2020 Assistant Coach News

[Randolphkeys]

Do we know anything about Van Pelt’s philosophy outside of Aaron Rodgers? What’s he good at? Why is he a good hire? Bad? Etc.

It's going to be hard to trace exactly what Van Pelt stands for because he has been a quarterbacks coach for so long rather than a playcaller. When he did call the plays in Buffalo, he juggled some bad QBs while running the ball hard with Fred Jackson and Beastmode, eventually developing Fitzmagic who was a play action and timing QB in Buffalo.

 

[BimboColesHair]

I'd say that hire is a pretty good signal that Stefanski will be calling plays for you guys.

Certainly doesn't hurt to have your OC be good with QBs if your HC is calling plays.

 

[AllforOne]

I called him out on his BS on the OBR forum. It’s amazing how brainwashed his followers are. He’ll mention someone’s name in passing along with 100 other names then when something like this happens they claim he knew about it. It’s amazing.

I’ve never understood how some fans could believe that one person magically has access to the team’s inner information ... and has maintained that pipeline through three owners, seven or eight GMs, and a Couch-jersey roster of coaches. It requires a real suspension of disbelief. I guess if you want to believe it enough ...

Anyway. I find myself incredibly unqualified to pass judgment on assistant coach hires. I’m not sure what exactly each coach does, or whether those responsibilities are the same from HC to HC. So I can’t get too worked up one way or the other with each successive hire.

 

[MoFlo]

Do we know anything about Van Pelt’s philosophy outside of Aaron Rodgers? What’s he good at? Why is he a good hire? Bad? Etc.

Van Pelt, who broke Dan Marino's all-time passing record at the University of Pittsburgh and backed up Jim Kelly for years with the Bills, has a deep bag of Hall-of-Fame pedigree and he dug into it this season to help Finley with that footwork. They've been watching Aaron Rodgers tape because, for one thing, there is reams of it. During his stint as Packers quarterbacks coach, Van Pelt become the A-Rod whisperer, helping him to the 2014 NFL MVP and two years later helping him match Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks in history to throw more than 600 passes with seven or fewer interceptions.
When Van Pelt left Green Bay to come to Cincinnati before last season as one of Marvin Lewis' best hires, Rodgers and PackersNation were none too happy as the state of Wisconsin lurched into Breaking News mode. Van Pelt arrived with his best foot forward. Which turned out to be the left foot.

Left foot forward. That's where Rodgers has his foot in the shot-gun stance behind center. Van Pelt has done it all three ways. With the feet even. With the right foot in front. Now after working with Rodgers, he's a left foot forward guy. He converted Andy Dalton last year and it's one of the reasons Finley needed time to adjust when Van Pelt got him started this year.

"I did it with Aaron in Green Bay. I really took it from him. Tom Brady has taken it from him," Van Pelt said. "Obviously I believe in it now. I've seen it live and I've coached it, too. I see the benefits in it. For a young guy it's hard to first get that. (Finley) was right foot forward. Complete change. It takes some time. He's gotten ten times better."

Van Pelt says it's like learning to throw with the other hand, which may explain some of Finley's spring passes. Dalton agrees. There's no question the left foot is the way to go.

"It gives you more rhythm in the pass game. Especially the quick game," Van Pelt said. "Less mechanical. More rhythmic. It's more like a little dance step as opposed to just a big heavy step. The rhythm is very important in the passing game. That's his game. The more he can play in rhythm with his feet, then he'll be more accurate."

 

[CBBI]

Jeff Howard had been with the Vikings since 2013.

Worked on the same staff as Joe Woods for one year and Kevin Stefanski obviously for seven years.

Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach is definitely a step up for him though. He's never been a full-time position coach before.

 

[daddywags]

Van Pelt, who broke Dan Marino's all-time passing record at the University of Pittsburgh and backed up Jim Kelly for years with the Bills, has a deep bag of Hall-of-Fame pedigree and he dug into it this season to help Finley with that footwork. They've been watching Aaron Rodgers tape because, for one thing, there is reams of it. During his stint as Packers quarterbacks coach, Van Pelt become the A-Rod whisperer, helping him to the 2014 NFL MVP and two years later helping him match Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks in history to throw more than 600 passes with seven or fewer interceptions.
When Van Pelt left Green Bay to come to Cincinnati before last season as one of Marvin Lewis' best hires, Rodgers and PackersNation were none too happy as the state of Wisconsin lurched into Breaking News mode. Van Pelt arrived with his best foot forward. Which turned out to be the left foot.

Left foot forward. That's where Rodgers has his foot in the shot-gun stance behind center. Van Pelt has done it all three ways. With the feet even. With the right foot in front. Now after working with Rodgers, he's a left foot forward guy. He converted Andy Dalton last year and it's one of the reasons Finley needed time to adjust when Van Pelt got him started this year.

"I did it with Aaron in Green Bay. I really took it from him. Tom Brady has taken it from him," Van Pelt said. "Obviously I believe in it now. I've seen it live and I've coached it, too. I see the benefits in it. For a young guy it's hard to first get that. (Finley) was right foot forward. Complete change. It takes some time. He's gotten ten times better."

Van Pelt says it's like learning to throw with the other hand, which may explain some of Finley's spring passes. Dalton agrees. There's no question the left foot is the way to go.

"It gives you more rhythm in the pass game. Especially the quick game," Van Pelt said. "Less mechanical. More rhythmic. It's more like a little dance step as opposed to just a big heavy step. The rhythm is very important in the passing game. That's his game. The more he can play in rhythm with his feet, then he'll be more accurate."

That's fantastic information that this football fan never even thought (or read) about. It will be interesting to see how Baker reacts to stuff like this. I suspect he can be a little, um, set in his ways. Hopefully he's open and learns because I think in the right system and with the right coaching he can be a top 5ish QB.

 

[CBBI]

Face for Radio Ruiter suggests that Van Pelt will, in fact, be calling plays for the Browns in 2020.

Not sure I buy that, but we'll see.

 

[FrontPageNews]

Face for Radio Ruiter suggests that Van Pelt will, in fact, be calling plays for the Browns in 2020.

Not sure I buy that, but we'll see.

not a fan of that

 

[CBBI]

Head Coach: Kevin Stefanski

Offensive Coordinator: Alex Van Pelt
Quarterbacks: TBD
Run Game Coordinator/Running Backs: Stump Mitchell
Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers: Chad O'Shea
Tight Ends: Drew Petzing
Offensive Line: Bill Callahan

Defensive Coordinator: Joe Woods
Defensive Line: TBD
Linebackers: TBD
Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs: Jeff Howard

Special Teams Coordinator: Mike Priefer
Assistant Special Teams: Doug Colman

 

[shoes22]

That's fantastic information that this football fan never even thought (or read) about. It will be interesting to see how Baker reacts to stuff like this. I suspect he can be a little, um, set in his ways. Hopefully he's open and learns because I think in the right system and with the right coaching he can be a top 5ish QB.

Yeah I would not be surprised if Baker is...more than hesitant to try these kind of changes. This is a guy that completely brushed off working with any kind of QB coach in the offseason.

 

[CBBI]

Ben McAdoo, who interviewed for a role with the Browns last week, and Alex Van Pelt were both on the Packers staff together in 2012 and 2013.

McAdoo coached quarterbacks and Van Pelt coached running backs.

Then when McAdoo left to go to the Giants, Van Pelt took his spot as QB coach.

 

[daddywags]

Face for Radio Ruiter suggests that Van Pelt will, in fact, be calling plays for the Browns in 2020.

Not sure I buy that, but we'll see.

I hope that's true. Enough on Stefanski's plate without play calling. Would also show a degree of humility. But I want to hear it from Kevin before I believe it.

 

[CBBI]

I hope that's true. Enough on Stefanski's plate without play calling. Would also show a degree of humility. But I want to hear it from Kevin before I believe it.

To be honest, I really don’t care at all if Stefanski calls plays or not. More often than not, an offensive minded assistant’s play calling ability was at least a piece of what made them an attractive head coaching candidate in the first place.

Of the 17 other coaches (not counting Stefanski) that came from an offensive background, only three - Doug Marrone, Anthony Lynn and Bruce Arians - didn’t call their own plays last year. The other 14 all did.

Just because Freddie Kitchens failed at it doesn’t means all new coaches should avoid doing it.

If Stefanski is a better play caller than Van Pelt, then he should be calling the plays.

 

[Snowblind]

He sounds like a better qb coach than oc. Feel like this came out of nowhere, but we'll see how it goes.

 

[Randolphkeys]

He sounds like a better qb coach than oc. Feel like this came out of nowhere, but we'll see how it goes.

Best thing I can say about Van Pelt is that he is a play action enthusiast who designed well timed breaks on routes after the play action, regularly getting Buffalo receivers open. We know he is a strong quarterback coach who stresses the short passing game and utilizing his running backs.

The problem would be that he is an enigma who hasn't revealed what he wants to do as a playcaller as the league has modernized. We have a big leap of faith to deal with here, but Callahan - the most important coach for our running game - is a believer.