The Cleveland Browns have become the laughingstock of the National Football League. The franchise has posted a winning record just twice since returning to the league as an expansion team in 1999, most recently in 2007. Both the head coach and quarterback positions have been a revolving door of futility. Latest coach Rob Chudzinsky was fired after just one season with a 4-12 record, a step down from the 5-11 record in 2012 that earned previous coach Pat Shurmur a pink slip.

The Browns have interviewed a handful of current NFL assistant coaches, none of whom have generated any enthusiasm amongst the team's long-suffering yet ever loyal fanbase. Meanwhile, former Ohio State University head football coach Jim Tressel currently serves as vice president for student success at the University of Akron. Tressel had a hugely successful run at Ohio State, winning the school's first national championship in 34 years in the 2002 season and leading the team to six consecutive BCS (Bowl Championship Series) appearances from 2005-2010 before being pressured to resign in 2011 due to a scandal involving players trading memorabilia for tattoos.

Speculation over whether Tressel is interested in an NFL coaching job ended this week when he confirmed such interest in an interview with a Columbus radio station, as reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

"I have not had discussions with Cleveland," Tressel said in a radio interview with 97.1 FM in Columbus on Thursday. "That doesn't mean I don't have any interest in the NFL or anything. I don't want to paint that picture. But at this point, I have not [been contacted by the Browns.]"

Tressel is a native of Northeast Ohio and a lifelong Browns fan who understands the football crazed culture in Cleveland. He's also a proven winner at college football's highest level. Many fans and observers feel the combination of these two factors could be just what the Browns need to break out of the rut that has made the once-proud franchise a national joke. Some argue that Tressel's lack of NFL experience leaves him as a lacking candidate. But one need only look to the San Francisco 49ers' Jim Harbaugh and the Philadelphia Eagles' Chip Kelly to find two currently successful head coaches who jumped straight from college to NFL head coaching jobs and led their team to the playoffs.

"The Browns have been coached by Chris Palmer, Pat Shurmur and Rob Chudzinski since coming back. Let's not act like Tressel can't do this," tweeted Buckeye Sports Bulletin editor Jeff Svoboda in the wake of the report on Tressel's interest.

"If I were the Browns, I think it would be cool to experiment with Tressel rather than hiring a coordinator nobody has heard of," tweeted Plain Dealer reporter Ari Wasserman.

"If the #Browns can't get an established HC.. why would you not at least make a phone call to Tress?" asked former Ohio State defensive back Dustin Fox in a tweet of his own. Fox started on Ohio State's 2002 national championship squad under Tressel, played in the NFL and currently hosts a radio show on Cleveland's 92.3 The Fan.

Even a trio of 10-year-old Browns fans have drawn the same conclusion, uploading a video that recently went viral in which they laid out Tressel's obvious qualifications for the job.

Tressel is earning a decent salary at the University of Akron in his current academic position. But why he doesn't at least warrant a phone call from his hometown NFL team when the Browns desperately need a winning coach to turn the franchise around is puzzling. The situation seems to underscore an ongoing problem for many underemployed and overqualified Americans these days - a lack of opportunity despite the precise qualifications that should at least warrant a job interview.