Browns coaching search: Hire could be imminent

Pat Shurmur could be named the new head coach of the Browns on Thursday, according to a report by Peter King of Sports Illustrated.

Shurmur, the Rams' offensive coordinator the past two seasons, was the first candidate interviewed after Eric Mangini was fired as Browns head coach the day after the season ended.

The Rams finished 1-15 and scored an NFL low 175 points in 2009. They took quarterback Sam Bradford with the first pick in the 2010 draft, improved to 7-9 and scored 289 points with Shurmur calling plays.

Shurmur, 45, was an assistant coach in Philadelphia from 1999-2008. He coached the Eagles' quarterbacks the last seven years.

He is well-schooled in the West Coast offense Browns president Mike Holmgren prefers.

Colt McCoy, who will enter training camp next summer as the starting quarterback, ran the West Coast offense at Texas.

King also reported the Browns are looking for a defensive coordinator, which would mean Rob Ryan will not be retained. Dave Wannstedt, former head coach of the Bears and Dolphins in the NFL and the University of Pittsburgh, has drawn interest from the Browns, according to various reports.

All the Browns are confirming is Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert interviewed Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell Tuesday about the coaching vacancy in Berea.

Another candidate floated as Mangini's replacement apparently is out of the race before he was really in it.

Jon Gruden, former coach of the Raiders and Buccaneers, after the BCS championship Monday night said he is returning to the ESPN television booth in 2011.

Of course, he could always change his mind, but for now it appears Gruden would be off the Browns' wish list. Gruden coached under Holmgren in Green Bay.

Gruden was born in Sandusky and went to college at Dayton. At the end of the radio broadcast Monday, play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico asked Gruden if he would take any of the coaching jobs open.

"No. Heck, no," Gruden answered. "I'll be back here with you."

Fewell is the third potential head coach interviewed by Holmgren and Heckert. Shurmur and Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey were interviewed last week.

Interviewing Fewell satisfies the Rooney rule requiring teams to interview a minority candidate, but he is a serious candidate for the job. He is enthusiastic and would likely be agreeable to hiring an offensive coordinator devoted to the West Coast offense.

"You've got all these great plans that you want to put into action," Fewell said on the Giants' website. "You have these beliefs and you're trying to draw on your years of experience in coaching to say, ‘Yes, I can do this job. Yes, I can relate to the management staff. I can identify with the fans and I can help teach and coach the players. And we can put together a quality staff. It seems your dreams are like almost coming true, but then they haven't come true."

Fewell's first NFL experience was as the defensive backs coach in Jacksonville in 1998 under Tom Coughlin, now the Giants' head coach. Fewell was the Bills' defensive coordinator from 2006-2009 and took over as interim head coach in 2009 when Dick Jauron was fired. He was 3-4.

Notes

Holmgren's second meeting with the assistant coaches under Mangini, scheduled for Monday, was postponed … Wide receivers coach George McDonald took the same job at the University of Miami. The remaining assistants are still under contract.

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