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Ken Whisenhunt is having a second interview with the Cleveland Browns, The Plain Dealer has learned.

(Photo by AP)

CLEVELAND -- The Browns are interviewing former Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt for a second time today in Cleveland, a league source told the Plain Dealer.



The Browns also interviewed Whisenhunt, 50, last week in Arizona and really liked him.

The fact that the Browns are interviewing him a second time means they might be getting serious about hiring him. They also still like some of their other candidates.

Whisenhunt is the second candidate the Browns have interviewed twice. The first was Syracuse coach Doug Marrone, who was hired by the Bills only hours after the Browns revisited him Saturday night.

The Browns this week have also interviewed Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman, Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski and Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

They are also set to interview Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who was released from the hospital Wednesday night, where he was being treated for an inner-ear infection. Arians is also interviewing with the Chargers, Bears and Eagles. Arians, Trestman and Chudzinski are all former Browns offensive coordinators.



Whisenhunt, the former special teams coach of the Browns in 1999 under Chris Palmer, has gone 45-51 in his six seasons with the Cardinals and 4-2 in the playoffs, including a loss in Super Bowl. He's a former offensive assistant of the Steelers from 2001-06, including coordinator from 2004-06. He helped the Steelers win Super Bowl XL after the 2005 season.

Whisenhunt was fired on Black Monday along with general manager Rod Graves after the Cardinals finished 5-11 for the second time in three years. They also failed to make the playoffs the past three seasons, and team president Michael Bidwill told the Arizona Republic that the other NFC West teams were passing them by.

“You looked at the other teams in the NFC West and they were making dramatic improvements, especially the 49ers and the Seahawks,” Bidwill said. “So I felt like we’ve got to get back to where we’re competing at the highest level to win the NFC West.”

After the 2008 season, Whisenhunt led the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl in franchise history, where they lost to the Steelers. In a statement issued through the team, Whisenhunt thanked the Bidwill family and Graves for hiring him for his first head-coaching position.

"Collectively we accomplished some very special and unprecedented things," Whisenhunt said. "That's a testament to the dedication, hard work and talent of so many coaches, players and people throughout the organization.



"But we all understand this business and when you don't win enough games changes are made. That doesn't mean it's easy, but you definitely don't have to look far to find people that have it much worse."



Many of the Cardinals' woes the past three years can be traced to their inability to replace quarterback Kurt Warner, who led them to the Super Bowl and retired after the 2009 season. Since then, six different quarterbacks have started for the Cardinals, including four this year.

