More Changes for the Cleveland Browns Coaching Staff
Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
After an overall positive season for the Cleveland Browns considering all the injuries they dealt with, the shake-up on offense with the firing of much of the staff was a bit surprising. This move once again proves how committed the team is to Deshaun Watson and putting him in the best position to be successful.
Unfortunately, in the NFL you are forced to fire the coaches not living up to expectations, and you often lose the good ones who receive promotions. The Browns have been fortunate to keep much of their staff the same the last few years, but that is finally starting to change.
Bill Callahan Likely Gone:
One of the most respected offensive line coaches in the game is Bill Callahan, he was one of Kevin Stefanski’s best gets when first hired by the Browns and is a big reason this team has had so much success running the ball the last three or four seasons.
Stefanski and Callahan are both wide zone experts and the Browns assembled an athletic group of offensive linemen to execute the scheme extremely well.
Now that Bill’s son, Bria Callahan, is being hired by the Tennessee Titans as their head coach, it’s hard not to see the two joining forces. It’s certainly frustrating as a fan to see a good coach go, but who would want to stop a father and son coaching together at the highest level? Certainly not me.
Even though Callahan is referred to as the “best in the business” I’m also not heartbroken to see this group get a fresh start. Honestly, this offensive line for the Cleveland Browns has been overrated for three years in a row, so a fresh face may be exactly what is needed.
Jack Conklin, Dawand Jones, and Jedrick Wills will be the top three tackles on the roster. When healthy this group can be formidable as we saw Jones (a rookie in 2023) shine after Conklin went down for the season. Wills has faced injuries the last three seasons but has also fallen short of expectations by a large margin as he enters the fifth and final year of his contract.
If these three guys can stay healthy (who were all on injured reserve at the end of 2023), the tackle position should be substantially better, but I’m still not sold that will happen. It will be a real battle in camp to see who the starters are, and I expect Wills and Jones to win the job as Conklin likely won’t be ready for full speed until closer to the start of the season.
The biggest project on the roster for the new offensive line coach will be James Hudson. Entering year three we saw a real drop in production last year as he was forced to start at right tackle to end the season. Hudson has the quickness and strength to be a starting offensive tackle in the NFL, but his technique is poor, and he often gets beat without even getting a hand on his defender.
The interior of the offensive line will be another area I’m excited and terrified to see what happens. Joel Bitonio, Ethan Pocic, and Wyatt Teller are all great run blockers, but Bitonio and Teller have both struggled in pass protection.
In my opinion, it’s time to move on from one of these two guys, with Teller being the more likely as a team could potentially trade for his contract. We all love watching his pancake blocking in the open field, but Teller uses terrible leverage in pass protection and struggles vs. speed and power which is a problem.
The Browns have seemed to find a way to keep this roster intact the last few years even with some monster contracts, so Andrew Berry may do just that again with this offensive line and restructures. My hope is the new position coach will have more of a focus on pass protection and help guys develop in that area.
Watching Nick Chubb run for a lot of yards behind this group is a lot of fun, but there is no doubt that things will be changing moving forward. Chubb will still get his touches, but the plan is to push the ball down the field with Watson so protecting him in the pocket will be extremely important.
Stefanski has a lot of trust in Callahan which is tough to replace, and even though this offensive line has underperformed, there is no doubt that this team is losing a fantastic coach. Anytime you have a position coach with head coaching experience, you are getting invaluable experience and wisdom.
Up Next