Browns favorite for running backs coach emerges, but it won’t be easy to land him

Cleveland Browns looking to fill running back coach position, competition with New York Jets

Not long after losing in the postseason, the Cleveland Browns decided to make some major changes to their coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, running backs coach Stump Mitchell, and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney were all let go.

Less than a week later, the Browns are already trying to land one replacement, although it’s not the OC vacancy they’re looking to fill first. Instead, they have their eyes set on Duce Staley as a potential running back coach. The only problem is that they’re not the only team interested.

Browns have competition for new RB coach

According to Mary Kay Cabot, the Browns are ready to make an offer to Staley but the New York Jets are doing the same. Staley already interviewed with the Browns and if they were to land him, he would be taking over a ground game that finished 12th in the NFL — which isn’t bad considering they lost Nick Chubb in Week 2.

However, they were struggling significantly down the stretch which led to the offense leaning heavily on Joe Flacco. That led to Flacco throwing for a ton of yards but he also wound up with far too many interceptions as well.

Staley, who was a star at South Carolina in the 1990s, was selected in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He spent seven years playing for the Philadelphia Eagles where he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark three times. He finished his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, spending just over two years with them.

Since retiring, he’s coached for the Eagles from 2011-2020, the Detroit Lions from 2021 through 2022, and then the Carolina Panthers in 2023. At each stop, he served as a running backs coach while also holding the assistant head coach title as well. Cleveland already has Bubba Ventrone serving as the assistant head coach in addition to his role as the special teams coach, meaning they can’t offer that title to Staley.