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It's been reported all along that one of the first candidates the Cleveland Browns had an interest in was Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase. There have been questions as to whether or not he'd even accept a head coaching gig with Cleveland, given how great his job in Denver is with Peyton Manning. Now, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, sources are telling them that Gase is likely to stay in Denver, regardless of what the Browns do.
Rapoport was told that "it would take something perfect" to pull Gase away from his current job. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is close with Peyton Manning, who has vouched for Gase, but the young assistant is in no rush to move on.
If Gase passes, the Browns are likely ready to turn their attention to Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who was one of the first people the team interviewed. Per Rapoport, the Browns want to interview Quinn again, who might be ready to bring a former head coach along as his offensive coordinator:
#Browns want to interview #Seahawks DC Dan Quinn. There is mutual interest. His 3 options for OC: Kyle Shanahan, Gary Kubiak, Mike Mularkey
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 19, 2014
Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan also had an update on the team's head coaching situation, indicating that the team could be thinking on the defensive side of the ball now for their next head coach:
Said Friday #Browns were "blown away" by Dan Quinn (Sea DC) & Mike Pettine (Bills DC); I rank them as the top 2 candidates now
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) January 19, 2014
We'll see what happens after today. If Denver and Seattle both advance to the Super Bowl, it'll take at least two more weeks to have something concrete on a decision between Gase and Quinn.