Five Candidates for Cleveland Browns To Replace Jim Schwartz As Defensive Coordinator

After Jim Schwartz decided to resign from his position as the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns, the team will need to find his replacement.

Expect the Browns to begin interviewing defensive coordinator candidates immediately, as new head coach Todd Monken will need to completely overhaul all three coordinators for his first season as the lead man in Cleveland.

Monken told reporters at his introductory press conference on Tuesday that regardless of Schwartz’s decision, the Browns would be keeping their defensive scheme intact.

Here are a few candidates the Browns could consider to replace Schwartz as defensive coordinator.

Jason Tarver, Browns linebackers coach

If the Browns want to keep their scheme intact to support superstar players including Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward, Tarver could be a popular pick.

He’s the only position coach on Schwartz’s staff that has defensive coordinator experience. He served as the defensive coordinator at Stanford in 2011 before assuming the same position with the Oakland Raiders from 2012-2014.

Tarver has spent the last six years with the Browns, where he’s had plenty of success developing linebackers. Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was a promising draft pick that flourished under Tarver’s watch. More recently, Carson Schwesinger won Defensive Rookie of the Year and Devin Bush put together back-to-back career-best seasons with the Browns.

While Tarver has experience, he hasn’t been interviewed for a defensive coordinator position since 2017.

Ephraim Banda, Browns safeties coach

Banda joined Schwartz’s staff with the Browns in 2023 after spending over a decade coaching college football.

While he was a co-defensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes prior to being a defensive coordinator at Utah State, Banda doesn’t have any experience as a coordinator in the NFL.

Despite this, he’s a Schwartz disciple that has received a few interview requests over the last couple of seasons by other teams interested in him as a defensive coordinator.

Cory Undlin, Texans defensive passing game coordinator

All season long, the Browns and Texans exchanged rankings for the No. 1 defense in the NFL. What’s ironic about that is the fact that Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke is a disciple of Schwartz. Now, could the Browns look to poach one of his assistants?

Undlin spent 2005-2008 with the Browns as a defensive quality control coach and eventually defensive backs coach. He spent 2009-2010 with Monken at the Jacksonville Jaguars and has since bounced around the league coaching defensive backs and quality control.

He has defensive coordinator experience with the Detroit Lions in 2020.

Dino Vasso, Texans defensive backs coach

If the Browns can’t land Undlin, who interviewed for Cleveland’s defensive coordinator position when Schwartz was hired, Vasso could be an attractive consolation prize.

He’s credited for Houston’s talented defensive backfield and could deploy a similar scheme to what Schwartz utilized during his time with the Browns.

Joe Cullen, Chiefs defensive line coach

Another familiar face, Cullen was hired in 2013 to coach the Browns defensive line. The 58-year-old has plenty of defensive coordinator experience in college and spent 2021 in that role with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Since then, Cullen has coached Chris Jones on Kansas City’s defensive line. He recently interviewed for the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator vacancy, which was ultimately filled by Anthony Weaver. Maybe he can utilize that experience coaching Jones to work with Garrett on the Browns.