The fourth defensive coordinator candidate is in Berea for their interview with the Cleveland Browns as Sean Desai now joins Brian Flores, Jim Schwartz, and Dennard Wilson. While Jerod Mayo may have opted to stay with the New England Patriots over interviewing in Cleveland (and even for the head coaching job with the Carolina Panthers), the Browns continue to work through a strong list of candidates.
What could Desai bring to the table for the Browns as he looks to impress the leadership in his interview? We take a look here at Desai’s defensive philosophy and why he is so universally respected around the league.
Get to know Sean Desai
A disciple of one of the most influential defensive minds of the past 20 years, Vic Fangio, Desai has already gotten plenty of (short-lived) opportunities at just 39 years of age. He became the first coach of Indian descent to become a coordinator in the NFL.
Desai started his coaching career in 2006 at the college level with Temple as a defensive and special teams assistant. He then transitioned to the University of Miami for a year where he took over as their assistant director of football operations. The next year he then headed to New England to take over as the running backs coach and special teams coordinator for the Boston College Eagles.
This is when he made his transition to the NFL with the Chicago Bears under Marc Trestman in 2013. He started his NFL career as a quality control assistant and was retained through two coaching hires as John Fox and Matt Nagy kept Desai on their staff. Desai was then promoted to safeties coach, and then to defensive coordinator in Chicago.
After just one season at the defensive coordinator post, Desai was not retained as the Bears hired a defensive-minded head coach in Matt Eberflus. He then moved to the Pacific Northwest where he was named assistant head coach and defensive assistant with the Seattle Seahawks.
What would he like to bring upfront for the Browns?
The hiring of Desai would signify a change to a 3-4 base defense as he opts for tite fronts, just as Flores does. However, he mixes in a great deal of four-man fronts when he gets into nickel and dime looks. The size of the defensive ends in Cleveland would give Desai nice versatility to play around with, but another speed rusher and an overhaul at defensive tackle (which is happening regardless) will be needed.
Overall, the Browns have the personnel with some slight tweaks to operate a tite front in base defense, then shifting back into a four-man front the majority of the time. The 3-4 vs. 4-3 argument is a non-factor to actual NFL minds and personnel considering teams run base defense on maybe 25 percent of snaps per game.
Desai is known for his ability to confuse QBs with exotic coverages
This is where Desai and other Fangio tree guys make their money. They are known for being exotic and creative in the back end of their defense. And outside of a safety (who knows? Maybe a new defensive coordinator can save the value of John Johnson III as well), the Browns have the personnel that will not require a ton of turnover in their secondary.
A guy like the emerging Grant Delpit may continue to burst onto the scene under a coordinator like Desai. He has a strong preference for Cover 4 and variations out of quarters looks like Cover 6 (quarter-quarter-half). Shawn Syed at Daily Norseman breaks it down best.
The Browns would sit in two-high looks, which is not new to them, although the uptick would be a bit more significant under Desai. Under Desai, however, pre-snap looks are never canon as he will rotate post-snap to keep quarterbacks in a bind.
Does he like to bring pressure?
Fangio tree guys do not bring a ton of pressure, and this will be the case with Desai. His blitz rate in his one season with the Chicago Bears sat right around 22 percent, which was on par with Woods’ rate in Cleveland. However, it is not about the amount of pressure, as Schwartz also does not bring a ton of pressure historically, but about how creatively one can isolate their top talent.
Myles Garrett was double-teamed the most of any pass rusher in the NFL a year ago, so a guy like Desai would be able to win him more one-on-one looks off the edge. Blitzing is not universally good or bad, but Desai and the rest of the Fangio crew do a good job of giving their talent the best opportunity to win, even if if it is only four men.
Final thoughts on Sean Desai
Long story short, Desai is a wildly respected mind around the league, and there is a reason that many see him as the next best candidate behind only Brian Flores.
It will be interesting to see how Desai would pull from the two big names he has been influenced by. Fangio is known for his work on Cover 4, Cover 6, and Cover 8. In man coverage, he loves to give exotic Cover-1 looks like robber and lurk looks.
He will not be big on bringing multiple people on the blitz that could compromise his coverage but will use his coverage disguises to confuse quarterbacks enough to give his talent upfront time to get home. An extremely backend-oriented coordinator, Desai believes the secondary should do the heavy lifting to help the front end. And the Browns have the backend talent to transition easily into this scheme.
There is a reason why Fangio proteges keep popping up around the league, and Desai is yet another example of that after getting just one year to work in Chicago. Outside of Flores, Desai may just be the next best candidate to come through Berea for an interview.
