The Browns once considered hiring Jim Tressel to be their head coach when he was at his peak with Ohio State. The internal talks never got past the exploration stage. "There was talk about him," confirmed a source involved in Cleveland's inner circle at the time. A source close to Tressel said the Browns explored his interest through a third party, but Tressel "just wasn't ready" to try the NFL. The time frame is believed to be in late 2006.