Browns deny interest in hiring Condoleeza Rice as coach

The Cleveland Browns' coaching search isn't quite ready to cross gender or diplomatic lines.

General Manager John Dorsey, who opened the possibility of hiring a woman to be Cleveland's next coach, said Sunday that the team has not discussed former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a candidate to become the club's ninth coach since 1999.

ESPN, citing an anonymous league source, reported the team would like to interview Rice, an ardent Browns fan since childhood, for its coaching job.

However, Dorsey said she is not on the list of candidates.

"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. "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."

Last week, Dorsey said he would consider a wide range of candidates. "I just want the best possible head coach to move this thing forward regardless of age," he said. "It could be a woman, too. I am serious. Who knows?"

There has never been a woman interviewed for a head coaching job in the NFL.

"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," she wrote. "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."

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