CLEVELAND, Ohio – Talking to myself as the Browns make some coaching moves:
QUESTION: Why are the Browns shaking up their coaching staff, especially moving on from Alex Van Pelt?
ANSWER: Van Pelt was in an odd position. He had the title of offensive coordinator, but didn’t call the plays.
That’s not unique. In Dallas, head coach Mike McCarthy calls the plays.
Brian Schottenheimer is the offensive coordinator.
In Kansas City, head coach Andy Reid calls the plays.
Matt Nagy is the offensive coordinator.
Some head coaches are good at it.From the moment the Browns hired Kevin Stefanski as head coach in 2020, the plan was for him to also call plays. Before this season, I interviewed GM Andrew Berry. Here’s what he said about Stefanski and play-calling:
“There are no qualms about Kevin being able to do both, the play-calling and the CEO coach. A number of coaches do it.
Kevin has the capacity and track record to do it.
He has the support around him with his coaching staff.”
Q: So he’ll keep calling plays?
A: Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot reported it was possible Stefanski would allow the new offensive coordinator to call plays. I heard the same thing from another NFL source, but I wonder …
Q: Meaning what?
A: It’s very hard for most head coaches who have called plays to give up those duties.
Often, calling plays as an offensive coordinator led to them becoming a head coach.
A lot of their identity as a coach is connected to play-calling.
It’s also hard for a head coach to hand off game-time control of the offense after having been calling the plays for years – it’s a feeling of losing control for some coaches.
Some big names include Kyle Shanahan (49ers), Sean McVay (Rams), Mike McDaniel (Dolphins), Doug Pederson (Jags),
Zac Taylor (Bengals) and Matt LaFleur (Packers). Of the 14 teams that made the playoffs, seven had head coaches calling the plays on offense.
