gets Herbert and the Chargers past their playoff roadblock.
Landing with the Chargers would also mean McDaniel gets to focus on what’s made him great, which is running an offense and building a complex scheme that leaves defenses clueless as to what to expect. The Chargers don’t have a flashy offense and that could be the one thing Herbert needs to return to the top of the AFC.
When Herbert was at Oregon, he flexed his arm strength with spread schemes that ran the score up. McDaniel can run a nearly identical system to a college scheme that would finally play to Herbert’s strengths. That might be all it takes for the Chargers to go on a Super Bowl run. And if you’re McDaniel, getting to work with Herbert sounds a whole lot better than any version of Gabriel, Sanders or Watson.