The Cleveland Browns appear willing to go outside of the box in the team’s search for a new head coach.
A league source tells ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Browns want to interview Condoleezza Rice for their vacant head-coaching position. Why, yes, that is the same Condoleezza Rice who served as the Secretary of State for President George W. Bush from 2005 through 2009. And while the Browns’ interest in Rice doesn’t mean they will hire her, simply interviewing for the position would make her the first woman to interview for an NFL head-coaching gig. That’s no small feat.
HOWEVER, Browns GM John Dorsey has issued a statement denying the report:
Statement from GM John Dorsey: pic.twitter.com/aQExOzX0ge
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) November 18, 2018
I suppose discussions regarding Rice’s candidacy could have been held elsewhere in the organization, which could have led to the initial report coming through. In any case, Rice being a candidate in Cleveland would help Dorsey accomplish his goal of creating a thorough and deliberate process to find the team’s next head coach.
Rice’s experience in sports is limited, but not non-existence. She served as a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee from 2013 to 2016 and chaired the NCAA’s Commission on College Basketball. Schefter also points out in his report that Rice is a “lifelong Browns fan” who has been featured in NFL ads wearing a Browns jersey. And back in 2014, there was some support for Rice to become the NFL’s next Commissioner – something Rice reportedly considered a dream job.
More recently, Rice spoke at a Redskins team meeting on November 17, 2017. Two days later, Washington built up a 31-16 fourth-quarter lead, only to cough it up in an overtime loss against New Orleans.
The Browns’ search to replace Hue Jackson on a full-time basis figures to be a thorough one. So thorough, they hope to get Rice in for an interview. Even if the team doesn’t hire Rice, perhaps talking about the position would reveal something the franchise wouldn’t have thought about had it not conducted an interview. There’s nothing wrong with a little conversation. And considering Cleveland’s past failures in finding a head coach, it’s possible that going away from the norm would be the best course of action.