Browns Hiring Veteran Bill Musgrave as Senior Offensive Assistant, Van Pelt to Coach QBs
The Cleveland Browns are hiring Bull Musgrave as an offensive assistant coach according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, Alex Van Pelt will once again be the quarterbacks coach in addition to offensive coordinator. Van Pelt was the quarterbacks coach in 2020 and 2021 for the Browns. Musgrave will carry the title of Senior Offensive Assistant and likely take over some of the responsibilities Van Pelt had previously, so he can focus on the quarterback position.
Musgrave has crossed paths with Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski in the past. Stefanski was part of Musgrave's offensive staff with the Minnesota Vikings when he was the team's offensive coordinator.
Musgrave has extensive experience both coaching quarterbacks as well as coordinating offenses. He has spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the University of Cal, but Musgrave has 12 years of NFL experience as a coordinator and 12 years as a quarterbacks coach.
In a recent interview, Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson didn't seem concerned with who would be named to the position of quarterbacks coach. He noted he trusted both Stefanski and Van Pelt, hoping to get someone who could be a good teacher. So rather than bring someone else in, the Browns opted to simply allow him to continue working with Van Pelt.
It's been a decade since Musgrave and Stefanski have been on the same staff, so while Musgrave is familiar with the Shanahan/Kubiak tree, there will be a small bit of acclimation to the version that Stefanski runs.
With the Musgrave and transition of Van Pelt, the Browns have all of the main offensive positions on the staff filled. Five of their offensive assistants have held the title of offensive coordinator at some point in their career, including Stefanski, Van Pelt, Musgrave, Chad O'Shea and Bill Callahan.
