General manager John Dorsey insisted last week he could consider a woman while searching for the next head coach of the Browns.
"It could be a woman," Dorsey said Nov. 14. "I'm serious. We're going to look at everything."
But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has not been discussed as a candidate, contrary to a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter, who stated Sunday morning the Browns would like to interview her for the position. A woman has never interviewed for an NFL head coaching position.
"Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is a great leader, possesses the highest possible character and also happens to be a Browns fan," Dorsey said, responding to Schefter's report in a prepared statement released Sunday afternoon. "I have the utmost respect and admiration for all she's accomplished and was honored to meet her for the first time earlier this season. Our coaching search will be thorough and deliberate, but we are still in the process of composing the list of candidates and Secretary Rice has not been discussed."
Rice weighed in Sunday afternoon with the following Facebook post:
"I love my Browns _ and I know they will hire an experienced coach to take us to the next level.
"On a more serious note, I do hope that the NFL will start to bring women into the coaching profession as position coaches and eventually coordinators and head coaches. One doesn't have to play the game to understand it and motivate players. But experience counts _ and it is time to develop a pool of experienced women coaches.
"BTW _ I'm not ready to coach but I would like to call a play or two next season if the Browns need ideas! And at no time will I call for a "prevent defense."
Rice, 64, is a lifelong Browns fan who visited with team brass on the field Sept. 30 before their road game against the Oakland Raiders. She has visited the organization's training facility in Berea, Ohio multiple times, and, in 2010, she told reporters stories about watching the Browns on television with her father, John, as a child in Birmingham, Ala.
She grew up cheering for coach Paul Brown and running back Jim Brown and later kept a Browns helmet in her office at the State Department and Stanford University, where she's a faculty member in the Graduate School of Business. In 2012, she modeled a No. 16 Browns jersey in an advertising campaign for women's NFL apparel.
In 2002, Rice told the New York Times she wanted to become the commissioner of the NFL. It never happened, but she became a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee in 2012 and chaired an NCAA commission on college basketball in 2017.
Dorsey said he'll seek three main traits as he looks for the Browns' ninth full-time head coach since 1999.
"I would like to see a man of character. I would like see a man who can lead young men. I would like a man who has high football acumen," he said.
On Nov. 15, Dorsey pointed out during a radio interview on WKNR (850-AM) that he's looking for a "person" who meets his criteria and not necessarily a man.
Although Rice could emphatically check Dorsey's character and leadership boxes, she has never been a football coach.
But there are women in the NFL coaching ranks, including San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant Katie Sowers and Oakland Raiders strength and conditioning assistant Kelsey Martinez. An intern for the Arizona Cardinals in 2015, Jennifer Welter became the first female coach in the NFL. Kathryn Smith became the first full-time woman coach in league history. She was a special teams quality control coach for the Buffalo Bills in 2016.
"We're moving in a direction where there are women within the NFL coaching circles, and you know what? That's a good thing," Dorsey said on WKNR. "That's OK. So what I want to do is get the best candidate, whoever that will be, as head coach for the Cleveland Browns moving forward. Period."
