Pep Hamilton: Cleveland Browns need a specific quarterback plan
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns need to develop a real plan to help a quarterback succeed, according to associate head coach of offense Pep Hamilton.
Cleveland Browns associate head coach of offense Pep Hamilton met with the media for the first time on Thursday to discuss the direction he wants to take the Browns offense.
Hamilton comes to the Browns with considerable experience working with quarterbacks after spending the past four years working with Andrew Luck – first as offensive coordinator at Stanford during Luck’s senior year and then for two-and-a-half seasons as offensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts.
It’s no surprise, then, that Hamilton will focus on helping the Browns find and develop the latest in a long line of quarterbacks that the teams hope will finally be the answer.
“I think that’s always been the case with every franchise that I’ve been a part of,” Hamilton said of the evaluation process. “You have an opportunity to evaluate guys and then share your opinion, but ultimately, it’s not my decision to make. It’s my job to help whoever we decide to make our quarterback transition into a winning quarterback.
“If we draft a quarterback, you have to have a plan that’s specific for that quarterback.” – Pep Hamilton
“You kind of have an idea of what to expect from a young quarterback early in his career in the National Football League. (But) I do feel like every quarterback is different. The plan for that kid, for whoever it is we have at quarterback, be it a veteran quarterback or a young quarterback if we draft a quarterback, you have to have a plan that’s specific for that quarterback.”
The Browns, along with the league’s other quarterback-hungry teams, will be looking primarily at Cal’s Jared Goff, Memphis’ Paxton Lynch and North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz to determine if they are the answer.
That process will continue next week at the NFL Scouting Combine, where Hamilton said the team will be looking for particular traits.
“Accuracy, is he a winner and of course, leadership qualities are really important to head coach Hue Jackson and myself,” Hamilton said. “I haven’t watched enough to have a strong opinion about any of those guys. I had a chance to recruit Jared while I was at Stanford, and I’m not surprised at all that he’s one of the best quarterbacks in college football.”
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While the Browns are expected to add a quarterback in the 2016 NFL Draft – most likely with the No. 2 overall selection, but possibly with a later pick – Hamilton is also encouraged by what he has to work with from the returning quarterbacks.
“I think that, starting with (Josh) McCown, I’s always loved having a veteran guy in the room that has full credibility in the locker room,” Hamilton said. “You don’t survive for as long as he has in this league without having the skillset, first and foremost, and then having a work ethic and a character that ultimately would cause coaches and executives to feel comfortable enough to put the keys in your hands, in a sense. I feel good about Austin (Davis). I feel good about all the guys that we have on the roster currently, and I’m excited to work with those guys.”
Hamilton brings considerable experience working with quarterbacks as, in addition to Luck, he’s worked with Jay Cutler as quarterbacks coach with the Chicago Bears and with Alex Smith as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach with the San Francisco 49ers. The varied experience should serve him well on a club that has been searching for a franchise quarterback since 1993.
If the draft goes as expected for the Browns, the team will need every bit of Hamilton’s quarterback acumen if they are finally going to break the cycle of quarterback mistakes.