It took barely 24 hours for the Cleveland Browns to begin searching for Jim Schwartz’s replacement, starting with top internal candidates Jason Tarver and Ephraim Banda over Super Bowl weekend.

It surprisingly took a full week, however, for the team to formally request an interview with the coach Browns fans have been eyeing all along.

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Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reported Thursday that the Browns are now officially planning to meet with Cory Undlin for their open defensive coordinator job; the 54-year-old Undlin has been the defensive passing game coordinator of the Houston Texans since the 2023 season.

He’s a familiar name for Browns fans, as he was on Cleveland’s staff as a special teams and defensive assistant from 2005-08. He later linked up with Schwartz with the Philadelphia Eagles before joining some elite defensive staffs in San Francisco and, most recently, Houston.

The Texans and head coach DeMeco Ryans run a similar defensive system under coordinator Matt Burke, who spent a decade working under Schwartz in stops with the Titans, Lions and Eagles. If Todd Monken wasn’t sold on the inside guys, Tarver and Banda, there might not be an outside candidate better suited to replace Schwartz than Undlin.

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The timing of this interview request is impossible ignore, too, leaking out exactly one week after Schwartz submitted his letter of resignation to the Browns.

Browns’ next defensive coordinator may already be obvious

True to form, the Browns’ defensive coordinator search has been extensive.

Despite Monken clearly stating his plans to keep the same defensive system in place, regardless of Schwartz’s decision to return, the Browns have been linked to established assistants of varying backgrounds. They’ve already met with Mike Rutenberg of the Atlanta Falcons, and Aubrey Pleasant of the Los Angeles Rams, and are planning to meet with Charlie Bullen of the New York Giants, and Jonathan Cooley of the Carolina Panthers.

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A candidate like Pleasant, who’s been an assistant head coach under Sean McVay for the past two seasons, adds some intrigue to Cleveland’s search. But it’s hard to look past Monken’s clear message to vets like Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward during his introductory presser a couple weeks back.

“I’m not planning on changing the system,” Monken said, as if looking the Browns’ returning players in the eyes. “We’re built for the system that they’re in currently. And I’m not going to get into staffing, because that’s not at this time … but they can be rest assured that we’re going to keep the same system. We’re still going to let them attack. We’re still going to let them play free. I can’t see any other way.”

That, plus the late timing of the Browns’ interview request for Undlin indicates a clear frontrunner. And there’s also this: Monken spent two years with Undlin on the same Jacksonville Jaguars coaching staff from 2009-10?

This one just makes too much sense, and while the fan base obviously wanted Schwartz to return, Undlin’s name has quickly emerged as the preferred consolation prize.

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This article was originally published on www.dawgpounddaily.com as Browns finally reach out to the defensive coordinator candidate fans want most.