Cleveland Browns: Could Ray Rhodes or John Fox Be Headed To C-Town? (Part 2)

The Cleveland Browns are sitting on the edge of disappointment with a 5-8 record despite not residing in the basement of the AFC North for the first time since their Cinderella season in 2007.

Coming into the 2010 NFL season, many NFL experts and analysts were looking down upon the Browns—predicting them to finish in the bottom three of the league in several preseason power ranking lists.

After knocking off top-tier teams like the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots, the Browns left a message to all other NFL teams that they were playing the upset card, but a Week 14 stumble in their loss to the Buffalo Bills mostly derailed much of the positivity the Browns had going for them.

The loss to the Bills along with the loss of rookie quarterback Colt McCoy, has brought the Browns back down to Earth and sometimes that can be a good thing.

But not when one of the NFL's best offensive minds, in Browns president Mike Holmgren, is sitting in the luxury box at the stadium, literally overseeing the entire operation.

Holmgren has played it quiet and has let head coach Eric Mangini be the face of the team during the season when his job matters most, but Holmgren's time to get back in front of the media is quickly approaching as the 2010 season comes to a close.

Browns fans are speculating that if Mangini cannot get his Browns to beat at least two of the three AFC North rivals in the final three weeks of the season, then his job will be in jeopardy since the Bills loss has put him back onto the hot seat.

In what is part 2 of this three-part series that will look at the defensive coordinator position, here is a look at what will happen if Holmgren decides to gut the coaching staff once this season ends.

(You can read part 1, which looks at the possibility of a new Browns offensive coordinator by clicking here and part 3, which looks at the head coach position by clicking here.)

So who might be a suitable replacement if Holmgren gets rid of current defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan?

Ryan has already told the media, back in the beginning of the 2010 calender year, that he would love the opportunity to go back to the Oakland Raiders to coach for owner Al Davis.

This does not mean he will be hoping on a jet once the season ends to take a job in Oakland, but the thought of that possibility is present if Davis fires current head coach, Tom Cable.

With Ryan gone, Holmgren would have to fill the need with a new defensive coordinator.

Two names come to mind with one being current Carolina Panthers head coach, John Fox, who is definitely on the hot seat with the league's worst record and the rumors that former Super Bowl winning coach, Bill Cowher could be on his way to the team facility since he and his family reside close by.

Fox is a good friend of Holmgren's and they share the same agent too.

With a defensive background, Fox was most recently the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants from 1997-2001 before taking the head coaching job in Carolina.

Fox is a possible solution to fill the Browns' need as the leader of the defense, but since he has never coached under Holmgren, there is a better choice for a replacement defensive coordinator if Holmgren lets Ryan go.

That man would be Ray Rhodes.

Rhodes has coached under Holmgren two different times as Holmgren's defensive coordinator, along with stints as a head coach from 1995-1999 for the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles.

He has the experience from multiple levels of experience of coaching in the NFL, which is nothing but a good thing.

Rhodes and Holmgren were both with the Green Bay Packers from 1992-1993, and then a second time together with the Seattle Seahawks from 2003-2007.

Currently a defensive assistant for the Houston Texans, Rhodes it currently with a team that is struggling this season and there is a good chance Texans ownership could gut the current coaching staff which would free up Rhodes to look for a new job in 2011.

He will not have to look too far since Holmgren could easily be bringing his old coaching team together in Cleveland either in 2011 or in 2012, if Mangini cannot get the Browns into playoff contention in 2011.

This would mean Holmgren would give Mangini one more chance to be Cleveland's coach and it would also coincide with the fact that Mangini is signed through the 2011 season and owner Al Lerner is already paying too many former employees from previous regimes.

Will this pan out?

There is no fact to this actually happening, or Holmgren having the interest of gutting the coaching staff, but with the NFL as unpredictable as any sports, anything can happen once a season ends to a team that has more losses than wins.

(Also posted on Dawg Scooper: A Cleveland Browns Source)