The Browns’ coaching carousel is again in motion, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the team’s QB carousel takes another spin as well.
So it continues for owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam trying to find the winning football formula along the lakefront.
It can happen with the right head coach and quarterback.
Look at the Indiana Hoosiers, a football program that is proving that the impossible can happen.
Next Browns coach will learn quarterback problem has no quick fix | Jeff Schudel
The Hoosiers, led by head coach Curt Cignetti and Heisman Trophy quarterback Fernando Mendoza, are one game from winning a national championship after dominating Oregon, 56-22, in a CFP semifinal game Jan. 9.
On Jan. 19, 15-0 Indiana takes on the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff title game.
For the Hurricanes, their football dominance can be traced back to the 1983 season, when a redshirt freshman named Bernie Kosar turned the college football world upside down by stunning the heavily favored and No. 1-ranked Nebraska in the 1984 Orange Bowl and winning the national championship.
It’s one of the seminal games in the history of college football. Miami’s 31-30 win over the Cornhuskers was accomplished in part thanks to the Hurricanes’ passing attack, and it paved the way for the spread offenses seen at every level of the game today.
In these parts, it was of course a precursor for what Browns fans were hoping and looking for … a savior for its struggling football franchise.
Enter Kosar, who came to Cleveland two years later via the supplemental draft and helped turn the Browns into a winner in the 1980s. Since Kosar, it’s been a vicious cycle of one quarterback after another with little to no success.
There was Tim Couch — when the Browns returned in 1999 — then the likes of Brady Quinn, Johnny Manziel, Baker Mayfield, Deshaun Watson and so many others. They all fizzled for one reason or another.
In the NFL, the quarterback is king, and that’s why no matter the result, it always comes down to this for the Browns: Just keep trying, and continuing to search for that franchise quarterback.
It has to happen eventually, so keep throwing that dice.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) celebrates after a win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal game Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
There might not be a college QB ready to embrace the impossible better than Mendoza. That’s because he’s doing what seemed impossible.
Indiana football is one of the worst programs in the history of college football. All of which doesn’t seem to matter to Mendoza, who lit up the FBS this season with 3,349 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 73.0 percent of his passes.
At 6-foot-5, 225 pounds with a solid arm and good mobility, Mendoza (who’s likely to declare after the national championship game) seems ideal for the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft.
His persona seems perfect for Cleveland.
“We’re a bunch of misfits,” said Mendoza after his team beat Oregon Jan. 9. “There are zero five-star (recruits) on our team. We’re just a bunch of gritty guys who are glued together going for a common goal. Which is to win every single game.”
There is one problem for the Browns if they want Mendoza on their roster. They own the No. 6 overall pick, and the Las Vegas Raiders have the top pick. Granted, a lot can happen from now until the draft, but it’s reasonable to think and believe Mendoza won’t be available for Cleveland staying at No. 6. Plus, the Raiders desperately need a franchise QB.
It’s time General Manager Andrew Berry and the Haslams get creative and get to that No. 1 overall pick.
When Cleveland traded with the Jaguars to get their No. 1 pick in 2025, it seemed like a move to be ready for this upcoming draft.
Many projected the Jaguars to struggle in 2025, but that hasn’t happened. Jacksonville was 13-4 in the regular season and earned the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs. Cleveland’s pick from the Jaguars looks like a spot somewhere in the mid- to high-20s, pending outcomes in the playoffs.
If the Raiders are a willing trade partner, it would likely take the Browns’ two first-round picks in 2026 and their No. 1 in 2027, plus perhaps Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel (or whoever or whatever) to move up to No. 1. Maybe more.
If history has proven, there isn’t a price to high to pay to get a franchise quarterback. Unfortunately, there is no way to know who is the next John Elway, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza celebrates in Times Square after winning the Heisman Trophy in New York on Dec. 13. (Todd Van Emst — The Associated Press)
There is a way of knowing Mendoza will enter the NFL humble and hungry. This is the way he closed out his speech after winning the Heisman in December:
“I want every kid who feels overlooked, underestimated, (to know) I was you,” said Mendoza, who wasn’t highly touted after high school. “The truth is you don’t need the most stars, hype or ranking. You just need heart, discipline and people who believe in you.”
Browns fans … oh, do they so desperately want a quarterback to believe in and call their own.
Mendoza might be the franchise QB the city of Cleveland has been waiting for, and if the Browns’ brass think he can be that type of player, it’s time to make a move.