The first time a Cleveland Browns coordinator was fired, it was expected. Former defensive coordinator Joe Woods had led a unit that was expected to be elite. But instead, it was soft and often disorganized, leading to horrific losses. (The Lake Erie faithful are still salty about watching Joe Flacco making the Browns look silly in Week 2).
It did come as a surprise when head coach Kevin Stefanski showed Browns special teams coach Mike Priefer the door just six weeks later.
Browns Special Teams Warrant Special Consideration in 2023
Unusual Circumstances
It’s highly unusual for an existing coach to fire an assistant that late into the hiring cycle. Usually, it’s only done on teams bringing in a new head coach, who then needs time to evaluate his subordinates. It’s also something of a slight on the coach, as the opportunities have largely dried up by then.
It would be one thing if the Browns special teams had been identified as a particular problem. In 2022, the Browns special teams weren’t particularly… well, special (had to see that coming). But they weren’t bad either, with almost all meaningful statistics hovering right in the middle of the pack.
Further, Priefer is the only Browns head coach since Bill Belichick to preside over a playoff win.
Yes, you read that right.
It was Preifer, not Stefanski, who was the Browns head coach on the sideline that day in Pittsburgh three years ago. Stefanski was home with COVID. It says something that it was Preifer who Stefanski trusted most to lead the team. It also says something that Preifer and Stefanski coached together in Minnesota, and the Browns special teams coach was retained from the disaster that was Freddie Kitchens.
That all adds up to many question marks when, just three years later, Priefer is shown the door in an unusual way.
An Internal Power Struggle?
The first guess is an internal power struggle, a theory that has made its way around the interwebs. However, while the new Browns special teams coach, Bubba Ventrone, has previous ties to the Browns, he has none with either GM Andrew Berry or owner Jimmy Haslam. Ventrone played for the Browns before Haslam arrived.
The worst kept secret in Cleveland is the surprising amount of power that chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta wields in Berea. (Remember DePodesta? Jonah Hill’s character in Moneyball was based on him.) It was DePodesta who wanted Stefanski in the first place. This could well be DePodesta looking at a bunch of numbers on a spreadsheet and seeing Ventrone’s stats are that much better than Priefer’s. Football is a game of inches and seconds, and minute differences can be everything. Or this could be DePodesta and/or Haslam bringing in their potential “backup head coach”, in case Stefanski falters.
A midseason replacement could be in the offing. It’s not that crazy – Haslam and DePodesta remember how a change at the top ignited an improbable run in 2018. Of course, that led to the hiring of Kitchens… though, if Haslam had kept former interim head coach Gregg Williams instead, things could’ve been quite different.
With nearly a quarter-billion and three first-round picks committed to (what they hope is) franchise quarterback DeShaun Watson, the pressure is on everyone at the top of the organization to make good. Now. Not later.
Who is Bubba Ventrone?
Raymond “Bubba” Ventrone comes to Cleveland from the Indianapolis Colts. During his time there, he established the Colts as one of the top special teams units in the league, ranking near the top of the league each of the last three years. He’s also a former New England Patriots coach and played safety in the NFL. The current Browns special teams coach is actually a former Brown (2009-12) who specialized in, you guessed it, special teams.
In 2022, the Colts led the league in kickoff returns, averaging a good four yards more than the Browns did. Unfortunately, the NFL has gutted the kickoff rules, meaning there’s less to be gained there than the Browns might have originally thought.
Ventrone wasted no time in putting his stamp on the roster, though, adding two significant special teamers. First, the team added Matt Adams to the Browns linebackers corps. Now, the Browns needed linebackers, but Adams isn’t really expected to play there. Rather, he was a special teams ace in Indianapolis and should be expected to lead the Browns special teams in all phases in 2023. Ditto cornerback Mike Ford, who the team brought over from Detroit.
The Specialists Remain Unchanged
Special teams coaches come in all shapes and sizes, though there’s generally one consistent: they’re either experts in the actual kicking or the covering/returning of kicks. Not both.
Ventrone is an expert in the latter. He did it himself on the Browns special teams as a player, and he’s clearly capable of coaching others to do it since his retirement.
The kicking, unfortunately, has been the worst part of the Browns special teams for a while now.
It looked like that with the drafting of kicker Cade York in 2022, those days were over. York famously (at least in Cleveland) booted the game-winning field goal the opening week of the season. It’s a mark of how kicker-starved the Browns were that fans throughout the stadium were wearing bootleg Cade York shirts the next week.
Unfortunately, 2022 would provide to be an up-and-down season for the rookie. The Browns finished fourth from the bottom in field goal percentage. York, who had similar struggles as a freshman at LSU, hopes a renewed effort, comfort level, and age will help bring that number up in his sophomore season.
The Browns also retained punter Corey Bojorquez. Bojorquez was middle of the pack in 2023, but holds a 45.4 yard punt average for his career. Bojorquez is also expected to continue his kick-holding duties.
Who Will Return?
The Browns special teams do not (yet) feature a dedicated kickoff returner. The closest they had in 2022 was RB Jerome Ford, who returned 30 of the team’s 41 kickoffs for a reasonable 24.1 yards. However, with Ford also expected to compete as the team’s third-down back and primary backup to Nick Chubb, things could change.
Next down the depth chart is Jakeem Grant Sr. Grant was signed to the team last year to push in this very spot, but was lost for the season to injury. Grant is 5-6, and with the team’s efforts at the wide receiver spot, is unlikely to compete for reps there. But should Ventrone take a spark to him, Grant may still have a home in Cleveland yet.
This goes double if the Browns were to trade WR Donovan Peoples-Jones. Peoples-Jones had a career year in 2022, and led the team’s punt return efforts. However, he’s only a year away from the end of his rookie deal. He’s also competing with a much deeper wide receivers room, and rather than let him sit on the bench and watch his stats dip, the Browns could seek to get something for him a few months early. Especially if Grant were to return to form, as he has averaged over 10 yards per punt return for his career.
The Browns special teams unit will be one to watch in 2023. Not only on the field but off of it as well.
Main Photo: Robert Scheer – Indy Star – USA TODAY NETWORK
