Browns make Ventrone hire official, Stefanski comments

Bubba Ventrone takes on two roles with the Cleveland Browns

It is official for the Cleveland Browns, Bubba Ventrone is their newest special teams coordinator and assistant head coach. The Browns fired Mike Priefer earlier this week and quickly it seemed tied to the possibility that Ventrone was available to move on from with the Indianapolis Colts.

Cleveland interviewed three candidates for the position but Ventrone, the former Browns special teams ace, was considered the front-runner from the start. Ventrone’s Colts units were among the best in the league and he was in consideration for the head coaching job with Indianapolis.

Thursday reports came out that the team had decided on Ventronte but that did not become official until Friday morning. HC Kevin Stefanski’s statement shows how excited he is for Bubba to be back in town:

“We are thrilled to add Bubba to our coaching staff,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “He brings a proven track record as both a player and coach in this league. As a player, he built a reputation as a top special teamer during his 10-year career. He used that experience to make a successful transition to the sidelines, where his units have routinely performed at a high level. He has an infectious passion for the game and we are excited to have him leading our special teams unit.”

With the hiring of Ventrone and Jim Schwartz, Cleveland has added two well-respected coordinators to help fix parts of the team that were problems last season. While Ventrone and Schwartz do not guarantee anything on the field, they are steady, proven coaches instead of two that struggled the last couple of seasons.