Bubba Ventrone to be hired as Browns special teams coordinator

On Feb 23, 2023

Indianapolis Colts Special Teams Coordinator Bubba Ventrone talks on the sideline Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, before a game against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The Browns have completed the hiring Bubba Ventrone to be their new special teams coordinator, along with the title of assistant head coach, a league source confirmed to the Beacon Journal.

The source said the hire won’t be official, though, until Friday. CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported late Wednesday evening the hire was “expected,” while NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero first reported it being done on Thursday.

The 40-year-old Ventrone, who played safety for the Browns from 2009-12, had been the special teams coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts since 2018. He was interviewed by the Colts last month for their vacant head-coaching job, a job which recently went to former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen.

The hire of Ventrone completes a whirlwind two-plus-day span which started with the Browns firing former special teams coordinator Mike Priefer on Tuesday, interviewing three candidates during the day Wednesday and word coming out late Wednesday of an expected hire. Priefer was originally hired by then-coach Freddie Kitchens in 2019, but was retained when Kevin Stefanski — with whom he had coached in Minnesota — was named head coach in 2020.

Ventrone was one of three individuals the Browns interviewed for the position. They also talked to New York Giants assistant special teams coach Anthony Blevins and New York Jets assistant special team coach Leon Washington.

Steichen reportedly had an interest in retaining Ventrone, which is why there was some question initially whether or not the Colts would grant the Browns permission to speak with him. However, they ultimately granted him permission to speak to the organization for whom he spent half of his eight-year playing career.

The Browns have had to replace five coaches since the season ended, including two coordinators in defensive coordinator Joe Woods and Priefer. Quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing left to be the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, while defensive line coach Chris Kiffin departed to coach the Houston Texans’ linebackers and defensive backs coach Jeff Howard left to coach the Los Angeles Chargers’ inside linebackers.

Ventrone’s hiring means the Browns have filled two-and-a-half of those openings. Jim Schwartz was hired in January to replace Woods and former Utah State defensive coordinator Ephraim Banda is coming on to coach the safeties, leaving the team needing coaches for the quarterbacks, defensive line and cornerbacks.

The Colts had the eighth-best special teams in the league last season according to Rick Gosselin, who’s ranked the NFL special-teams units for 42 years. The Browns were 18th in the rankings, including a league-worst 12.3 average yards allowed on punt returns.

That marked the third consecutive year and fourth time in five seasons that the Colts were a top-10 special-teams unit under Ventrone. They were 10th in his first season in 2018, then ranked fourth in 2020 and second in 2021.

Indianapolis averaged a league-best 27.8 yards per return on kickoffs this past season, aided by massive yards-per-return averages by Dallas Flowers (31.1) and Isaiah Rodgers (25.1). It averaged 8.5 yards per return on punts, with Nyheim Hines averaging 10.1 yards per return before being dealt to the Buffalo Bills and Keke Coutee averaging 8.9 yards per return.

Meanwhile, former Browns kicker Chase McLaughlin finished 30-of-36 on field goals — 7-for-9 on kicks outdoors — while making all 21 point-after kicks. Punter Matt Haack, who was in his first year with the Colts, averaged a career-best 44.8 yards on 70 punts.

The Colts’ opponents averaged just 23 yards on kickoff returns last season and 7.4 yards on punt returns.

Ventrone was originally hired in Indianapolis by Josh McDaniels when he briefly took the Colts’ head-coaching job. McDaniels had worked with Ventrone with the New England Patriots, with whom the latter got his coaching start in 2015 as assistant special teams coordinator.

When McDaniels made his abrupt return to the Patriots, Frank Reich kept Ventrone on as his special teams coordinator. Reich was fired by the Colts during this past season and replaced on an interim basis by Jeff Saturday.

Ventrone, a Villanova University graduate, played 97 games over eight NFL seasons from 2007-14 with the Patriots, Browns and San Francisco 49ers. He played in the Super Bowl as a rookie with the Patriots.