CLEVELAND — After an 11-6 season which saw the Cleveland Browns make it to the playoffs, coaching changes wasn't high on my list of what the team would do for 2024. But since the season ended on that disappointing day in Houston, Kevin Stefanski has had to shuffle his coaching roster.
There was no way the Browns wanted to have to go out and find a new offensive line coach. Bill Callahan is the best in the business and the Browns held their breath after each year hoping Callahan wouldn't leave or retire. When his son, Brian, became the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, they resigned themselves to the fact that father follows son and Callahan was going to leave. So of all the coaching changes, the Callahan departure hurts the most. That makes Andy Dickerson, the Browns new offensive line coach, the most important hire of the offseason. Everything got better here with the Browns when Kevin Stefanski was able to hire Callahan back in 2020. The Browns running game became the offense's strength. That led to the Browns passing game becoming more effective. It all started to fall in place rather nicely because Callahan was at the heart of it building that offensive line. I mean look at what he had to do this season alone. He loses Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills for the season at the tackle spots. He drills Dawand Jones into a future all-pro right tackle, only to lose him too, And the offensive line still paved the way for the Browns to make the playoffs.
PREVIOUSLY: JIMMY'S TAKE: The Cleveland Browns lost the best offensive line coach in NFL with departure of Bill Callahan
Dickerson arrives from Seattle and we'll have to wait and see what he brings to that offensive line. I think he's got the toughest job of any of the new Browns coaches.
Tommy Rees comes to the Browns after being the offensive coordinator at Alabama last year and two years at Notre Dame before that. He takes over the Browns tight ends, but will also contribute to the passing game overall. I've watched the career of Rees pretty closely. I don't think it was easy coaching for Brian Kelly. And I know it's not easy coaching for Nick Saban. Rees served each of his head coaches well and built very good offenses at both schools. I think he's an NFL offensive coordinator in waiting. He did an amazing job at Alabama last year weaving his way through a quarterback problem early in the Tide's season before turning Jalen Milroe into a dynamic player as the season went along. That's not easy to do mid-season. That's not easy to do in the SEC.
Jacques Cesaire takes over as the Browns defensive line coach. Remember, when Jim Schwartz arrived a year ago as the Browns defensive coordinator he didn't make many, if any, changes to the staff. One year in, he certainly has earned the right to make moves. Cesaire played on the defensive line in the NFL, mostly in San Diego, and has taken that experience to coach the position in the league. His job will be to find players who can give the Browns a pass rush from the interior of the defense. We know the Browns can rush the passer from the edges, but they did not get enough pressure from the interior. For the Schwartz defense to really work, it requires a pass rush up the middle. For the most part, that was missing last year.
I know bringing in a new offensive coordinator is big. But here in Cleveland, I still think the head coach runs the offense. He runs his offense. He still calls the plays. This is not to minimize the hiring of Ken Dorsey, but let's be real here, this is Stefanski's offense. Dorsey will work with the quarterbacks a lot. He's comfortable working with athletic quarterbacks. With Deshaun Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, we have athletic quarterbacks. Dorsey's days with Cam Newton in Carolina and Josh Allen in Buffalo will serve him well in Berea. Dorsey was a smart quarterback as a player and with the Browns he has a chance to bounce back after getting bounced in Buffalo last year.
Coaching changes mean new ideas coming to a team. But this team doesn't need a major overhaul, just a tweak.
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