The Cleveland Browns are staying active in their head coach search, a key platform in their “120-day plan” to improve the franchise.
On Monday, a new candidate may have been added to the list after the news broke that the Buffalo Bills were firing head coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons. Cleveland was once very interested in hiring McDermott, only to see owner Jimmy Haslam veto the football guys so he could instead hire Hue Jackson before anyone else beat him to the punch.
The head coach’s office is not the only one the Browns will need to fill, however, as reports indicate that offensive coordinator Tommy Rees could be heading south to join head coach Kevin Stefanski’s staff with the Atlanta Falcons.
It also appears that the Browns will be in the market for a new wide receivers coach, as NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero is reporting that Chad O’Shea is leaving town to accept the same position with the Kansas City Chiefs.
O’Shea joined the Browns in 2020, and that first season saw the offense post the second-most points (408), second-most touchdowns from scrimmage (48), and second-most first downs (355) in franchise history as the Browns made the playoffs.
The on-field success continued as wide receiver Amari Cooper became the first Cleveland player to have consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons (2022 and 2023), while setting the franchise’s single-game record with 265 receiving yards in a game against the Houston Texans.
In 2024, newly acquired wide receiver Jerry Jeudy set a franchise record with 90 receptions, and his 1,229 receiving yards are the fifth-most by a Cleveland player in a single season.
This past was not as successful, however, as historically poor quarterback play saw the offense go off the rails, which was especially true of the wide receivers.
Jeudy had a major drop off in production as he led the position group with just 50 receptions and 602 yards, while tying Cedric Tillman with two touchdown receptions, the only touchdowns from the wide receivers all season.
Tillman, Gage Larvadain, Jamari Thrash, Malachi Corley, and Isaiah Bond combined for just 67 receptions, 865 yards, and two touchdowns from Tillman.
But, as they say, one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure, so O’Shea is off to join Andy Reid’s successful coaching staff with the Chiefs. It will be homecoming of sorts for O’Shea, as his first NFL job was with the Chiefs, where he spent three seasons (2003 to 2005), working his way up from volunteer special teams assistant to an assistant coach role with special teams and then linebackers.
