Brian Flores, Jerod Mayo named potential Joe Woods replacements

The Cleveland Browns made it official this morning, relieving defensive coordinator Joe Woods of his duties after a year where he fielded the worst run defense in football. His fate was sealed against the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday. They now seek out a new defensive coordinator who can take a unit with too much talent and get them to maximize it. And according to ESPN’s Kimberley Martin, who is known to have ties to general manager Andrew Berry, the Browns are targeting two high-profile candidates in Brian Flores and Jerod Mayo.

Here we take a look at both Flores and Mayo and what makes them good candidates.

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Browns DC Target Brian Flores. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The resume of Flores is an impressive one despite his controversial firing by the Miami Dolphins that cost them their 2023 first round pick. Flores went to serve as a defensive assistant under Mike Tomlin with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022 (mainly because he would have to give back chunks of his buyout had he taken a coordinator gig).

Before becoming the head coach of the Dolphins, where he had the 10th ranked defense in 2021 in DVOA, Flores was a long-time assistant in New England under Bill Belichick. He joined the Patriots at the age of 23 in 2004 as a scouting assistant, became a pro scout in 2006, and was hired to Belichick’s coaching staff in 2008. He was then the defensive coordinator in New England for nearly a decade, hired in 2011, before landing his gig with the Dolphins.

He has had success as an NFL head coach and could help this team immensely as head coach Kevin Stefanski would no longer have to babysit the defensive side of the football. He was named as a potential candidate earlier in the season.

Browns DC target Jerod Mayo. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The next candidate was actually a player under Flores as a member of the New England Patriots. Throughout his eight-year playing career, Mayo was named as an All-Pro once and a Pro Bowler twice. He was also named as the 2008 Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Patriots.

He has been the linebackers coach in New England since 2019 after retiring from the NFL in 2015. He has been the defensive play-caller in New England since he took on the role of linebackers coach (which, of course, has never been confirmed by Belichick). Mayo has a pipeline in place to become an NFL head coach, so with either of these candidates, the Browns would need to create an internal pipeline to replace him should he move up the ranks quickly.

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