Breaking: Browns dismiss OC and two offensive assistants

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is said to have made significant changes to his offensive coaching staff as the summer begins in 2024.

Stefanaki, who recently led the Browns to their second playoff appearance since taking over as head coach in 2020, has fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, running backs coach Stump Mitchell, and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney, according to Josina Anderson. Anderson also stated that “some of the players are upset from the news.”

The firings, which occurred on Tuesday, are somewhat surprising given that the Browns were the first club since 2015 to win games with four different starting quarterbacks. They finished 16th in the NFL in yards per game (335.9) and 10th in points per game (23.3), despite losing Deshaun Watson, Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb, and their top three offensive tackles to season-ending injuries this season. Van Pelt, Mitchell, and McCartney had all been on Stefanski’s staff since he joined the squad in 2020.

McCartney oversaw tight end David Njoku’s career-best season last season, as the seventh-year player ended second on the Browns with 882 receiving yards and six touchdowns, both career highs. McCartney has previously served as an offensive assistant for the team in 2020-21 and in 2014. Mitchell had served as the running backs coach since Stefanski took over as head coach.

Despite losing Chubb to a season-ending injury in Week 2, the Browns finished 12th in the NFL in terms of yards per game at 118.6. That allowed Jerome Ford to take over the starting job and lead the Browns with 813 rushing yards, despite his 4.0 yards per carry being 29th in the league among rushers with at least 100 carries.

The Browns closed the regular season with four wins in their final four key games, thanks to the superb play of then-38-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco, but their hot streak ended abruptly Saturday in the Wild Card Round with a 45-14 loss to the Texans.

Flacco threw back-to-back pick sixes in the second half of the game, effectively ending any chance of the Browns rallying from a 10-point hole at halftime.