Browns hire new O-line coach

Cleveland reaches into the college ranks to hire former Rice HC Mike Bloomgren.

The Cleveland Browns wasted little time in filling the offensive line coaching vacancy.

Just days after moving on from Andy Dickerson after just one season, Cleveland hired former Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren as offensive line coach.

Bloomgren spent the past seven seasons at Rice, leading the Owls to consecutive bowl appearances – the LendingTree Bowl in 2022 and the First Responder Bowl in 2023, just the fourth time in school history that the football program pulled that off. He was let go by Rice last October after a 2-6 start to the 2024 season.

His experience made him an attractive candidate for the Browns, according to head coach Kevin Stefanski:

“Mike has a wealth of knowledge and is extremely bright. In addition to his NFL experience, he has worked in a number of pro-style offenses on the college level. He has proven to be successful as a teacher and motivator, which will be vital for our offensive line room. We are excited to add Mike to our coaching staff.”

While the bulk of his coaching career has been at the collegiate level, he began as a graduate assistant at the University of Alabama in 1999 and had stops at Catawba College, Delta State, and Stanford along the way, this will not be Bloomgren’s first taste of coaching at the NFL level.

He spent four seasons with the New York Jets beginning in 2007, first as an offensive quality control coach for two years under Brian Schottenheimer and Bill Callahan. When the Jets hired Rex Ryan as head coach in 2009, Bloomgren served as an offensive assistant that season and then moved to assistant offensive coordinator in 2010, a season that saw the Jets finish 11-5 and advance to their second consecutive AFC Championship Game appearance.

Bloomgren is walking into a situation that saw the offensive line struggle in 2024 with injuries to tackles Dawand Jones, Jedrick Wills Jr., and Jack Conklin, as well as guard Wyatt Teller, and an aging but talented group that did not perform up to its usual standards under Dickerson.

The challenge of helping a talented group regain its status among the league’s best is one that Bloomgren said he is ready to embrace:

“From the Haslams to the alignment with Andrew (Berry) and Kevin, I think it’s an exciting time to be here. The commitment that they all have to making this place great, and making another playoff run, is everything I want to be a part of. I think as a coach, we exist for the players and that’s always going to be the case. I also think it’s our job to give them clear direction of how to do things. I think there are some really good pieces, and we have to see exactly how they can fit and see exactly how this offense gets formed, but I am excited about the potential with that group.”

Now that the offensive line coach position has been filled, Stefanski will continue to focus on the vacant offensive coordinator position.