Former Redskins offensive Kyle Shanahan is in the process of finalizing a deal to become the Browns new offensive coordinator, two league sources told cleveland.com.
NEW YORK -- The Browns are in the process hiring former Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan as their new coordinator, two sources told cleveland.com.
Shanahan is currently on vacation with his family and won't be able to actually sign the deal for a few days, but for all intents and purposes, it's a done deal, a source said.
A team spokesman, however, said that coach Mike Pettine has had some solid interviews but that a decision on his coordinator has not been made.
Cleveland.com reported Saturday morning that Shanahan was still very much in the mix and that the Browns could name him soon.
Alex Marvez of Fox Sports also tweeted that Shanahan is the Browns new coordinator.
A report on NFL Network that Shanahan's interview "didn't go as planned'' and that the Browns had moved on was inaccurate, a source said.
A source told cleveland.com shortly after the interview that both sides felt it went very well and that Shanahan was an immediate frontrunner.
Shanahan has six years' experience as an NFL coordinator, including two with the Texans and the past four with the Redskins.
The Browns interviewed Shanahan and Raiders quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo for their coordinator vacancy this week. They also hired former Titans offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains as their quarterbacks coach on Thursday, a source told cleveland.com and added former Ravens offensive line coach Andy Moeller to coach their line, two sources told the Baltimore Sun.
The Browns have not yet announced the addition of Shanahan, Loggains or Moeller.
Shanahan, 34, and his father Mike, the former Redskins head coach, were fired after the Redskins tumbled to 3-13 in 2013 and after quarterback Robert Griffin III had a sub-par season.
The Redskins' disappointing year followed their 10-6 playoff campaign in 2012, when RGIII lit it up as a rookie. However, the Redskins lost 24-14 to the Seahawks in the wildcard round, and RGIII suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and other knee damage in the game.
The Shanahans were fired in large part because of their rift with RGIII, who came to mistrust them, according to the Washington Post.
But former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, a close friend of Shanahan's since they played together at Texas, told cleveland.com on Thursday that Shanahan got a bad rap in the RGIII situation and that no one complained the year before when RGIII was one of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL.
"To me, you're talking about a guy (in RGIII) who was in the NFL for less than a year, and then we're talking about a guy (in Simms) who's been around the NFL his whole life, has had tremendous success, had top 10 offenses his last two years with the Texans and then in his last two years in Washington,'' said Simms. " So I tend to trust the guy that's been around the league and has the numbers to back it up rather than the guy that came from Baylor and was part of an offense that didn't even have a playbook and really is kind of new to the NFL world. There's a lot of illegitimate perception about Kyle because of kind of the raucous that went on down there this year.''
The 2013 season marked Shanahan's 10th in the NFL and fourth as Redskins coordinator. Shanahan helped create the "“East Coast Offense” in 2012 that led Washington to its first NFC East championship in 13 years. Incorporating the Pistol into his scheme, Shanahan's offense became the first in NFL history to pass for 3,400 yards and rush for 2,700 yards in the same season.
Despite starting rookies at quarterback and running back (Alfred Morris) for all 16 games, the Redskins won their first rushing title since 1993 and led the NFL in yards per play (6.17). RGIII also became the team’s first recipient of the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award since 1975 and set NFL rookie records for passer rating (102.4), interception percentage (1.27) and rushing yards by a rookie quarterback (815).
In Week 15 against the Browns, Shanahan coached another rookie quarterback, Kirk Cousins, to a 38-21 victory in Cleveland with a season-high 329 yards passing. Morris, a sixth-round pick, also set the Redskins’ team record with 1,613 rushing yards in 2012.
Shanahan's offenses have finished in the top 10 in four of his six years as a coordinator.