John DeFilippo Hired as Browns New Offensive Coordinator

The Cleveland Browns have found their offensive coordinator and it is the guy many expected all along: John DeFilippo. Lane Adkins, @LaneAdkins, reported that it was in the works last night and today it was confirmed by Alex Marvez:

The 36 year old Youngstown native was the quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders last season and developed rookie Derek Carr very well. Coach Flip, as he is know, was interviewed for the same position with the Browns last year before Kyle Shanahan was hired by the front office, not coach Mike Pettine.

This search was Mike Pettine’s search. The front office was involved but it was clear that Flip was the candidate that would have to be beat out. The Browns interviewed an interesting group of characters and when it was all said and done DeFilippo still stood out over the Mike Martz, Al Saunders, Marc Trestman and others.

Here is a little background information on Coach Flip from Mary Kay Cabot’s piece last year when the Browns were interviewing him:

"“Don’t let his age (35) fool you,” Knapp told cleveland.com at the Super Bowl media availability Wednesday. “He’s like Adam Gase. He’s got great knowledge and a great future ahead of him.”"

This was at a time when Gase was considered THE next up and comer so comparing anyone to him last year was a huge compliment.

"“He did a great job last year developing Terrelle Pryor during the offseason and he spent a lot of extra time talking to him about mechanics, on the field and in the classroom with him,” said Knapp. “John has that work ethic that you want as a coach in the NFL, and certainly as a play caller.”"

Browns fans, need to hear anything else after learning that Flip was a big reason that Terrelle Pryor was actually successful in NFL for a short time? If he can make Pryor into a respectable quarterback, a QB who had close to zero appropriate throwing mechanics, imagine what he could do with a real QB. (No comment on whether Johnny Manziel is or isn’t that guy.)

"“The quarterbacks really like John,” said Knapp. “He’s very personable, and it’s important to him that he has a relationship with the players, not just as a coach but a person-to-person relationship.”"

What a polar opposite description than what we know about Kyle Shanahan. We looked at Shanny’s troubled past a few weeks ago (New Window).

Fans should also feel confidence in this hire as he was able to be successful with a running oriented, limited passer in Pryor, was successful with Carson Palmer, a statue in the pocket, and last year helped immensely with a rookie QB with a little bit of both.

We will have more as the Browns likely fill their offensive staff quickly. It is possible that Al Saunders takes on a Senior Assistant role as well as possibly Anthony Lynn coming in to coach running backs and assist Pettine as we talked about yesterday.

What do you think about the Browns hiring John DeFilippo today as OC?

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