The Opening Drive 1/13: Grant Udinski and Nate Scheelhaase Candidacy Could Signal Shift in How NFL Chooses Coaches
The Browns need to be early on young coaching talent, if they want to land the next big thing.
For decades, the NFL’s head-coaching pipeline has been stubbornly linear. Call plays, wear the coordinator title for multiple seasons, and wait your turn. The system has rewarded familiarity over imagination and résumé over results. But the recent buzz around Grant Udinski and Nate Scheelhaase hints that the league may finally be loosening its grip on that old script.
Neither Udinski nor Scheelhaase fits the traditional profile. They are young by NFL standards, lack years of coordinator or play-calling experience, and are better known internally for how they think about football than for what their title is. And yet, they’re being discussed—seriously—as future head-coaching candidates. That alone represents a philosophical shift.
What makes these candidacies different is not age or novelty; it’s influence. Teams appear increasingly interested in process over position—how coaches teach, adapt, collaborate, and build systems—rather than whether they’ve accumulated the “right” titles. Udinski’s rise has been fueled by his ability to blend ideas across analytics, quarterback development, and weekly game-planning. Scheelhaase’s path reflects a growing appreciation for teachers who can translate concepts clearly and evolve offenses without being attached to one rigid identity.
This matters because the league has spent the past decade copying itself. Once a trend hits, it spreads rapidly, often without regard for whether the people implementing it truly understand the principles. The result has been a carousel of hires who look good on paper but struggle to build adaptable programs once they’re in charge.
Udinski and Scheelhaase represent a different bet. Instead of asking, “Has he called plays on Sundays?” teams seem to be asking, “Can he build an environment? Can he teach players and assistants? Can he evolve when defenses catch up?” Those are harder traits to measure, but they’re far more predictive of long-term success.
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There’s also a generational element at play. Younger coaches tend to be more comfortable blending analytics with film, collaborating across departments, and abandoning concepts when evidence says they no longer work. That doesn’t guarantee success—but it widens the pool of viable leadership styles beyond the same recycled archetypes.
If this shift is real, coordinator titles may matter less. Developmental roles could become a place to look. Offensive coordinators who haven’t called plays, quarterbacks coaches, and passing game coordinators could be launching pads. Front offices might invest more time evaluating how candidates think and
communicate rather than how long they’ve waited in line or how much face time they have as a play-caller.
It’s still early, and the NFL is slow to change. But the fact that Udinski and Scheelhaase are even part of the conversation, suggests owners and general managers may finally be acknowledging the uncomfortable truth that the old way hasn’t worked well enough.
If the league truly wants innovation and sustainable success, it can’t keep hiring the same coach with a slightly different résumé. The rise of candidates like these may not be a revolution—but it may be the clearest sign yet that the NFL is reconsidering how it chooses its leaders.
The Browns seem to be on board with this way of thinking, as they have both Scheelhaase and Udinski on their list of head coaching candidates to interview. In the Browns case, getting a star coach may mean being bold enough to trust the work they do with younger candidates and rolling the dice on the up-and-coming coach sooner than other teams. They aren’t going to be a destination of choice very often once these guys have what the NFL considers the appropriate experience. They were early on Kevin Stefanski, and it paid some dividends.
Don’t be surprised if the Browns are taking these candidates more seriously than other teams for the very reason that being early in Cleveland might have to be their best chance at landing a potential star head coach.
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I do think the lack of play calling experience does introduce quite a bit of risk.
Installing and sequencing a game plan is likely one of the three most impactful responsibilities of a coaching staff. Experience doing it has to be extremely valuable and difficult to replace
“Can he build an environment? Can he teach players and assistants? Can he evolve when defenses catch up?”
Absolutely love this framework and think there’s a decent chance it is reflective of the browns approach given their Stefanski hire over McDaniel and the candidates this round