Report: Browns, Panthers, Giants ask to interview McDaniels

Josh McDaniels is a hot head coaching candidate again.

The Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, and New York Giants have requested permission to interview the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator for their respective head coaching vacancies, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

The Browns fired Freddie Kitchens on Sunday after finishing 6-10 in his first year as head coach, while the Giants dismissed Pat Shurmur on Monday after going 9-23 over his two seasons with the team. Carolina parted ways with longtime head coach Ron Rivera earlier in December amid a 5-7 start.

Cleveland is believed to view McDaniels as its first choice, sources told cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot. The Giants consider both McDaniels and Baylor head coach Matt Rhule to be priority candidates for their vacancy, Schefter reports.

Carolina has reportedly requested permission to interview Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

McDaniels has previous head coaching experience, posting an 11-17 record with the Denver Broncos from 2009-10, but his most significant NFL accomplishments have come as the Patriots' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

The 43-year-old has won six Super Bowls with the AFC East club. In McDaniels' 11 seasons as offensive coordinator, the Patriots have finished top 10 in offensive yardage eight times and were the league's top offense in 2007, 2012, and 2017.

McDaniels joined the Patriots as an assistant in 2001 and served as their offensive coordinator from 2006 until he left to coach the Broncos. He was the offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams during the 2011 season before rejoining New England's coaching staff in 2012.

He nearly became the Indianapolis Colts' head coach ahead of the 2018 season, but he withdrew and declared his decision to stay with the Patriots the same day the Colts announced his hiring.