I hope you didn’t think that you had entirely escaped from Todd Haley just because the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to move on from him after six seasons as the team’s offensive coordinator. No, now the team will be playing against his offense twice a season after he took the same position with the division-rival Cleveland Browns.
Inheriting a team that has won literally one game in the past two years is not the most enviable position in the world, but the Browns have really worked this offseason to rebuild their offense at virtually every position. They’ve made meaningful moves at every level, including signing veterans along the offensive line, at running back, and at tight end, as well as quarterback and wide receiver.
They completely swept the quarterback room clean, in particular, trading all three of the quarterbacks who were on the roster a season ago and acquiring three new ones in three different ways—the draft, free agency, and trade. The one for whom they traded, former Buffalo Bill Tyrod Taylor, is the one expected to start in the season opener. And he is getting his first taste of working with Haley on the field.
“Everyone is different. He is true to himself. You can see how he is feeling in the look on his face”, Taylor said. I do wonder how the comment about being able to read his feelings on his face will be received, or rather interpreted. He has a reputation of being an emotional coach who can be difficult to work with at times.
“More importantly, he is a very smart guy, knows a ton about schemes and knows how to break defenses apart”, Taylor said of his new offensive coordinator. “Of course, we are not game planning now, but we are just listening to him in the meeting rooms on why they were doing certain things versus certain defenses. I am definitely excited for when we get a chance to gameplan and get a chance to go against different defenses, and how fun it will be”.
Haley is said to be working to install concepts that he developed in Pittsburgh into the Browns’ offense, so it wouldn’t be surprising at all if we see them run some similar schemes to what we have seen over the course of the past six years.
Even though many Steelers fans believe that his offense underproduced, given the talent available, the team still put up some of its best seasons in terms of scoring in the entire history of the franchise, which is of foremost importance.
Prior to signing Haley, the Browns did not have a designated offensive coordinator, with Head Coach Hue Jackson reserving those duties, including play-calling, for himself. He has previously said that it was only because a coach of Haley’s caliber came along that he decided to make that change.
