New Offensive Line Coach Hired

[Orion]

The Browns officially announced they have hired Mike Bloomgren as the new offensive line coach.

"Mike has a wealth of knowledge and is extremely bright," head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "In addition to his NFL experience, he has worked in a number of pro-style offenses on the college level. He has proven to be successful as a teacher and motivator, which will be vital for our offensive line room. We are excited to add Mike to our coaching staff."

Bloomgren served as the head coach at Rice University for seven seasons, beginning in 2018. While at Rice, Bloomgren led the football program to back-to-back bowl game appearances in 2022 and 2023 for the first time since 2013 and 2014 – and the fourth time in program history.

edit and add:

Bloomgren began his coaching career in 1999 as a graduate assistant at Alabama. He then spent three seasons at Catawba College as the co-offensive coordinator, offensive line and special teams coach. He then spent two seasons at Delta State in a similar role, working as the offensive coordinator, offensive line and specials teams coach.

He transitioned to the NFL in 2007 when he joined the Jets staff as an offensive quality control coach for two seasons and served in this position under Brian Schottenheimer and Bill Callahan. He then moved into an offensive assistant role in 2009 when Rex Ryan became the head coach of the Jets. In 2010, he served as an assistant offensive coordinator, and the Jets finished with an 11-5 record, averaging nearly 23 points per game.

"That time trained and instilled a lot of beliefs I have in the position and in the manner in which it should be taught," Bloomgren said.

Bloomgren returned to collegiate football in 2011 at Stanford, serving as the running game coordinator and offensive line coach for two seasons. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2013 and took the helm of their pro-style offensive attack. Stanford won eight or more games in each of his seasons and reached the Pac-12 Football Championship four times, winning three titles. While leading the Stanford offense, Bloomgren also coached both QB Andrew Luck and RB Christian McCaffrey, both Heisman finalists who went on to have successful careers in the NFL.

[BernieSuperBowl2]

Bloomgren got fired from the Rice Owls after a 24-52 record as head coach. Sounds like a Brownie to me.

[Orion]

6 minutes ago, BernieSuperBowl2 said:

Bloomgren got fired from the Rice Owls after a 24-52 record as head coach. Sounds like a Brownie to me.

Yeah, I don't know anything about him except what I've read above.  We shall see.

[syd]

15 minutes ago, BernieSuperBowl2 said:

Bloomgren got fired from the Rice Owls after a 24-52 record as head coach. Sounds like a Brownie to me.

isnt that pretty good for being at rice ?

[Dutch Oven]

When I saw Orion post this, I thought to myself:

"Self, now here's a guy that could literally go up to every single poster on this board and punch him in the face and not one person could identify him by name to the police, but I bet it won't take long before someone says he sucks." 

🤣

[Orion]

41 minutes ago, Dutch Oven said:

not one person could identify him by name

Well, he was a coffee fetcher for Bill Callahan for a couple of seasons.  If that ain't OL credentials then I don't know what is.    

[Dutch Oven]

3 minutes ago, Orion said:

Well, he was a coffee fetcher for Bill Callahan for a couple of seasons.  If that ain't OL credentials then I don't know what is.    

Didn’t the last OLine coach have a Bill Callahan connection too though?

[Orion]

Just now, Dutch Oven said:

Didn’t the last OLine coach have a Bill Callahan connection too though?

I believe so.  I guess not too much of Bill's teachings sinks in to his assistants.

[AP1]

If I may attempt to be a flicker of light...

The Browns two best OL coaches in my lifetime had Head Coach pedigree. Ferentz would go on to be a head coach and Callahan had been a head coach. So I'll give Bloomgren a shot.

[AP1]

1 minute ago, Orion said:

I believe so.  I guess not too much of Bill's teachings sinks in to his assistants.

He's not the only Bill that's had that happen...

[Orion]

Just now, AP1 said:

He's not the only Bill that's had that happen...

It seems like apples tend to rot before they fall off of the coaching tree.   

[Vambo]

Browns news: Assistant GM Catherine Hickman to speak to Titans; NFLPA honors Myles Garrett

Browns news: Assistant GM Catherine Hickman to speak to Titans; NFLPA honors Myles Garrett (msn.com)

Browns assistant general manager/Vice President of Football Operation Catherine Hickman is one of the targets for the Tennessee Titans in their general manager search.

The Titans have requested permission to speak with Hickman, a league source confirmed for the Beacon Journal. The Athletic's Dianna Russini was the first to report.

The Titans fired general manager Rae Carthon on Tuesday after just two seasons on the job. Tennessee, which had fired Mike Vrabel as head coach after last season, finished this year 3-14 and will have the No. 1 overall pick.

Hickman is one of five candidates for the position who have been reported by outlets. The others are Indianapolis Colts assistant general manager Ed Dobbs, Kansas City Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi, Buffalo Bills Director of Player Personnel Terrance Gray and Miami Dolphins senior personnel executive Reggie Mckenzie.

Another Browns assistant general manager, Vice President of Player Personnel Glenn Cook, had been a finalist in 2023 when Carthon was hired. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Titans have not requested permission to speak with Cook this time.

The Browns would receive a third-round compensatory pick in each of the next two drafts if Hickman were to be hired. They did so in 2022 when the Minnesota Vikings hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to be their general manager.

Hickman is the highest-ranked female team personnel executive in NFL history. She was hired to her current position in June 2022 after having worked in various roles, including Vice President of Football Operations, for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Susan Tose Spencer is the only woman to have officially held the title of general manager in NFL history, doing so for the Eagles from 1982-85. Eagles coach Marion Campbell, however, controlled football operations during Spencer's time running the team.

The Titans' search is being run by President of Football Operations Chad Brinker. The new general manager will reportedly work collaboratively with coach Brian Callahan on football decisions, with Brinker to be the tiebreaker in any disputes.

 

Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett named to NFLPA All-Pro team

The postseason awards and all-pro teams started coming out Wednesday, with the NFL Players Association announcing its All-Pro team. The team, based upon player voting, included Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.

Garrett was voted to the team for the third time. It's just the latest of what should be a lengthy list of honors for Garrett, who's already been named to his sixth Pro Bowl.

Garrett led the league with 22 tackles for loss this season. He went into the final game tied for the league lead in sacks with 14, but went without one in the finale, while the Cincinnati Bengals' Trey Hendrickson recorded 3.5 in his last game to take the sack title.

Garrett did become the first player since the sack became an official stat in the NFL in 1982 to have at least 14 sacks in four consecutive seasons. He also became the youngest player in the league history to reach 100 career sacks when he sacked Cincinnati's Joe Burrow in Week 16, and has 102.5 for his career.

[Flugel]

On 1/9/2025 at 7:53 AM, Vambo said:

Browns news: Assistant GM Catherine Hickman to speak to Titans; NFLPA honors Myles Garrett

Browns news: Assistant GM Catherine Hickman to speak to Titans; NFLPA honors Myles Garrett (msn.com)

Browns assistant general manager/Vice President of Football Operation Catherine Hickman is one of the targets for the Tennessee Titans in their general manager search.

The Titans have requested permission to speak with Hickman, a league source confirmed for the Beacon Journal. The Athletic's Dianna Russini was the first to report.

The Titans fired general manager Rae Carthon on Tuesday after just two seasons on the job. Tennessee, which had fired Mike Vrabel as head coach after last season, finished this year 3-14 and will have the No. 1 overall pick.

Hickman is one of five candidates for the position who have been reported by outlets. The others are Indianapolis Colts assistant general manager Ed Dobbs, Kansas City Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi, Buffalo Bills Director of Player Personnel Terrance Gray and Miami Dolphins senior personnel executive Reggie Mckenzie.

Another Browns assistant general manager, Vice President of Player Personnel Glenn Cook, had been a finalist in 2023 when Carthon was hired. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Titans have not requested permission to speak with Cook this time.

The Browns would receive a third-round compensatory pick in each of the next two drafts if Hickman were to be hired. They did so in 2022 when the Minnesota Vikings hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to be their general manager.

Hickman is the highest-ranked female team personnel executive in NFL history. She was hired to her current position in June 2022 after having worked in various roles, including Vice President of Football Operations, for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Susan Tose Spencer is the only woman to have officially held the title of general manager in NFL history, doing so for the Eagles from 1982-85. Eagles coach Marion Campbell, however, controlled football operations during Spencer's time running the team.

The Titans' search is being run by President of Football Operations Chad Brinker. The new general manager will reportedly work collaboratively with coach Brian Callahan on football decisions, with Brinker to be the tiebreaker in any disputes.

 

Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett named to NFLPA All-Pro team

The postseason awards and all-pro teams started coming out Wednesday, with the NFL Players Association announcing its All-Pro team. The team, based upon player voting, included Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.

Garrett was voted to the team for the third time. It's just the latest of what should be a lengthy list of honors for Garrett, who's already been named to his sixth Pro Bowl.

Garrett led the league with 22 tackles for loss this season. He went into the final game tied for the league lead in sacks with 14, but went without one in the finale, while the Cincinnati Bengals' Trey Hendrickson recorded 3.5 in his last game to take the sack title.

Garrett did become the first player since the sack became an official stat in the NFL in 1982 to have at least 14 sacks in four consecutive seasons. He also became the youngest player in the league history to reach 100 career sacks when he sacked Cincinnati's Joe Burrow in Week 16, and has 102.5 for his career.

Led the league with 22 tackles for a loss  & 1st player to have at least 14 sacks in 4 consecutive seasons.  Also impressive is being the youngest player in league history to reach 100 sacks.   

In other news, TJ Watt was soooo impressive in the 1st round of the playoffs again that Pittsburgh extended its 1st round one and done streak to 5.