JIMMY'S TAKE: Jim Donovan on the Cleveland Browns firing OC Alex Van Pelt, 2 other assistants

Jim Donovan gives his thoughts on the Cleveland Browns firing offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, running backs coach Stump Mitchell, and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney.

Let's start at the top with Van Pelt, the offensive coordinator by title. Remember, Kevin Stefanski calls his own plays and really was the architect of the offense, but Van Pelt's been here since Kevin got the job. He's a great guy and a quarterback in his day when he played in the NFL, and one wonders now where he will be able to go.

You look at these last four years, and I think teams that would interview him would say, "Yeah, but you didn't call plays in Cleveland." That might be a little bit of a deterring factor for him, but he did a very, very good job here, specifically working with the quarterbacks.

With Mitchell, I do know this for a fact: Those running backs love him. Nick Chubb loves Stump Mitchell, Kareem Hunt really had a great relationship with him, and the young running backs always just lived on what he said. He's been with the team since 2019, when Freddie Kitchens was still the head coach.

McCartney has also been here for Stefanski's entire tenure. His position group, if you only look at David Njoku, had an amazing year. I mean, we've been waiting for David Njoku to have the kind of year that he had this season. You would have to think that McCartney was part of the reason for that.

However, Jordan Akins was also a bit of a disappointment coming over from Houston (that was a Deshaun Watson signing). And of course, Harrison Bryant continues to be the No. 2 tight end here, but tallied just 81 receiving yards this season.

Now, what is going on here? Jim Donovan explains: https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/l... --

At 3News, we’re not here to tell you the news, we’re here to share the stories that you say matter most to you. Share your ideas, thoughts, concerns and engage in conversations about the communities in which we all call home.

Follow 3News on Social:

Facebook:   /     
Twitter:   / wkyc    
Instagram:   /     

Visit our site: https://www.wkyc.com/
And be sure to download our app here: https://wkyc.com/app