Despite putting together a magical run to the playoffs behind veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, who turned back the clock down the stretch, the Cleveland Browns and head coach Kevin Stefanski are making major changes on the offensive side of the football.
Cleveland fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, running backs coach Stump Mitchell and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney, according to ESPN Browns beat writer Jake Trotter.
Van Pelt, a Pittsburgh-area native, has been the offensive coordinator in Cleveland since the 2020 season. He was given the additional role of QB coach in 2023, tasked with revitalizing Deshaun Watson. In 2020, with Stefanski out due to COVID protocols for the Wild Card Round matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Browns at then-Heinz Field, Van Pelt called the offensive plays in a 48-point output from Cleveland in the upset win.
Prior to his time in Cleveland, Van Pelt was the quarterbacks coach in Cincinnati in 2018 and 2019, and previously served as running backs coach and then quarterbacks coach in Green Bay from 2012-2017.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh before attending the University of Pittsburgh, where he set numerous program records, Van Pelt was an eight-round pick of the Steelers and spent part of the 1993 season with the Steelers before landing with the Kansas City Chiefs. From 1994-2003 Van Pelt was with the Bills before calling it a career.
Mitchell was the running backs coach in Cleveland since 2019 and oversaw some great running backs for the Browns, while McCartney held the role of tight ends coach for the last two seasons after being an offensive assistant in 2020 and 2021.
With the Steelers looking for a new offensive coordinator, Van Pelt will be a popular name connected to them, considering his Western Pennsylvania ties and the success the Browns have had offensively in his time there.
This season, Cleveland was 16th in yards per game (335.9), 19th in passing yards per game (217.2), 12th in rushing yards per game (118.6) and 10th in scoring with 23.3 points per game. However, the Browns’ offense came crashing down in the playoffs against the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round, scoring just 14 points in a 45-14 loss.
In that loss, the Browns generated just 324 yards of total offense on 70 plays. Flacco threw back-to-back pick-sixes that did in the Browns. The Browns also rushed for just 56 yards in the loss.
