Alex Van Pelt

Browns To Fire OC Alex Van Pelt, Two Others

January 17th, 2024 at 10:18am CST by Sam Robinson

10:18am: Van Pelt is indeed out. The four-year Browns OC confirmed to ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter he is no longer in place as Stefanski’s top lieutenant on offense. With Stefanski not going anywhere, the Browns will soon begin a search to fill their non-play-calling OC post. The Browns and Van Pelt explored a reassignment of duties, Trotter adds, but ultimately decided to separate.

8:22am: Kevin Stefanski may well collect his second Coach of the Year award in four seasons, but the Browns are coming off a one-sided wild-card loss. Days after the Texans’ Round 1 rout, the Browns are making changes on their offensive staff.

Cleveland is firing running backs coach Stump Mitchell and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson reports. More significantly, Alex Van Pelt may well be on his way out as well. The four-year Cleveland OC has informed some with the team he has also been fired, according to Anderson.

While Mitchell and McCartney are out, both cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicate Van Pelt is being evaluated. The Browns are seeking fresh ideas on offense, per Cabot, who notes a Van Pelt dismissal is on the table. Van Pelt’s contract includes the 2024 season, Rapoport adds.

Operating as a non-play-calling OC throughout the Stefanski era in Cleveland, Van Pelt has been an NFL staffer since 2006. Aaron Rodgers‘ former QBs coach in Green Bay, Van Pelt is in his second go-round as a coordinator. While Van Pelt served as the Bills’ OC in 2009, it took him 11 years to land another coordinator opportunity. The 53-year-old assistant being moved off the Browns’ staff would certainly be notable, given the form the team’s offense showed amid injuries to its centerpiece players.

The Browns lost Nick Chubb and Jack Conklin for the season in September and were without Deshaun Watson and Jedrick Wills around midseason. Fill-in tackle starter Dawand Jones also sustained a season-ending malady. The Browns nevertheless made a surprising voyage to the AFC playoffs, finishing 11-6 behind a stunning Joe Flacco effort. Flacco could not carry his momentum into the playoffs, throwing back-to-back pick-sixes in a 45-14 loss to the Texans. But the Browns were able to withstand significant injuries to qualify for their second playoff berth under Stefanski, who may well still beat out DeMeco Ryans for Coach of the Year honors as a result.

Mitchell and McCartney have been with the Browns since 2020 as well. A former NFL running back, Mitchell — save for a three-year stint as a college HC — has coached RBs in the league since 1999. The 64-year-old assistant did not have any history with Stefanski prior to his 2020 arrival. Chubb has continued his ascent under Mitchell, becoming one of the best backs in franchise history. The team made do without its Pro Bowl back this season, using Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt to intermittent success.

McCartney, 34, has been Cleveland’s tight ends coach since 2022, moving up from the offensive assistant level. The former Broncos QBs coach helped foster David Njoku‘s long-awaited breakout year. The former first-round pick smashed his career-high numbers in receptions (82) and receiving yards (881) this season, which also included a career-best six touchdowns. Regardless of the outcome with Van Pelt, the Browns will have some vacancies to fill on their offensive staff.

AFC North Rumors: Browns, Steelers, Gordon

August 5th, 2023 at 4:10pm CST by Ely Allen

This offseason, the Browns gave offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt the added responsibility of quarterbacks coach. According to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, the move was part of a concerted effort to give quarterback Deshaun Watson everything he may need in order to succeed.

The team went out this offseason and secured receiving reinforcements for the veteran passer. This offseason, the team added two speedsters of varying vintage. The younger Elijah Moore comes over from the Jets in a trade as he tries to find his footing in the NFL. He’ll have an established veteran to learn from in Marquise Goodwin, whom the team signed back in March. They also added tight end Jordan Akins in free agency and used their top draft pick on Tennessee receiver Cedric Tillman in the third round.

Lastly, they gave Van Pelt the added title, a move that Watson reportedly endorsed heavily. Van Pelt has coached quarterbacks before for the Bills, Buccaneers, Packers, and Bengals, so the move isn’t completely out of left field. But the promotion of such an important coaching position shows just how far Cleveland will go to keep Watson happy.

Here are a few other rumors from around the AFC North:

It’s no surprise that the Steelers plan to start this year’s first-round pick, Broderick Jones, as a rookie. The surprise is that, in their efforts to start the tackle out of Georgia, they are resorting to shuffling around their offensive line configuration. Last year, Chukwuma Okorafor started every game at right tackle for Pittsburgh, while Dan Moore covered every game on the blindside for the Steelers. According to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, the Steelers opened up the first team period of camp this week with Jones at left tackle, pushing Moore over to the right side of the line. Neither Moore nor Okorafor were necessarily stellar at their positions last year, hence the drafting of a tackle in the first round, but to see Pittsburgh push Moore out of position to make room for Jones shows just how much they want Jones to be in a position to succeed. Keeping Moore in the lineup shows that the Steelers are more concerned with starting the best tackles than keeping their tackles specialized on either side of the line.
The Ravens added some veteran running back depth last month in Melvin Gordon on a deal reportedly worth up to $3.1MM. Jamison Hensley of ESPN was able to provide us a few more details on the deal, disclosing that the contract has a base salary of $1.17MM with no reported guarantees. The remaining $1.94MM to get to the potential ceiling of the deal comes from undisclosed incentives that are not likely to be earned, meaning they won’t count against the team’s salary cap this year. If Gordon does, in fact, earn the full value of the contract, the $1.94MM will be counted against the 2024 salary cap.

Browns Add Bill Musgrave To Staff

February 26th, 2023 at 8:01pm CST by Ely Allen

Veteran offensive coach Bill Musgrave has found his way back to the NFL, landing a job with the Browns, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. A former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for several NFL franchises over the years, Musgrave’s initial reintroduction to the league will be as an offensive assistant.

Musgrave began his coaching career before his playing career had even ended. After announcing his retirement in 1997, Musgrave joined the Raiders as a quarterbacks coach. When Oakland head coach Joe Bugel was fired, Musgrave made an attempt to return as a player with the Colts but was released before the season began. He quickly found a job as an offensive assistant with the Eagles and took over play-calling duties for the final 10 games of his second season as a coach in the NFL.

Since then, Musgrave has served as either an offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach for the Panthers, Jaguars, Falcons, Vikings, Broncos, and Washington, as well as second stints with both the Eagles and Raiders. The only time he didn’t hold one of those two titles was when he served a season as the Falcons’ assistant head coach. He also spent two seasons from 2001-02 at the University of Virginia as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and tight ends coach. His most recent position was a return to the college coaching ranks, calling plays and coaching quarterbacks at Cal. He was fired by the Golden Bears midway through the 2022 season after the team had lost their sixth game in a row.

Musgrave’s career has seen a repetitive pattern. Musgrave excels as an offensive assistant or quarterbacks coach, mentoring the likes of Michael Vick, Matt Schaub, and Matt Ryan in Atlanta and helping Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez to combine for 4,581 passing yards in 2014, a total that would’ve ranked sixth in the league that year if accomplished by a single passer. Upon viewing that success and being aware of his experience calling plays, he’s then rewarded with an opportunity as a play caller. Ultimately, all of his offensive coordinator opportunities at the NFL level have ended in termination or refusal to retain.

In years where he hasn’t served primarily as quarterbacks coach, his development of quarterbacks has been less than stellar. In Jacksonville, quarterback Byron Leftwich had middling seasons. When he called plays for the Vikings, he had the league’s Offensive Player of the Year in running back Adrian Peterson, but his quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder, also returned middling results. His next opportunity to call plays was for the Raiders. He helped lead breakout years by quarterback Derek Carr, but Carr continued to develop even after Musgrave was let go.

With former Browns quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing taking the next step in his career as Jonathan Gannon‘s new offensive coordinator in Arizona, the position mentoring quarterbacks was open in Cleveland. Any speculation that Musgrave would be coaching Deshaun Watson, Kellen Mond, and company was quickly put to bed, though, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported that Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt would be adding quarterbacks coach to his duties.

Van Pelt has coached quarterbacks for the Bills, Buccaneers, Packers, and Bengals over his career and will now take on the additional duties of mentoring Watson this season. It stands to reason that, with Musgrave’s specialty teaching passers over the years, Musgrave will assist Van Pelt in this endeavor, but Van Pelt will be the one leading the room in 2023.

Kevin Stefanski To Continue Calling Browns’ Plays

November 30th, 2021 at 2:42pm CST by Adam La Rose

While the Browns search for answers on offense during their bye week, at least one thing will remain the same. Head coach Kevin Stefanski will retain play-calling duties rather than handing them to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, as Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot writes.

“We talk about a lot of things every single week,’’ Stefanski said in his press conference Monday. “I’m comfortable with the communication that goes on throughout the week and on gameday. The offensive staff is outstanding, especially [offensive line coach] Bill [Callahan] and Alex throughout the game, so I’m comfortable with how we are doing it right now. We just have to be better. I have to be better. That’s the truth. We just have to find ways to stay on the field and get sevens when we are down there in the red zone.”

The Browns currently sit 19th in the NFL averaging 21.2 points per game, and rank 16th when it comes to yards per game at 372. Since their decisive win over the Bengals in Week 9, Cleveland has put up point totals of 7, 13 and 10, respectively. Clearly, the removal of oft-maligned wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has not helped quarterback Baker Mayfield engineer a more efficient passing attack. Meanwhile, the Browns totaled just 40 rushing yards on Sunday night against Baltimore, even with Kareem Hunt back in the lineup.

After the bye, the Browns will have an immediate chance at revenge against the Ravens at home in Week 14.

AFC North Notes: Browns, Landry, Steelers

February 20th, 2020 at 9:24am CST by Zachary Links

A change of plans for Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry. Initially, Landry said he would go the rest-and-rehab route for his lingering hip issue. Instead, he went under the knife recently to correct the problem, per a team announcement.

The Browns expect Landry to make a full recovery for the 2020 season, so this shouldn’t impact their plans very much. And, even though there’s a new regime in Cleveland, Landry (and Odell Beckham Jr.) are expected to remain in the fold, giving Kevin Stefanski as many offensive weapons as possible.

Landry, 28 in November, played through the pain in all 16 games last year. In fact, he’s never missed a game in his six-year career. The LSU product – who finished out with 83 catches, 1,174 yards, and six touchdowns – has three years to on his five-year, $75.5MM deal.

Browns Rumors: Berry, OBJ, Landry, Van Pelt

February 9th, 2020 at 2:00pm CST by Marc Delucchi

The Browns dominated last year’s NFL offseason storylines. After their strong finish to the 2018 season, lead executive John Dorsey made a number of aggressive moves, highlighted by the acquisition of Odell Beckham Jr. However, while that momentum led them to be a pundit favorite to win their division and potentially reach the Super Bowl, those predictions never came close to fruition. They finished the season 6-10 and moved on from Dorsey and rookie head coach Freddie Kitchens.

New general manager Andrew Berry though, seemed to suggest he will at least follow Dorsey in his willingness to make bold moves. In her weekly mailbag, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com noted that Berry was clear in his introductory press conference that he was looking to be aggressive and would not shy away from big moves.

Here are more notes from around the Browns organization:

Jay Glazer of The Athletic does not expect Cleveland to make any moves to unload either Beckham or Jarvis Landry this offseason. Glazer noted that new head coach Kevin Stefanski would likely want as many offensive weapons as possible given his focus on offense. Glazer did note that both Beckham and Landry have to be invested in Stefanski for that to work. He could still see a trade occurring if they are unwilling to buy-in.
Cleveland has yet to announce if there will be a quarterbacks coach on Stefanski’s staff. In a separate part of her mailbag, Mary Kay Cabot suggested there is a pretty good chance that offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will serve the dual role as coordinator and QB coach considering his lengthy experience at that position.

Browns To Hire Alex Van Pelt As OC

January 29th, 2020 at 8:00pm CST by Ben Levine

Kevin Stefanski‘s staff is starting to take shape. The Browns will hire Alex Van Pelt as their offensive coordinator, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (via Twitter). The Athletic’s Zac Jackson was first with the news (on Twitter).

Van Pelt had an 11-year career as a quarterback before joining the coaching ranks in 2005. He spent four seasons with the Bills, working his way from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. He spent two seasons coaching quarterbacks in Tampa Bay before making his way to Green Bay in 2012. After serving as the Packers running backs coach for two seasons, Van Pelt took on the role of quarterbacks coach in 2014. He’d spend three seasons coaching Aaron Rodgers, but he wasn’t retained following the 2017 campaign.

He took on the quarterbacks-coach post with Cincy in 2018, and he’s spent the past two years toying with the likes of Andy Dalton, Jeff Driskel, and Ryan Finley. Despite the uncertainty at the position, Van Pelt earned praise during his time in Cincinnati. ESPN’s Ben Baby tweets that Bengals head coach Zac Taylor constantly lauded his quarterbacks coach this past season.

There’s a chance that Stefanski could end up retaining play-calling duties in Cleveland, but he previously expressed willingness in handing over the duty to his offensive coordinator. Van Pelt will likely be joined on the staff by 49ers defensive backs coach Joe Woods, who’s expected to be named defensive coordinator.

This will also open up a spot on the Cincy staff, but Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic expects Dan Pitcher to get promoted to quarterbacks coach (Twitter link). Pitcher has been the assistant quarterbacks coach for some time, but he took on more responsibilities this past season.

Bengals Notes: Taylor, Turner, Casey, Martin

February 6th, 2019 at 9:20pm CST by Dallas Robinson

New Bengals head coach Zac Taylor will call his own offensive plays, as he told reporters at his introductory press conference on Tuesday (Twitter link via Richard Skinner of WKRC-TV). Taylor was hired on the strength of his offensive acumen, so it’s no surprise that he’ll direct Cincinnati’s offense, leaving new offensive coordinator Brian Callahan to serve in a game-planning role. Taylor, for what it’s worth, doesn’t boast much play-calling experience: he led the Dolphins’ offense for a half-season in 2015, and coordinated the University of Cincinnati’s offense the following year. Under former coordinator Bill Lazor, the Bengals’ offense ranked 17th in scoring, 19th in DVOA, and 26th in yardage in 2018.

Here’s more from the Queen City:

Taylor will hire Texas A&M offensive line coach Jim Turner for the same role, reports Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Turner has worked with Taylor at three different stops, so there’s obvious familiarity between the two. He’d be replacing Frank Pollack, with whom the Bengals parted ways despite his excellent efforts in 2018. Turner, notably, was Miami’s offensive line coach during the Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito bullying scandal, and was eventually fired in 2014 after an independent report indicated he participated in harassment of players. He was also suspended by Texas A&M in 2016 after using sexually-charged presentation slides during a women’s football clinic.
Former Texans tight end and current University of Houston tight ends coach James Casey will join the Bengals in the same role, while Ben Martin — who had recently been hired as an assistant offensive line coach at Brown — will take over as Cincinnati’s assistant OL coach, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Casey is only 34 years old, and was still playing as recently as 2015. He joined Houston as an offensive assistant in 2016 and became tight ends coach the following year. Martin, meanwhile, worked at Texas A&M with Taylor.
Among the Bengals coaches who are expected to be retained under Taylor are Alex Van Pelt (quarterbacks), Dan Pitcher (assistant quarterbacks), Bob Bicknell (wide receivers), Robert Livingston (secondary), Daronte Jones (secondary), and Brayden Coombs (assistant secondary), per Dehner. Coombs, notably, was thought to be a candidate for the Packers’ special teams coordinator position, but he’ll instead remain in Cincinnati.

Bengals Hire Alex Van Pelt As QB Coach

January 12th, 2018 at 4:36pm CST by GregGoldstein

Marvin Lewis continues to add new faces to his staff. The team has agreed to hire Alex Van Pelt to be their quarterbacks coach for next season, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Van Pelt worked most recently in the same position for the Packers, but was not retained after his contract expired this past season.

Schefter adds in the same tweet that the the Bengals have also brought on Daronte Jones to coach the secondary and Matt Raich as a defensive assistant.

We have also learned that the Bengals have decided to keep Dan Pitcher as an assistant QB coach, per Jim Owczarski of the Enquirer (Twitter link). He worked with the team’s wideouts last year. Owczarski also notes that Robert Couch is being retainted in his current role as the Bengals assistant offensive line coach.

Van Pelt is clearly the the most notable hire of this group as he’s worked in he NFL in a variety of capacities since 2006. He held his previous job in Green Bay for four seasons before the team opted to go in a different direction after they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

As the quarterbacks coach for the Packers, Van Pelt had the pleasure of working with Aaron Rodgers for many years, but will get a new challenge trying to help Bengals signal caller Andy Dalton elevate his play with the hopes of securing his first playoff victory in 2018.

Since surprisingly retaining Lewis as head coach after the regular season, the Bengals have shaken up their coaching staff by adding Teryl Austin as its new defensive coordinator and former Cowboys offensive line coach Frank Pollack to replace longtime Bengals staffer Paul Alexander.

Bengals Notes: Davidson, Van Pelt, Staff

January 10th, 2018 at 9:05pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bengals are attempting to hire a new offensive line coach for the first time in more than two decades after firing Paul Alexander, and the sheer amount of candidates means the club’s interview process is being extended, according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). As staffs around the league continue to be altered, more experienced OL coaches are becoming available, so Cincinnati’s plan to have a new hire in place quickly has been consequently changed. In-limbo Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin has reportedly interviewed for the position.

Here’s more from the Queen City:

Goodwin isn’t the only candidate to fill the Bengals’ offensive line coach position, as former Broncos OL coach Jeff Davidson has also interviewed for the job, reports Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link). Davidson, who was fired by Denver last week, has been an NFL coach since 1995 and worked for a variety of teams. He also offers past play-calling experience, as he served as the Panthers’ offensive coordinator from 2007-10. Aside from Goodwin and Davidson, Utah OL coach Jim Harding is also reportedly a candidate to land in Cincinnati.
Former Packers quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt is under consideration for a job with the Bengals, per Alex Marvez of the Sporting News (Twitter link). While it’s unclear exactly which position Van Pelt would fill, it’s fair to assume he’d take over at QBs coach for Cincinnati. Like Davidson, Van Pelt has been an OC before, as he called plays for the Bills in 2009. The Bengals are in need of a new quarterbacks coach given that Bill Lazor — who formerly held that title — is now being retained as their full-time offensive coordinator.
The Bengals have promoted assistant secondary coach Robert Livingston to the primary role, according to Owczarski (Twitter links). Livingston, who’s coached in Cincinnati for the past three seasons, originally started as a scout, which should come in handy given that the Bengals use their coaching staff to scout more than any team in the league. Given that former secondary coach Kevin Coyle wasn’t retained, Cincinnati is still on the hunt for another defensive backs coach to work alongside Livingston, per Owczarski.

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