This week, the Cleveland Browns made significant adjustments to their offensive coaching staff, and Stump Mitchell, the running backs coach and coordinator of the run game, was caught off guard.
On Wednesday, January 17, Cleveland fired T.C. McCartney, the tight ends coach, and fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, according to Josina Anderson of CBS Sports. In an official statement of reaction that he filed on Thursday, Mitchell expressed his gratitude to head coach Kevin Stefanski, general manager Andrew Berry, and the ownership group. After that, Mitchell spoke to the players he had guided over the years, including the ones who were still on the team.
I would like to sincerely thank all of the players and running backs who put on the Browns helmet and gave it their all in the hopes of winning on game day. It has been a fulfilling experience, as I have worked hard to make the most of your skills and hard work.
The Bill Willis Diversity Coaching Fellowship was one of my ideas, and the Browns organization was crucial in making it happen. Three young black coaches have benefited from this program over the last three years: Ashton Grant, Nemo Washington, and Israel Woolfork, who is currently the quarterback coach for the Arizona Cardinals.
Above all, I owe a debt of gratitude to my family for their steadfast support and to the devoted and industrious Ohioans, especially the Browns backers, for their affection. We sincerely appreciate your support. I’m excited for the next stage of my coaching profession.
According to Pro Football Reference, Mitchell played running back in the NFL with the Cardinals for ten years, from 1981 to 1989. He spent his first eight seasons in St. Louis and his final two in Phoenix.
In the NFL, he has coached for nine years, starting in 1999 with the Seattle Seahawks. He has twice as much experience as that as a coach. According to Pro Football History, Mitchell then played with the Washington Commanders for two seasons.
After missing the following three seasons of professional football, he returned to the game in 2013 to take over as running backs coach for the Arizona Cardinals. Before agreeing to take on the same role with the New York Jets, Mitchell spent three seasons in the desert. After spending 2017 and 2018 in New York, he signed on with the Browns in 2019 as the coordinator of the run game and coach for the running backs. He stayed in Cleveland until the team fired him on Wednesday.
The organization’s choice to fire Mitchell is puzzling for a number of reasons. First off, the offence has been excellent ever since Joe Flacco joined the squad, but the team chose to make changes to it.
Since Mitchell joined the team in 2019, the running game in particular has been of the highest calibre. His time in Cleveland started the year after the Browns selected Nick Chubb, which accounts for a significant portion of that.
The team drafted Chubb in the second round (at pick No. 35 overall) prior to the 2018 season, and he went on to be selected to four straight Pro Bowls from 2019 to 22. In Week 2, against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chubb sustained a season-ending knee injury, forcing Jerome Ford, a second-year running back, to take over as the primary player.
Pro Football Reference reports that Ford performed admirably in that capacity, finishing the season with 813 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns in addition to 44 receptions for 319 yards and 5 scores.
Ford’s success, Mitchell’s dismissal, and the fact that Chubb will be entering the final season of a three-year contract worth $36.6 million in 2024 with a salary cap hit of more than $15.8 million all contribute to the idea that Chubb is one of the team’s best prospects to lose out on salary this offseason.
With Chubb cut or traded in the upcoming months, the Browns, who are now over $14 million in the red on their cap sheet for the upcoming season, could save over $11.8 million.
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