Bubba Ventrone feels ‘everybody’s’ key to Browns special teams success
The Browns special teams units have been, at their best, middle of the pack over the last few years. Bubba Ventrone was brought back to Cleveland to change that fact.
How does the new assistant head coach and special teams coordinator plan on accomplishing the feat? By making it a team effort.
“My message to the team is going to be, look, if we’re going to be a good unit, top to bottom, we need contributions from everybody,” Ventrone said on a Zoom call with media on Thursday. “Whether you’re on the field goal block unit, the field goal unit, you’re a starter that plays in one to two phases. Everybody’s got to be willing to do their part, and if everybody’s willing to do their part, no one’s going to balk at being on the field for a kicking play.
“You need the buy-in, and that’s what I’m hoping that I can get out of everybody.”
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Ventrone, who played in Cleveland as a special teams ace from 2009-12, spent the last five seasons as the special teams coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts. When Frank Reich was fired as the Colts head coach during the season, there reportedly were several players who wanted Ventrone to get the interim job, which instead went to Jeff Saturday.
Among the individuals Indianapolis also interviewed for the full-time job was Ventrone, but it eventually went to former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. What makes a special teams coordinator attractive as a head-coaching candidate — see Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh — is that knowledge of the entire 53-man roster, not just one side of the ball or the other.
“I have aspirations to be a head coach at some point,” Ventrone said, “but, honestly, my sole focus right now is getting this core unit and these specialists going. I’m excited for this opportunity. I cannot wait. I’m so, so excited to be back in Cleveland and have this opportunity. I can’t express it enough.”
Ventrone is confident in the abilities of kicker Cade York, who had an up-and-down rookie season after being taken in the fourth round of last April’s draft. He said he shares in the high opinion the Browns had a year ago in York, saying he also ranked him at the top of all of the specialists.
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However, Ventrone also spoke highly of the return men the Browns had last season, primarily Jerome Ford on kickoffs and Donovan Peoples-Jones on punts. The former finished the season ranked in the top 10 in the league in yards per return, while the latter was AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after he posted the Browns’ first punt return for a touchdown since 2015 in a Week 13 win at the Houston Texans.
The Colts were among the league’s best in returning both kicks and punts in recent years. Ventrone believes it’s a matter of keeping it simple.
“This past year we had a young group in Indianapolis,” Ventrone said. “We drilled the crap out of their footwork on kickoff return and our drops. We end up leading the league in kickoff return because we executed our techniques well and we ran basic returns the entire season. I feel like the same parallels show up whenever you’re talking through the punt unit. Good footwork. You can handle any type of rush in protection as long as you have those fundamentals and technique to be able to allow you to see those different types of exotic looks.”
That leads Ventrone to what he believes is the core of his philosophy on special teams. It’s a philosophy he actually developed over his eight-year playing career between New England, Cleveland and San Francisco.
“I feel like I have a good understanding of the techniques that are played within the scheme,” Ventrone said. “I’ve actually done it in my career. That’s all I did really. So I feel like I have maybe a little bit more insight to, I would say maybe, the true intricacies of the techniques. I’m a big, big, big, and we will drill it to death, the fundamentals of the game. Footwork, hat placement, playing with a base. I’m going to emphasize that ad nauseam to our players, and ultimately that’s going to get us the best results.”
That is why Ventrone was brought back to the place where he made such an impact as a player on special teams.
Contact Chris at [email protected].
On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ
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