The Browns have officially announced the appointment of two new members of their coaching staff: assistant offensive line coach Roy Istvan and offensive line coach Andy Dickerson.
We were all very impressed with Andy, along with his background and knowledge when we first met about our offensive coordinator position,” Kevin Stefanski, our head coach, remarked. He was one of the first people I called when our offensive line position became available. Andy is passionate about teaching and will infuse our linemen with his enthusiasm and energy. He is aware of the high bar that the room needs to meet for our offence to succeed, and we can see he is thrilled to be back in the building with this group.”
The offensive line was empty for the Browns.
Istvan spent the past five seasons from 2019-23 as assistant offensive line coach with the Eagles, where he helped Philadelphia set numerous franchise records and several individual honors. The Eagles advanced to Super Bowl LVII as the team set single-season franchise records for points (477), total touchdowns (59), scrimmage touchdowns (57), rushing touchdowns (32) and total first downs (385). In 2021, the Eagles led the league with a franchise record 2,715 rushing yards. C Jason Kelce (2019, 21-23) was named first team All-Pro four times, while T Lane Johnson (2022) was a first team selection once and a second team selection twice in 2021 and 2023.
Prior to the Eagles, Istvan spent 28 years coaching on the college level. He brings 33 years of coaching experience on the college and pro levels combined.
Dickerson and Istvan take over an offensive line room that was one of the strong suits of the Browns offense last season. They offensive line dealt with numerous injuries from the first week of the season when they lost T Jack Conklin in Week 1 to a season-ending knee injury. They also were without T Jedrick Wills Jr. and rookie T Dawand Jones for the latter portion of the season due to injuries, both having their seasons also cut short. They were anchored with veteran players like G Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller but had players like T Geron Christian and G Michael Dunn fill in and play important roles over the course of the season.
The different skillsets of their offensive linemen present an opportunity for the Browns offenseppp, as they players who can pull, can be zone blocking scheme players or get movement at the point of attack. With a healthy offensive line in 2024, the Browns could look to use those skillsets to their advantage.
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