Hours after their dismal 3-14 campaign came to an end, the Browns have made major changes to their offensive staff. The team has fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and offensive line coach Andy Dickerson, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network was first to report.
Dorsey, 43, appeared in five games at quarterback for the Browns between the 2006 and 2008 seasons, and he began his coaching career as a quarterbacks coach for the Panthers in 2013, a role he held for five years. He took the same job with the Bills in 2019, and his work with Buffalo QB Josh Allen encouraged the club to promote him to offensive coordinator ahead of the 2022 campaign, following Brian Daboll‘s departure to become head coach of the Giants.
Dorsey’s first season in charge of the Bills’ offense went as well as could be expected, as the team finished second in the league in terms of both yards per game and points per game. In 2023, however, the unit appeared to stagnate, and Dorsey was given his walking papers at a time when Buffalo was 5-5 (even though the team was still in the top-10 in total and scoring offense).
Despite the midseason ouster, the former Miami (Fla.) standout generated OC interest last offseason. With a roster that otherwise appeared playoff-worthy, the Browns hired Dorsey to replace Alex Van Pelt in the hopes that the former could work the same magic with Deshaun Watson that he had with Allen in Buffalo and Cam Newton in Carolina. Of course, those hopes were unrealized, as Watson struggled before succumbing to a season-ending injury in October.
Immediately after Watson’s injury, head coach Kevin Stefanski — who had been calling offensive plays up to that point — handed the reins to Dorsey. When the switch happened, Cleveland was 1-6 and was 29th in the league in scoring and last in total offense (h/t Zac Jackson and Larry Holder of The Athletic (subscription required)). And while there was some improvement when Jameis Winston was inserted into the lineup, including upset wins over division rivals Baltimore and Pittsburgh, Winston himself was benched in the wake of a familiar spate of interception-laden contests, and the team played out the last three games of the season with Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Bailey Zappe under center.
Clearly, Dorsey is not the primary reason for Cleveland’s failures this season, but Stefanski has proven that his offense — whose concepts did not mesh well with Dorsey’s — can work with anyone other than Watson at quarterback, and as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network confirms, the head coach will remain in place in 2025 (the same is true of GM Andrew Berry). Watson, by virtue of his albatross contract that was recently restructured yet again, will also be back with the Browns, though the team is expected to pursue another starter-caliber passer in the coming months.
A compelling plan in that regard will likely be necessary to convince a coveted external candidate to come to Cleveland, as it would be surprising to see a coach with other options hitch their wagon to Watson at this point. Should the Browns choose to promote from within, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports names tight ends coach Tommy Rees as a name to watch. The team could have competition for Rees, as he has been mentioned as a possible OC hire for Mike Vrabel if Vrabel — who just wrapped his consulting gig with the Browns — should become a head coach in the upcoming cycle.
Dickerson, 42, also lasted just one season in Cleveland. He had big shoes to fill when former O-line coach Bill Callahan left to join son Brian Callahan‘s first staff in Tennessee, and the difficulty of his job was compounded by the numerous injuries that the Browns’ front five sustained this year. As Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Jounral notes, left guard Joel Bitonio was the only OL who did not miss time in 2024.
By season’s end, Vrabel was also working quite a bit with the O-line, at which point the writing was on the wall for Dickerson.
Black Sunday!
I guess they expected him to turn Bailey Zappe into Tom Brady. Good luck.
And so it begins. Don’t think we could keep on top of all the coaching and executive changes about to occur without those trackers the staff provides. Thanks guys!
Another sacrifice for the offering. It wasn’t Dorseys fault that there were no playmakers in his offense. Hard to move the football downfield when your offense is void of talent.
Browns entered the season with the same skill position players as last year and they added Jerry Jeudy… Dorsey was brought in to try to unlock Watson (which he didn’t). Granted that was an impossible job nobody couldn’t accomplished
The Browns front office continues to find a scapegoat for Watson
“Immediately after Watson’s injury, HC Kevin Stefanski — who had been calling offensive plays up to that point — handed the reins to Dorsey.“
“… Stefanski has proven that his offense … can work with anyone other than Watson at QB.”
Well played, Stefanski. Gotta love that Ivy League politicking.
They need to fire their owner.
The Browns are among a handful of teams where the owner needs to go away
Bring in Fields, sign a decent WR2 behind Jeudy, hope for the 1st overall, trade back to a team believing in the Saunders hype and draft Carter, Graham, or a LT and a one of the many RB prospects on day 2.
They don’t need to bring in Fields to accomplish any of that.
I think the lede is buried in this one, with both Stefanski and Berry set to return
+1 for both a good point and an appropriate usage of “lede”
That’s a fair point, but that was also the expected outcome. We heard in late November (one of the stories linked in this post) that Stefanski and Berry were coming back. Even the Rapoport note confirming it was just a Twitter reply to the Pelissero story on Dorsey and Dickerson.
As long as Berry remains as the GM, we’ll suck.
GMs the guy who thought all the guys u just fired were the chosen one’s, so what he gets to stay n choose the next group of the “right” personel ?
And Cleveland loses out on the #1 pick in the Draft to Tennessee.
The factory of sadness can do that to an NFL team.
Sacrificial lamb. Granted, Dorsey is a much better QB coach than OC, but it would be hard for anyone to lead that group with the Watson albatross hanging over their heads.
The Browns will never be worth a damn until they get rid of amateur assistant coach-GM Jimmy Haslam, too. Another billionaire owner who thinks he knows more about football than the professionals. Got another Deshaun Watson lined up for us, Jimmy?
Dorsey had nearly an impossible job, but he did not do anything to improve the situation. After reading comments from multiple o-linemen, it seems that changing the blocking scheme really took a toll on the unit’s effectiveness. So, both firings were warranted IMO.
The Browns will have an extremely tough time getting a good, experienced OC, as they are stuck with Watson, have an aging oft-injured o-line, semi-crippled Nick Chubb, and unproven WR core. On top of that, Stefanski surely will take back play-calling.
I’m trying to be optimistic for 2025 but success is SO QB-dependent, I’m struggling.
PS: Special Team coordinator should be fired, too. ST impact to field position was generally abysmal. Bojorquez was the only bright spot in that unit.
Ownership and ANYONE who had a hand in bringing the serial sexual predator to town should all be taken out behind the barn. NO excuse. Watson had already been accused ,they knew the pile of dung they were getting. Gave away the farm and then hung a 100lb anchor around the head coaches neck.
Cleveland appears to have some of the best fans in the NFL to me ( I’ve never been to CLE) Those fans deserved better.
Getting rid of baker shows us the incompetentcy within this football organization.sell the team, fire the head coach.even our beloved Bernie k will never see them in the super bowl. Don’t buy tickets. Don’t buy browns gear. Starve them of money and force the sale of this team. How pathetic to give deshaun all that money for what? He should give it back.