Browns hire Rob Chudzinski

[MoFlo]

Browns hire Joe Cullen as D-line coach, Jaguars coach Gus Bradley tells reporters

By Nate Ulrich Published: January 22, 2013

Joe Cullen has been hired as the Browns’ new defensive line coach, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley told reporters today during Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala.

The Florida-Times Union first reported the news.

Browns coach Rob Chudzinski reportedly interviewed Cullen, 45, last week. He replaces Dwaine Board, who served as the Browns’ defensive line coach for the past two seasons.

Cullen joined the Jaguars in 2010. He previously coached the Detroit Lions’ defensive line from 2006-08. Cullen also has 22 years of college coaching experience.

Ray Horton was named the Browns’ new defensive coordinator on Friday. He employed a 3-4 scheme during the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals. The Browns used a 4-3 system the past two years under the guidance of Horton’s predecessor, defensive coordinator Dick Jauron.

The Browns still have openings for the following position coaches: quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, linebackers and defensive backs.

Introduction set

New Browns offensive coordinator Norv Turner and Chudzinski are scheduled to address the media at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the team's headquarters in Berea.

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-browns/cleveland-browns-1.270107/browns-hire-joe-cullen-as-d-line-coach-jaguars-coach-gus-bradley-tells-reporters-1.367038?localLinksEnabled=false

I admittedly don't know much about Cullen and of course there's more to DL play than just sacks. However, with consistent QB pressure being one of our weak points, I decided to take a look at what his D-Line did sack wise:

In 2009, before Cullen got there, Jax's DL had just 9.5 sacks (Tucker was still the DC at this point as well)
In 2010: 20.5
In 2011: 20.5
In 2012: 16.5

So while their team sack totals have been near the bottom of the league, the #'s from the D-Line have had considerable improvement.

In 2006, with Detroit, their DL had 24 sacks
2007: 28.5
2008: 23

In 2009, Cullen's 1st year gone, their DL dropped to 16.5 sacks.

While the Jags have fared near the bottom of the league in sacks in his tenure there, there's no doubt the DL has shown improvement in this area over the past 3 seasons.

 

[Smooth]

The interesting thing about the Cullen hire is that he was interviewed last week before the Horton hire, so I wonder how he fits..

It's also intriguing that he's only coached in 43 fronts...

 

[Sly]

Cullen was arrested in 2006 for driving under the influence as the defensive line coach for the Detroit Lions. In another incident, also during the 2006 pre-season, he was arrested after he drove through a Wendy's drive-thru nude.[2] He was fined $20,000 by the NFL for "conduct detrimental to the league" and sentenced by a judge to 10 days of community service and to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Lmao. I wanna hope that his Wiki isn't true, but I kinda remember laughing about that a few years ago.


Edit: Yup, that's the guy.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=70612

Where's Mary Kay on that one. Really kind of a head-scratcher hire. Personal issues plus no success.

 

[MoFlo]

Lmao. I wanna hope that his Wiki isn't true, but I kinda remember laughing about that a few years ago.


Edit: Yup, that's the guy.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=70612

Where's Mary Kay on that one. Really kind of a head-scratcher hire. Personal issues plus no success.

Not really. He's made the D-Line in Jax better, at least rushing the passer wise.

Mary Kay actually did put that nugget in her article about it.

Not really too surprising of a hire, considering we had interest in the DC he coached for..

 

[MoFlo]

<iframe width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight='0' scrolling="no" src="http://hub.video.msn.com/embed/6aafcc65-31be-4981-b165-a0b39b54c8f4/?vars=ZnI9c2hhcmVlbWJlZC1zeW5kaWNhdGlvbiZicmFuZD1mb3hzcG9ydHMmY29uZmlnTmFtZT1zeW5kaWNhdGlvbnBsYXllciZta3Q9ZW4tdXMmbGlua292ZXJyaWRlMj1odHRwJTNBJTJGJTJGbXNuLmZveHNwb3J0cy5jb20lMkZ2aWRlbyUzRnZpZGVvaWQlM0QlN0IwJTdEJmNvbmZpZ0NzaWQ9TVNOVmlkZW8mc3luZGljYXRpb249dGFnJmxpbmtiYWNrPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuZm94c3BvcnRzLmNvbSUyRg%3D%3D">
<A href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?videoid=6aafcc65-31be-4981-b165-a0b39b54c8f4&src=v5:embed:syndication:&from=shareembed-syndication" target="_new" title="Schrager: Cleveland ready to rock?">Video: Schrager: Cleveland ready to rock?</A>
</iframe>

 

[Smooth]

Rounding out their staff:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Browns">#Browns</a> name Louie Cioffi their DBs coach, Joe Cullen their DL coach and Shane Steichen as an offensive quality control coach.</p>&mdash; Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ/status/293842268983529472">January 22, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cioffi was the DB coach with Horton in Arizona... Prior to that, he spent 14 seasons with the Bengals, which is pretty interesting...

Steichen was a offensive quality assistant coach with Louisville in '10 after playing QB at UNLV and was a defensive quality asst coach with SD last year..

Will be interesting to see if the Browns try to go after any of the Cardinals DBs in free agency (there's a lot of them) with Horton and Cioffi now coming over...

So a recap on the staff:

OC: Turner
QB:
RB:
WR: Scott Turner
TE:
OL: George Warhop
asst. OL: Mike Sullivan
OQC: Shane Steichen

DC: Horton
DL: Joe Cullen
LB:
DB: Louie Cioffi

ST: Tabor

S&C: Brad Roll

 

[polska2211]

<iframe width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight='0' scrolling="no" src="http://hub.video.msn.com/embed/6aafcc65-31be-4981-b165-a0b39b54c8f4/?vars=ZnI9c2hhcmVlbWJlZC1zeW5kaWNhdGlvbiZicmFuZD1mb3hzcG9ydHMmY29uZmlnTmFtZT1zeW5kaWNhdGlvbnBsYXllciZta3Q9ZW4tdXMmbGlua292ZXJyaWRlMj1odHRwJTNBJTJGJTJGbXNuLmZveHNwb3J0cy5jb20lMkZ2aWRlbyUzRnZpZGVvaWQlM0QlN0IwJTdEJmNvbmZpZ0NzaWQ9TVNOVmlkZW8mc3luZGljYXRpb249dGFnJmxpbmtiYWNrPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuZm94c3BvcnRzLmNvbSUyRg%3D%3D">
<A href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?videoid=6aafcc65-31be-4981-b165-a0b39b54c8f4&src=v5:embed:syndication:&from=shareembed-syndication" target="_new" title="Schrager: Cleveland ready to rock?">Video: Schrager: Cleveland ready to rock?</A>
</iframe>

WELL IF SCHRAGER IS SAYING IT THEN BY GOD IT IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME

 

[MoFlo]

Rounding out their staff:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Browns">#Browns</a> name Louie Cioffi their DBs coach, Joe Cullen their DL coach and Shane Steichen as an offensive quality control coach.</p>— Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ/status/293842268983529472">January 22, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'm not one to toot my own horn or anything :chuckles:, but from the Horton thread:

A quick little search for some names to possibly keep an eye on regarding filling out the defensive staff:

Matt Raich - Current LB Coach for Arizona, was with Horton in Pittsburgh from '04-'06 before they joined back up in Arizona for the past 2 seasons.

Louie Cioffi - Current DB Coach for Arizona, was also with Horton from '97-'01 in Cincy.

Ashley Ambrose - Current DB coach for Cal. Played for Horton in Cincy in '97-'98.

Mark Duffner - Current LB coach for Jacksonville. Coached with Horton in Cincy. Was their DC for a year while Horton was there.

 

[Sly]

Not really. He's made the D-Line in Jax better, at least rushing the passer wise.

Mary Kay actually did put that nugget in her article about it.

Not really too surprising of a hire, considering we had interest in the DC he coached for..

Jax managed 20 sacks and gave up huge amounts against the run.

 

[MoFlo]

Jax managed 20 sacks and gave up huge amounts against the run.

16.5 of those 20 sacks came from the D-Line.

In 2009, before Cullen got there, Jax's DL had just 9.5 sacks (Tucker was still the DC at this point as well)
In 2010: 20.5
In 2011: 20.5
In 2012: 16.5

So while their team sack totals have been near the bottom of the league, the #'s from the D-Line have had considerable improvement.

In 2006, with Detroit, their DL had 24 sacks
2007: 28.5
2008: 23

In 2009, Cullen's 1st year gone, their DL dropped to 16.5 sacks.

He has had success improving D-Lines.

 

[Sly]

20 is last in the league.

 

[MoFlo]

20 is last in the league.

I know that.

But maybe that had something to do with the fact that the entire LB core contributed 3.5 sacks? Or the fact that their offense was terrible & their D had to be on the field more often? Or maybe their corners' coverage wasn't up to par & the line didn't have a chance to get to the QB?

That's why I'm strictly looking at the DL sacks.

 

[Sly]

I'm not going to be sold on drunken, naked, Wendy's drive-thru guy that's not producing. Every new coaching staff, we bring in guys and try to sell ourselves on their good points from their past. I'm not going to get caught up in the fluff stats. We're not getting the guy from the NYG, we're getting the guy from JAX. Not impressed, not a little, and I think it's laughable. He can feel free to prove me wrong though.

There had been rumors Cullen would be leaving the Jaguars in the coaching turnover, but now it's been confirmed. Cullen joined the Jaguars in 2010, instantly becoming a fan favorite because of how he acted during training camp. Cullen is a fiery coach that's intense and often loses his voice early into camp from the yelling.

Unfortunately for Cullen, be it poor coaching or just poor talent, the Jaguars defensive line never seemed to materialize much of a pass rush outside of free agent pick up Aaron Kampman. Some players even seemed to regress during Cullen's tenure, but again the talent on the line was suspect at best, so it's tough to decide where it went wrong.

http://www.bigcatcountry.com/2013/1/22/3903874/joe-cullen-browns-jaguars-defensive-line

So we'll find out.

 

[Shakalu M.D.]

20 is last in the league.

And so is their talent level. The point MoFlo was making is that, after Cullen got there, their sack number essentially doubled. I don't know enough about the guy besides his off the field shenanigans to really judge this hire. Strictly looking at the Jacksonville line stats isn't really fair though because their talent is just awful. The only relevant stat I think we can judge is the numbers from before he was there and after he arrived. Looking at that and the numbers improved drastically.

When Cullen was in Detroit their defense had bad talent as well. Essentially what I'm saying is we really can't judge his career as a d-line coach because he's had shitty players working under him. The line is a strength of this team, I have a lot more faith in his chances here, especially under Horton.

 

[Sly]

I'm saying, I don't care if he's made mediocre progress with terrible teams. He might have inherited crap, but he didn't turn that crap into gems. Last is last. Saying that the numbers kinda indicate that he might have been able to improve a pass rush that still ended up last, is ridiculous. JAX changed from a 3/4 to a 4/3 in 2010, so of course 2009 sack totals would be low, and in 2010 they should go up even with wrong personnel. Since then, they're in the same place.