As they continue to search for a new head coach, the Cleveland Browns have reportedly requested to interview former Minnesota Vikings assistant coach Grant Udinski for their current opening, according to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero on Monday.
Udinski, who is only 30-years-old, spent three seasons on the Vikings' coaching staff under head coach Kevin O'Connell from 2022 to 2024, working as an assistant offensive coordinator and assistant quarterbacks coach before leaving in the 2025 offseason to become the new offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After helping Sam Darnold turn his career around in Minnesota in 2024 and Trevor Lawrence reach his full potential in Jacksonville this season, Udinski is clearly getting noticed for the work he's been doing on the sidelines, and it might result in him landing an opportunity to become the next head coach of the Browns.
Cleveland Browns could replace one former Minnesota Vikings coach with another
Cleveland, of course, is in need of a new head coach after recently firing Kevin Stefanski after six seasons with the team. The Browns hired Stefanski back in 2020 after he spent more than a decade as a member of Minnesota's coaching staff.
During his tenure with Cleveland, Stefanski won the AP's NFL Coach of the Year award twice, but that clearly didn't matter enough for the franchise to keep him around for another season.
Instead, the Browns are now looking for someone to replace him, and if they hire Udinski, it would mark the second time in a row that they would hire a former Vikings assistant coach to be their new head coach.
Cleveland has also been interviewing a bunch of candidates in the last several days. Since firing Stefanski, the Browns have met with guys like Mike McDaniel, Todd Monken, Jim Schwartz, and more. Cleveland is also among the teams that will likely attempt to interview former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh at some point in the near future.
If Udinksi were to be hired by the Browns, he would quickly become the youngest head coach in the NFL, and he would break the league's record for the youngest head coach ever to be hired, which is currently still held by Sean McVay, who was 30 years and 11 months old when the Los Angeles Rams hired him to be their new head coach in 2017.