The Opening Drive 2/13: Why Cory Undlin Is The Best External Defensive Coordinator Option

The Browns could keep the hire internal but if they go outside the organization this is the path.

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As the Cleveland Browns search for their next defensive coordinator, the priority is clear: preserve what worked under Jim Schwartz while modernizing it just enough to give this defense a chance to stay ahead of evolving offenses. No candidate better balances that than Cory Undlin.

Undlin’s career has been built in the secondary. For more than two decades, he has specialized in the development of defensive backs, coverage structure, and pass-defense coordination. From New England to Philadelphia, Detroit, and Houston, his reputation has been shaped by his ability to teach technique, communication, and situational awareness in the back end. In today’s NFL, where defenses live and die by coverage integrity, that background is foundational.

Under Schwartz in Philadelphia, Undlin learned the inner mechanics of a front-driven defensive system. Schwartz’s scheme is built on generating pressure with four, attacking protections and forcing quarterbacks to speed up their process. But that system only works when coverage and pass rush are synchronized. Undlin’s experience in that environment gives him direct insight into how the back end must function to support the front.

That understanding is critical in Cleveland. The Browns’ defensive identity has been built around dominant line play and aggressive edge rushers. Myles Garrett and the front seven set the tone. The coordinator’s job is not to dilute that strength, but to enhance it with coverage structures that close throwing windows and punish hurried decisions. Undlin’s background positions him to do exactly that.

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In Houston, Undlin has helped design and oversee a pass-defense approach that has some some similar characteristics to Cleveland but a few varying elements as well. The key difference being the Texans desire to play quarters coverage (Cover-4). The Texans ranked 7th in the NFL in usage percentage in quarters while the Browns were 30th. The Texans also used Cover-3 at a much higher rate. While Houston ranked 13th in Cover-1 usage, they still used man concepts at a 20% lower rate than the Browns.