According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski signed former Pitt quarterback Alex Van Pelt on Wednesday to serve as the team’s offensive coordinator. The Browns play in the AFC North. With 15 years of coaching experience, the Pitt alum has worked as a position coach for four other NFL teams and one NFL Europe squad.
Van Pelt made headlines while leaving the Green Bay Packers organisation after the 2017 season because quarterback Aaron Rodgers was particularly displeased with the team’s decision to not keep Van Pelt, who had coached him for the previous four years. Van Pelt was most recently hired as a quarterbacks coach with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019.
“All right, my quarterback coach
Under Van Pelt’s tutelage, Aaron Rodgers recorded three of his eight Pro Bowl seasons and one of his two All-Pro seasons. With 40 touchdown passes in 2016, he also set a league record for touchdown passes, something he had never done before while under Van Pelt’s tutelage.
Apart from his prior achievements as a quarterback coach, Van Pelt worked as an offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills in 2009. His tenure was short-lived, though, as he was unable to elevate a Bills offence that had been in the bottom third of the league in terms of overall offence since 2003.
Van Pelt will inherit a talented and potentially successful offence in Cleveland. Nick Chubb, the running back for the Browns, is his most noteworthy item; he ranked
New Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt may have changed job titles, but his focus is still where it’s always been.
In his introductory press conference on Wednesday, the former Bills, Buccaneers, Packers and Bengals quarterbacks coach made it clear that his main focus is Browns’ quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Maybe Van Pelt will call plays — he said he and head coach Kevin Stefanski have talked about it but haven’t come to a decision — maybe he won’t. That’s not important right now.
What’s important is helping Mayfield play like a franchise quarterback again. Mayfield regressed in almost every major statistical category last season — completion percentage, touchdown-interception ratio, every variation of yards per attempt. That’s a large reason why the Browns have a new coaching staff.
That’s also why Van Pelt spent most of his first media availability answering questions about his new quarterback. Even though his new job comes with more power and responsibilities, he understands that the tenets he learned from his old one will determine whether he succeeds.
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