After reports emerged early this morning that the Browns had requested to interview Rams pass game coordinator Nathan Scheelhaase, we got news that two other teams followed suit. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Ravens and Raiders have also requested to meet with Scheelhaase about their open head coaching vacancies. 
It’s honestly surprising to see Scheelhaase getting head coaching interest so soon. The 35-year-old coach only entered the NFL ranks of coaching last year and hasn’t even landed an offensive coordinator gig yet at this level. Scheelhaase spent nine years coaching in the NCAA, starting at his alma mater, where he played quarterback for the Fighting Illini. After three seasons in Champaign, Scheelhaase found his way to Iowa State under then-head coach Matt Campbell. He eventually worked his way up to offensive coordinator in Ames, serving in the position for one year before finding his first gig in the NFL.
Scheelhaase has been a fast-rising name for years in the NFL. In fact, before he had even served as offensive coordinator at Iowa State, Scheelhaase interviewed for the same job with the Eagles shortly after getting promoted in 2023. In 2024, he joined Sean McVay‘s staff in Los Angeles as an offensive assistant/passing game specialist, and following his first year in the league, he landed offensive coordinator interviews in Jacksonville and Tampa Bay and was even seen as a favorite for the Jaguars’ position before ultimately announcing that he would stay with the Rams.
Now, though he’s only been an offensive coordinator at the NCAA level and didn’t even call plays in his time with that role at Iowa State, Scheelhaase has seemingly skipped a level, bypassing coordinator jobs to receive interest in potentially becoming a head coach. Including the Browns, all three teams interested in Scheelhaase have more experienced candidates with former head coaching experience and, at the very least, coordinator experience. Both the Raiders and Ravens, though, have had one of their recent head coaches come in without such experience.
When John Harbaugh was hired in Baltimore, he was coming off a year as the Eagles defensive backs coach after having spent the first nine years of his NFL career as the team’s special teams coordinator. While former Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce technically started as an interim replacement for Josh McDaniels, Vegas named him their full-time head coach in 2024 despite Pierce only have two seasons of NFL coaching experience as the team’s linebackers coach. Because both franchises have shown a receptive nature towards coaches without heaps of experience, Scheelhaase may have a chance to break through in each team’s race.
Follow along with this year’s head coaching cycle with PFR’s 2026 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker. You’ll be able to follow Scheelhaase’s progress with the three teams who have expressed interest so far and any other teams that may follow. If Scheelhaase is unable to make any real headway on head coaching gigs, he’ll almost certainly be a popular name in the offensive coordinator hiring cycle.