The hiring of Bill Musgrave was a peculiar one for the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are going all out to make sure that disgraced quarterback Deshaun Watson has all the football help he can ask for. The Browns have hired former quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave as an “offensive assistant”. Musgrave, who worked with Kevin Stefanski in Minnesota in the early 2010s, was working for UCLA when the Browns came calling.
Initially, many thought Musgrave was coming in as the Browns’ new quarterback coach, as their former coach, Drew Petzing, was hired away by the Arizona Cardinals to be their new offensive coordinator. That didn’t end up happening and Musgrave will essentially serve as a “floater” of sorts, with a focus presumably on Watson.
The new quarterback coach is Alex Van Pelt, the team’s offensive coordinator. Which makes sense, because he clearly needs something to do on Sundays other than playing Candy Crush. Most offensive coordinator call plays but head coach Kevin Stefanski still refuses to hand over the reins to Van Pelt, so at least not Van Pelt can try to integrate Watson a bit better into this new offense that the staff is developing around his skillsets.
The Bill Musgrave hiring is a bit odd all things considered
Musgrave has a history of coaching quarterbacks, the Browns needed a quarterback coach, had he been hired to be said coach, it’d make total sense. But why make him a senior offensive assistant instead?
We have a tinfoil hat theory that the Raymond Ventrone and Jim Schwartz signings were done as a part of a power struggle between Stefanski, GM Andrew Berry and owner Jimmy Haslam. Is that the case? No, probably not, but maybe. This is a franchise tidering on the edge of the abyss, who knows what’s going on?
This may have been a make-good by the front office for Stefanski, giving him someone he can trust in Musgrave. Again, tin-hat theory, we know. But it makes solid sense. Why else hire a coach who will serve more as a confidant than as a coach?
Ubiquatious titles like “senior offensive assistant” are never something you like to see. It’s not clear what the job entails and what Musgrave is going to be doing for the Browns.
This feels like the time in the Office when Michael and Jim were both made co-managers with neither having a clear idea of what their individual roles would do.
We don’t know what Musgrave will actually be responsible for yet, but we’ll know if he or any of the coaches make it through the year. If the team struggles, then all of this is likely moot, as they’ll all be fired at some point.