Kevin Stefanski dodges reason for timing on Browns’ coordinator change

On Mar 2, 2023

FILE - Cleveland Browns special teams coach Mike Priefer, left, talks with head coach Kevin Stefanski during warm ups before an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Cleveland. Browns special teams coordinator Mike Priefer has been fired, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, following four seasons and numerous costly mistakes by his units. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane, File)

INDIANAPOLIS — Kevin Stefanski’s coaching staff seemed all but set a week-and-a-half ago. Sure, there were some position coaches which needed to be replaced, but the coordinator-level jobs seemed set.

Then, on Feb. 21, the Browns fired special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, who had been in that role since 2019, a year before Stefanski arrived. Two days later, Priefer’s replacement, Bubba Ventrone, was hired with the additional title as assistant head coach.

So, what exactly changed between the season’s end on Jan. 8 and the next-to-last week in February to lead to the change? More specifically, how much did the availability of Ventrone after the Indianapolis Colts hired a new head coach in Shane Steichen play a role

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“Obviously I don’t want to get into all those type of things, but excited about Bubba,” Stefanski said Wednesday at the NFL Combine. “Again, a guy that I’ve known for a long time. I know what he’s done in this league as a player and as a coach.”

Ventrone spent the last five seasons as the special teams coordinator for the Colts. He spent four of his eight-year playing career — from 2009-12 — as a special-teams standout for the Browns.

Stefanski and Ventrone will share a NFL facility now. Some 20 years ago, they were rivals on Philadelphia-area college football programs.

“I played against Bubba back when he was at Villanova,” Stefanski said. “I was at Penn, so we go way back. He’s a good coach, excited to have him, former player, player for the Browns obviously. I think that lends to credibility. It lends to what he knows what Northeast Ohio is about. So excited about Bubba.”