Browns head coach search: Is Grant Udinski the next Sean McVay?

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

The Cleveland Browns are knee deep in attempting to find their next head coach. Their list of potential candidates is fairly long. John Harbaugh is the only name that has been scratched off so far. There are other guys currently on playoff teams who will eventually be interviewed when the NFL rules allow. Once teams lose in the playoffs, schedules for interviews free up.

RELATED:BROWNS HEAD COACHING TRACKER

That happened this past weekend. The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Buffalo Bills in a wild game, 27-24. That freed up any assistant coaches who had interview requests.

Like the Browns’ request to get a meeting with Jacksonville OC Grant Udinski, a young coach who has many bringing back up the story of 30-year-old Sean McVay’s hiring from years ago.

Out of all the names on Cleveland’s interview list, why Udinski? And why hasn’t anyone talked about him until now? Who is he?

Beginnings

Udinski grew up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. He attended Central Bucks West High School, where he played tight end in football but was a standout in lacrosse. As a junior and senior, he was voted All-Conference in lacrosse.

At the time, lacrosse teams in college were mostly at larger ACC and Big 10 schools. Udinski decided to stick to football and played backup tight end for one year at Davidson College, located in North Carolina. After one season, he then became a walk-on at Towson in the Coastal Athletic Association.

At Towson, they switched Udinski to defense, where he excelled at defensive end. In his final two seasons, he ended up with a scholarship. He excelled in the classroom, earning CoSIDA Academic First-Team All-American honors at Towson in 1998 for his 3.94 undergraduate GPA and 4.0 GPA at the master’s level.

He went undrafted in the 2019 NFL draft and decided that he would prefer to go into coaching instead. Udinski traveled to the January 2019 American Football Coaches Association convention in San Antonio. Udinski sat in the host hotel and introduced himself and talked to as many coaches as he could recognize, many of whom he had emailed about the possibility of coaching there.

One of those coaches was Jeff Nixon, who was the co-offensive coordinator/running backs coach at Baylor University. Nixon was one of the coaches Udinski had emailed much earlier. Matt Rhule was the head coach. Nixon instructed Udinski that at Baylor, there wasn’t a graduate assistant position available; however, he did invite him to watch practices and sit in on meetings during spring practice.

Rhule then instructed Udinski to apply to grad school. Less than a month later, Baylor had a GA spot open up, and Udinski grabbed it. His job duties included breaking down film, creating reports, and working with quarterbacks. After another grad student left, he switched over to the defense to assist DC Phil Snow. Udinski put in long hours and was in the right place at the right time.

Udinski wasn’t from Waco, Texas, nor did he have any family living there. He also didn’t have any money, so he was sleeping in his car in the Walmart parking lot located near the campus, where they allowed RVs and other vehicles free overnight parking.

Snow became aware of Udinski’s non-home situation and then invited his assistant to stay at his home despite just meeting and working with him.

When Rhule was hired as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers in 2020 with a seven-year $62 million deal, he did what most new head coaches do: hire the guys he knows and has worked well with. At DC, Rhule hired Snow. Snow convinced Rhule to hire Udinski as a coaching assistant despite being just 24-years old.

Udinski did whatever was asked of him and helped in any capacity he could. He had the time and energy, was a sponge for the game, and a football nut.

When Rhule was fired after the 2022 season, all of his coaches were also looking for work. Rhule’s TE coach was Brian Angelichio, who was then hired as the TE coach for the Minnesota Vikings. Angelichio discussed with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell about hiring Udinski. He was then hired as Minnesota’s assistant to the head coach/special projects.

With the Vikings, his duties included being available during practice sessions plus providing advanced scouting reports on opponents. The next year, O’Connell promoted Udinski to assistant quarterbacks coach because of his overall football knowledge. The following season, Udinski was again promoted to assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterback coach. At the time, it was explained that Udinski knew more than anyone about the offense. In 2024, Minnesota ranked as the #12 overall offensive group with the #6 passing attack and the #9 scoring offense.  

Jacksonville calls

In 2025, the Jaguars’ new head coach, Liam Coen, was getting his coaching staff together and hired Udinski as his OC. Their only connection was that when O’Connell left the staff of the Los Angeles Rams to become the head man with the Vikings, Coen was the man hired to replace him.

Jacksonville’s offense ranked #11 this year, up from a #25 ranking in 2024.

The offense averaged 337.4 yards per game and scored 55 offensive touchdowns. Their scoring offense ranked #6 with 27.9 points a game on average, just 2.6 points off the top mark. Despite losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Jags scored three touchdowns in their defeat.

They had the fourth most rushing touchdowns (22), seventh most passing TDs (29), fifth most total offensive touchdowns (55), ranked #11 in most passing yards (4,026), #9 in passing first down conversions (196), and allowed 41 sacks.

It should be noted that Udinski is just 30 years old. The new young gun? Probably, with an emphasis on “young.” The Jaguar fanbase is up in arms when they hear that Udinski could become a candidate on somebody’s head coaching list. So far, Cleveland is the only club that has reached out. The Jags fans simply want the Jacksonville brass to pony up a larger salary and leave Udinski alone. He has rejuvenated the career of QB Trevor Lawrence.

But that is part of the issue with the Browns. The front office is always on the lookout for a coordinator who has the magic beans for the offense – and not really head coaching material. This guy is a super young Millennial at 30.  

The results in 2025 speak for themselves. Lawrence had a great year with an emphasis on that eight-game winning streak, which catapulted Jax into the playoffs. Coen served as the play caller, while Udinski worked closely with Lawrence to come up with each week’s game plan.

Look at the Vikings with Udinski gone. From the #11 offense to the #29 offense. Losing both QB Sam Darnold and Udinski in one season hurt.

And Cleveland has taken notice. They have him on their interview list. The offense needs a lot of work, and it has been speculated that the Browns will hire an offensive guru to fix it. There are a lot of young players on the offensive side of the ball, including two rookie signal-callers. If DC Jim Schwartz is retained, maybe Udinski is what they are looking for.

An advantage to Udinski is that he has already tenured under several great minds: Rhule, O’Connell, and Coen. He brings a modern, creative “player-first” scheme that the Browns analytics heavy front office is sure to love. He is a workaholic. He is super smart. He was a former defensive player, which means he has the intel to design an offense ready to exploit how modern defenses operate. He relates well with players, many of which he is the same age.

Udinski is the ninth candidate to receive an invitation to interview for Cleveland’s head coach vacancy. He’s as bright as they come and brings a hard-working ethic.

Is it possible that the Browns could go from a Stefanski to a Udinski? Could Udinski become the next Sean McVay “young coach comes out of nowhere to be a stud head coach” story? Stay tuned.  

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos