After Adam Gase pulled out of the Browns' head coaching search, the belief was that the vacancy in Cleveland was down to two candidates: Mike Pettine and Dan Quinn. According to Joe Lull of 92.3 The Fan, that was not the case:
There were candidates for Browns job who's names have not been reported. One was the second finalist, it wasn't Dan Quinn...
— Joe Lull (@LullOnSports) January 25, 2014
Lull added that the Browns were "very impressed by Quinn in first interview, but that he was a convenient cover late in the process." That begs the question, then: who was the mystery candidate for Cleveland? Lull specifically said that it was a name who has not been previously reported. In response to a question about who he would rather have as the Browns' head coach, Lull said, "I'd rather have the other guy, but its not the Browns' fault they didn't get the other guy."
It's hard to even take a stab at a name, because it could literally be anybody. Does it matter, now that we've hired Pettine? No -- but it would still be interesting to know, especially if Cleveland's miserable cycle of front offices and head coaches continues in a year or two from now.