CLEVELAND, Ohio — While Browns head coach candidate Nate Scheelhaase was in the midst of his lengthy interview with the Browns in Los Angeles on Monday, he got a request from the Bills to interview for their head coach vacancy.
He’s currently scheduled to meet Monday night with the Bills, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who first reported the new request.
Scheelhaase’s interview began early Monday morning, and lasted until about 3:30 p.m. L.A. time.
The Bills also still have another one of the Browns’ former candidates in the mix in Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, who withdrew his name for the Browns job Monday morning.
If the Browns lose out on Scheelhaase, 35, they still have defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken poised to take the job. A league source told cleveland.com that Monken was still very much in the mix along with Schwartz and Scheelhaase even though he’s mostly flown under the radar.
If Scheelhaase was able to convince the Browns during his second interview that he can elevate the team and transform it into a perennial playoff contender, he has a decent chance of being offered the job. But now they have competition from the Bills, who have the reigning NFL MVP in Josh Allen.
Scheelhaase also interviewed for the Steelers’ head coach vacancy before they hired Mike McCarthy and for the Ravens’ opening before they hired Jesse Minter. He also interviewed for the Raiders head coach job, which is still open.
The Browns are now free to hire their coach at any time considering they’ve satisfied the Rooney Rule with in-person interviews with Scheelhaase and Commanders running backs coach Anthony Lynn, two diverse candidates.
Scheelhaase, 35, has never been a coordinator in the NFL or called plays, but he’s worked closely with Sean McVay the past two seasons and has drawn up his plays. That’s proven to be a good precursor to an NFL head coach job, as it was for the Bengals’ Zac Taylor and the Jaguars’ Liam Coen.
Scheelhaase, fresh off a loss to the Seahawks in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game, has been described by some as the next McVay, and a brilliant rising offensive star in the business.
“He’s a great coach,” McVay said last offseason. “He has great leadership, great capacity for the game, similar to a lot of our other great coaches. First and foremost, he has great character. There’s an ability to be able to connect with all different types. There’s an ability to own the game from an all-22 perspective. He’s excellent. I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He’s a great person, first and foremost, and he has a great family. He’s been outstanding, working with the receivers, but he has a tremendous impact on our team and our group as a whole.”
Scheelhaase joined the Rams as an offensive assistant and pass game specialist in 2024 after spending six seasons at Iowa State in various roles (2018-23).
In his first NFL season, he helped guide a passing attack that ranked 10th in passing yards per game (227.5), 12th in yards per reception (11.2), and 13th in completions (367). The Rams receiving core totaled just 15 drops all season, sixth-fewest in the NFL. Quarterback Matthew Stafford surpassed 3,000 passing yards in a season for the 12th time in his career and became the 13th-different quarterback to accomplish the feat in NFL history.
Scheelhaase was promoted to Pass Game Coordinator in 2025, where he oversaw a historic campaign for Stafford, who led the league with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns to become the favorite to win NFL MVP.
Like most of the other Browns’ offensive candidates, Scheelhaase played quarterback in college, starting four years at Illinois (2009-13), where he finished as the program’s all-time leader in total offense with 10,634 yards, which ranks seventh in Big Ten history. As a senior, he produced one of the best offensive seasons in program history leading the conference in passing yards (272.7 yards per game) and completion percentage (66.7).
He was the only quarterback in Illini history to win back-to-back bowl games and is one of just two players in Big Ten history to total over 8,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards in his collegiate career.
With the Rams, Scheelhaase has specialized in pre-snap motions, shifts, and presenting similar looks to the defense before executing vastly different plays. Like McVay, he’s known for his offensive wizardry and innovative designs.
He’s never called plays in the NFL and would be a calculated risk. But if Scheelhaase is half as good as his boss, the risk just might pay off.
Question is, will the Bills snatch him away? Or will the Browns prevent that from happening.
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