Shedeur Sanders still doesn’t know who his head coach will be in the 2026 NFL season. However, he can discard another name who has withdrawn his name from the Cleveland Browns interest.
The Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator, Grant Udinski, has removed himself from the Browns head coaching search, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic. This is not the first coach to remove himself from consideration. The fact is that it seems that many jobs are more attractive than going to the Browns.
Mike McDaniel also removed himself from becoming the Browns HC. Hence, there are less and less names for the Browns. Having said that, the Browns might have their answer in-house.
Udinski has clear options
Only the Browns, Bills, Raiders, and Cardinals remain in the hunt for a head coach. However, Udinski will talk with the Bills and if not, it seems like he’d rather stay as the Jaguars OC rather than going to a bad situation like the Browns are perceived.
Considered among people in the NFL as a coaching prodigy, Udinski is just 30 years old and has plenty of room to grow. He isn’t in a rush. In the 2025 NFL season, the Jaguars had the sixth-best scoring offense despite having a new playbook and plenty of players to rescue from apparent demise, like Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, who had both resurging years under Udinski and HC Liam Coen.
Udinski is the OC, but not the playcaller
Many times, the best way for an offensive coordinator to make his name is playcalling. However, Udinski is not the playcaller on the Jaguars, as that role is fulfilled by HC Coen. Having said that, this doesn’t mean Udinski is not a key component on the Jags’ coaching staff.
Udinski is heavily involved in game planning, organizing the offense, and working closely with Trevor Lawrence. The work he did with Lawrence might be his most impressive job. Lawrence’s career was spiraling down and Udinski arguably saved Lawrence’s career.