DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns Hire Bubba Ventrone as Special Teams Coordinator

No they are not. Glad to see you were paying attention.

The following is simply my opinion w/some factual information thrown in to provide context.

We had several posters calling for Stefanski to be fired this year. We had multiple posters attacking both Stefanski and Berry throughout the season. One of the main complaints was that Stefanski was responsible for the entire team. That's accurate. Suggesting he take over the defensive play calling and it was his scheme was ignorant. Even legitimate posters complained that Stefanski should have fired Woods and Priefer. They said guys like Bill Parcells would have done so. We heard talk of Stefanski protecting his friends.

Well, both men have now been fired and other changes have occurred on the defensive staff. Most pundits think the Browns have upgraded their coaching staff. I think most fans feel the same way. Yet, those who screamed the loudest about how inept Stefanski and Berry were are still trashing them even though they got the results they were wishing for.

Here is the opinion part. I think those posters have an axe to grind that is agenda driven and that there was nothing Stefanski and Berry could have done this off-season that would have been good enough for them. I respect those that chose to quit rooting for the Browns and stopped posting far more than those who stuck around just to trash the team out of spite.

Ventrone was under contract as the ST coordinator in Indy. (You said he wasn't)
We had to ask for Indy permission to interview him.
We could not interview him if the Colts did not allow it.
Colts allowed us to interview Ventrone.
We could not sweeten any pot if Indy doesn't allow us to interview him.

I don't understand why you can't comprehend this.

Oh, we all saw what he said.


You must be new here..

We're a better team right now with the hiring of Schwartz and Vetrone. Now we have to add the right players to improve our weak areas and we may have quite a team next season!

Looks like a good hire. Like any coaching position, imo a good ST coach is good at scheming, recognizing skillsets in a player and being able to maximize those strengths. And, I remember him playing with us, it doesn’t seem like 10 years ago.

I’m not a native Browns fan but I’ve known Bubba Ventrone his whole life and now that he’s in Cleveland I’m a fan.

A little inside info, I was told that the Browns reached out to Bubba a month ago. When Frank Reich was fired a couple of months ago most of the Colts fans and reporters thought Bubba would get the interim job. And it was shocking that Irsay hired Jeff Saturday off the street instead because they are buddies. After the season ended Bubba got an interview to be the Colts Head Coach for next season. When he didn’t get the job for a second time, he was definitely weighting his options and not sure he wanted to stick with the Colts if another opportunity popped up. The browns reached out to Bubba a month ago but he was still waiting to see who would get the Colts head job and had to wait until after the Super Bowl when they hired the eagles OC who bubba didn’t have a previous relationship with. I was told that Bubba liked his time with the browns and decided that returning there would be a good opportunity especially if they were going to make him assistant HC too. And that’s how it happened.

Welcome to the board and thanks for the inside info...

and welcome back to Cleveland Bubba!

Thanks. What’s funny is that I signed up for this account when Bubba was a player with the browns. Hence why my sign up date for this name was in 2010 and I only have 5 posts. Lol. I was surprised it still worked.

Priefer had to go.
18,30, 28?

All NFL teams have the same kind of roster fillers: 3rd stringers. Rooks, looking to latch on by showing their versatility. ST mines its squad from these guys. A good ST coach/system can train this game day specialty into a group of young guys from all 3 sides of the ball. That coach/system can train these guys into a unit that can win close games. And the NFL is built to produce close games.

Special Teams is the wild card every team wants to be able to play. It can change the entire flow of a game.

I've lost count of the number of long runbacks CLE fans have watched, only to see yellow laundry on the field, calling that play back- for good reason.
Nope. I'm not talking about the obviously egregious bad calls that can and do happen from game to game. I'm talking about the ones that were caught by camera, for all to see.

Obvious calls on St00pit Browns.
Hundreds of lost positive yardage/field position per season. On Special Teams play alone.


18/30/28 over 3 years is justifiably worthy of dismissal.


Full disclosure time: I don't remember this Bubba dude at all from his time on the Browns sideline. An absolute, total blank. What I've learned from reading about him in this thread makes me hopeful. Those IND stats of his are promising, for sure -and I'm looking forward to seeing how much better our ST play might be.

He couldn't do worse than we've seen.

Thanks for the inside information, especially that the Browns reached out to him around a month ago. I didn't know that and it shows that this is the guy they were targeting.

Also, I know one of the articles mentioned that Ventrone may have been miffed when he wasn't named Interim HC after Reich was fired. I thought about that, and while I like Jeff Saturday, it had to be a slap in the face for Bubba because Saturday didn't have any previous NFL coaching experience.

Hopefully, Ventrone's unit improves, the team has success, and this opportunity will open up larger doors for him as he pursues his quest to become a HC.

Thank you. A new coaching staff and failure to get an opportunity to upgrade his position is why he left. Cleveland offered him not only the job of ST's coach but the upgrade to asst. HC. Sounds familiar.

Some people were finding this hard to understand.

Good info, interesting story. Thanks for this.

Not to sow dragons' teeth, and I welcome Ventrone and wish him the best; is the additional assistant HC just a gimmick title to cement the hire? It struck me that this might be a move to serve notice that the Browns are willing to bring more and closer scrutiny, and heat if needed if wins aren't produced. An ass't. HC would be a logical interim IMO. I am not suggesting that might be why he was hired, but the dots can be lined up to be connected. Let's all win instead.

Solid move from the front office.
Here's a bonus. If Stefanski is fired this year or next
Then Vetrone would be the next head coach interim
Or official head coach
Special teams coaches often turn into good HCs
Jim Harbaugh , Bill Bellichek.
Special teams have to know both sides of ball
Regarding player relationships cause Special teasers
Are both WRs RBs LBs CBs and S

I see Assistant head coach as basically second in line of coaches on the team... so if HC is fired, the there's your interim... but also, second highest voice on the team... also gets paid more than just a coordinator...

overall, good stepping stone for Bubba...

So as someone who knows him I will give you a little more background because even though he was thought of as one of the best special teams players in he NFL when he played and has been one of the best Special Teams coaches, not a lot of casual fans follow players and coaches like that. Bubba played and coached under Bill Belechick, played under Jim Harbaugh and coached with Frank Reich and has big time respect from all of those guys. I saw personally with my own two eyes a Michigan Helmet signed by Jim Harbaugh that said, to one of th all time greatest special teams players, it was an honor to share a locker room with you. Another quick story, after Bubba’s final year playing in SF, he was planning to keep playing but Bill Belechick called him out of the blue and said, we have a spot open as assistant special teams coordinator and I think you’d be perfect for it. During Bub’s 3 years in NE as the assistant special teams coach almost any time they showed Bill Belechick on the sidelines Bubba would be next to him and a lot of times they’d be discussing something. Then when offered the job to take over the colts special teams it was the same thing. When they would show Frank Reich on the sidelines Bubba would be right next to him. The Colts were on HBO Hard Knocks in season last year and the week they played the patriots it focused heavily on Bubba and how is film study lead to a blocked punt. This is the clip https://twitter.com/nfl/status/1474134883979051030?s=61&t=C8rxIC7JL8cna5fMn4P9UQ but if you have HBO, watch that whole episode and you’ll get a chance to see how good of a special teams coach he is and the kind of guy he is.

Thanks for chiming in. It's always cool to hear real stories from someone who has an extended relationship with a player or coach.

The Browns have had a real problem getting the most out of their talent... and that leads to a question that maybe you can answer pertaining to Bubba. What would you say he does best, or what separates him from the crowd, in respect to getting the most out of his players?

I prefer to call him Ray.

While Raymond is his birth name and he answers to that. His family and friends and people in the locker room have always called him Bubba. I know while he played the announcers would call him by his birth name for the most part, but he goes by Bubba and has his whole life. I’ve basically only heard his mom call him Raymond. Even his dad calls him Bubba. Everyone has called him that his whole life basically.

I do not think it’s one thing, but he’s a good evaluator of talent and often would advocate for certain guys late in drafts that he thought could help on special teams, and he has respect of the players for both his attitude and because as an undrafted player he stuck around in the league for 10years because of special teams and players know that and can trust that he knows how to help them do the same. He’s into technique in practice and the games and a film junkie. Always looking for flaws in the opponents special teams he can exploit. He’s fiery and a straight shooter and his players respect that. All of those things really help make him a good coach

Thanks, Jaybird. Agree with you completely. We didn't get rid of Woods in-season because, as some asked, "So who can you find?"

I am not trying to suggest Bubba V. is a threat to KS, but I feel like he may well be a prod and serve notice that the ship must be righter, if not wholly righted this season. Don't feel that it should be ignored.

I can't remember where I saw this comment from Ventrone, but it was after we hired him. He was asked a question about players buying into his coaching and he mentioned that he sometimes shows them clips of plays he made on the field that were successful and how guys think that if it works for him, it could work for me. I probably really botched that, but that was the main idea of the text. It makes sense to me. Listening to guys who have been successful at your current job goes a long way w/most players.

100% agree with you... hope Bubba and Swartz can make the Browns better and push Stef to be better...

Few words pointing out what many believe. Nice post.

You guys could be right and it's your honest opinion. However, I think that has nothing to do w/why Ventrone was hired. I think Stefanski/Berry targeted him because he was so well-respected and that they knew the Special Teams coach needed to be upgraded. I remember multiple times throughout the course of the year where Stefanski had an absolute look of disgust on his face after another ST's blunder.

I think the Assistant HC thing is all about providing an upgrade to Ventrone's previous title and that it should help his career provided he and the team are successful. In no way do I think that this hire is to push Stefanski. I think that Stefanski and Berry have a great relationship and are working together. I don't think Berry is sending Kevin any messages.

JMO.

I don't think the FO is sending any messages to Stefanski either. Indy hired a new HC and with that comes a new coaching staff. It became abundantly clear to Bubba that either one of two things, and maybe both had happened. With a new HC being hired who would probably bring in his own guys, his days were numbered in Indy. And or he he had no chance to advance his career at Indy.

As such the Browns gave him an opportunity to not only be welcome here abut also be given an upgrade in his title and most likely pay scale. At this point in time it appears to be a win/win not only for Bubba but the Browns as well. That's an important part of any business deal. Both sides come out the winner.

I can tell you that Bubba isn’t coming in with the thought that Stefanski is a lame duck and he will take over as HC if KS is fired. He’s coming in to help the browns win and use that as a possible step to becoming a HC at some point somewhere.

Thanks for saying that. I totally agree w/that line of thinking and your inside knowledge is appreciated.

j/c:

I wonder if there is a coach in the entire NFL doesn't feel the pressure to produce?

j/c

While I think Bubba can improve our coverage and return teams, I'm a little concerned about the specialists. The Rodrigo Blankenship situation in Indy seemed kind of weird. I wonder if we'll add someone with kicking experience to the staff.

Are they really that high? I'm not sure the Browns will be able to even field a team this year because their salary cap issue are so dire.

THERE IT IS! You being you - trying to hijack another thread after getting in your dig.

Mac, I 100% agree with your post.

I also find it interesting bringing in Stefanski's old boss who was OC in MIN when Stefanski was there as the asst QB coach. A few interim coaches appearing on the staff now if needed.

Great Hire, period. The guy has some juice and special teams guys are usually younger players and guys looking to prove their worth. Not sure that was the problem but under performing for two plus years will get you gone. I think the biggest problem seemed to be punt coverage and blocking schemes for FG and XP. Too many busts. I am sure it ain’t all his fault but it is what it is

Nice post. The positional coach needed upgraded. This is not about finding a replacement for Stefanski.

I think so... if they don't win in the playoffs it's a failed season.... you paid a steep price for a QB.... brought in new coordinators... I think the expectation is very high this year...

Hey jay, you are a good dude. My post to mac wa just a satirical reply based on the absurdity of the salary cap hysteria. It was not a serious post.

My bad didn't recognize the sarcasm....

Thanks for the great football talk.