CLEVELAND, Ohio The Browns have some competition for Duce Staley, the former Panthers running backs coach whom they interviewed this week.
Staley, 48, would replace Stump Mitchell, who was fired on Wednesday, the same day the Browns parted ways with offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney.
After Staley spent that day interviewing with the Browns at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea, they plan to make him an offer, a league source told cleveland.com. But the Jets plan to do the same, the source said.
In Cleveland, Staley would take over a running game that finished 12th in the NFL in 2023 despite losing four-time Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb to a season-ending knee injury in Week 2. In Chubb’s absence, the Browns ran the ball by committee, with Jerome Ford finishing first with 813 yards, a 4.0 average and 4 touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt finishing second with 411 yards, a 3.0 average and a team-high 9 rushing TDs. Pierre Strong Jr. finished third on the team with 291 yards, a 4.6-yard average and a TD.
But the running game struggled in the Browns 45-14 loss to the Texans in the wildcard round, totaling 56 yards on 20 carries for a 2.8-yard average against the league’s No. 6 run defense.
A third round pick of the Eagles out of South Carolina in 1997, Staley has a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers as a player in 2005 and with the Eagles as running backs coach in 2017. Staley spent five of his 10 seasons in Philadelphia (2011-20) with Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, including on that Super Bowl-winning team, when they defeated the Patriots 41-33 after the 2017 season.
He also served as Lions assistant head coach and running backs coach in 2021 and 2022, and Panthers assistant head coach and running backs coach in 2023. The Panthers were 1-10 when Staley, head coach Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown were fired in November. Their offense finished last in the NFL and the run game ranked 20th.
With Chubb coming off multiple knee surgeries, the Browns could be looking for help in the room, and definitely seeking fresh ideas at the position after five seasons with Mitchell.
Will the Browns interview Deshaun Watson’s former Texans OC Tim Kelly?
Deshaun Watson loved playing for his former offensive coordinator Tim Kelly in Houston, and would undoubtedly love to be reunited with him in Cleveland.
Kelly likewise, would love to coach Watson again, but it remains to be seen if the Browns will interview him.
Kelly, 37, served as the Titans passing game coordinator in 2022 and offensive coordinator in 2023, and became available when coach Mike Vrabel was fired last week.
Kelly would likely be a candidate to join Vrabel if he takes another head job in 2024. He’s interviewed with the Chargers and has interest from the Falcons and Seahawks.
Kelly spent five seasons with Watson in Houston, coaching him to best career season in 2020 when Kelly was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Watson went 382 for 544 (70.2) for 4,823 yards with 33 touchdown passes and seven interceptions that year en route to a 112.4 rating. The yards were most in the NFL and the rating was second only to Aaron Rodger. But the Texans went 4-12 that year, with Bill O’Brien getting fired at 0-4.
In Kelly’s first year as Watson’s coordinator, in 2019, Watson went 10-5 with 3,852 yards with 26 TDs, 12 INTs and a 98.0 rating.
In Kelly’s first season as Titans offensive coordinator in 2023, the offense finished 28th overall, 17th in rushing and 29th in passing. But they benched Ryan Tannehill in November and turned the season over to rookie Will Levis, who went 3-6 with eight touchdowns, four interceptions and a 84.2 rating. The Titans finished 6-11 overall, including a 27-3 loss to the Browns in Week 3 in Cleveland.
In 2022, Kelly served as passing game coordinator for the Titans, working with tight ends, putting together the first- and second-down passing game, and helping with the red zone offense. The tight ends ranked seventh in the NFL as a position with 952 receiving yards. On first and second down, the Titans averaged 7.6 passing yards per attempt, which tied for the sixth in the NFL. Their red zone TD rate of 64.3 percent ranked sixth.
So far, the Browns’ only known interviews have been with Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson for offensive coordinator, Staley for running backs coach and Titans outside linebackers coach Ryan Crow for defensive line coach, which signals a possible reassignment for current d-line coach Ben Bloom.
Andrew Berry to conduct his postseason press conference
Browns GM Andrew Berry will conduct his postseason press conference Monday at 11 at team headquarters. He’ll field questions about Joe Flacco, staff changes, Watson’s health, pending free agents, and more.
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