Two decades into his coaching career, coming off a great year, Darrin Chiaverini treasures his memories from the year the Browns came back.
Chiaverini still hears from Browns fans who remember a catchy style that made him more than just another fifth-round wide receiver.
He still messages his old quarterback, Tim Couch.
He’s super busy out in Ozark Mountain country, shaping a Northeastern State RiverHawks program that was putting up 1-10s and 0-11s before he arrived as head coach in 2024. His 2025 team went 9-3.
Does he even care about what the Browns are doing in 2026?
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“Yeah, I definitely do,” Chiaverini said in an interview last week. “It’s funny. I haven’t played in Cleveland in 20-some years, and I still get fan mail from Cleveland Browns fans.
“I’m rooting for the Browns. Shedeur Sanders is a fellow Buff. He was actually drafted at about the same spot I was.”
Chiaverini came out of Colorado as a 6-foot-2 possession receiver. He was the 148th pick in the 1999 draft, which marked the return of the Browns as an expansion team. Couch was the No. 1 overall pick.
The Browns landed Sanders with the 144th pick of the 2025 draft. He is a reason the Browns do not seem anxious about spending a high pick on a quarterback in this week’s draft.
Sanders’ jersey No. 2 was retired during Colorado’s spring game on April 11. After wearing No. 12 as a 2025 Browns rookie, he is back in No. 2 this year, which was Couch’s number at Kentucky and in Cleveland.
Does Chiaverini think Sanders has a chance to become a strong “QB1” with the Browns?
“I really do,” Chiaverini said. “I watched him live when he was at Colorado, and I think the guy has some natural quarterback tendencies that show up in winning football. By that I mean he’s very accurate. He’s a good decision maker. He understands how to get the ball out of his hands on time.
“For him to have a lot of success in Cleveland, you’ve got to surround him with really good players. You’ve got to a build a run game, which is the quarterback’s best friend because it sets up play action.
“I don’t know how the Browns feel about him. They have a new head coach. Todd Monken is going to have his druthers on what he wants to do, but I’m rooting for Shedeur. I do think he’s a good player.”
Chiaverini has made seven stops as a college coach, the longest of them at Colorado, where he worked under head coaches Mike MacIntyre, Mel Tucker and Karl Dorrell. He left for UCLA a year before the Buffaloes hired Deion Sanders, Shedeur’s dad, to be head coach in 2023.
Northeastern State, an NCAA Division II program in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, hired Chiaverini as head coach in 2024. The team went 1-10 the previous two seasons; his first year came in at 2-9. His second year, a 9-3 finish in which the RiverHawks averaged more than 40 points a game, turned heads.
Our purpose in contacting Chiaverini was catching up with a variety of ex-Browns as the franchise marks its 80 birthday.
The Browns kicked off in 1946 and played in Cleveland through 1995, when the team moved to Baltimore. Chiaverini was drafted the year the Browns returned as an expansion team.
He shared colorful memories of 1999.
“There was so much excitement about the Browns being back,” he said. “Them leaving so abruptly for Baltimore left such a bitter taste in people’s mouths.”
He was stoked about joining a Browns team whose general manager was 49ers legend Dwight Clark.
“Dwight was awesome,” Chiaverini said. “It was sad that he got sick and passed away several years ago.
“I’m from California, and I knew all about Dwight playing for the 49ers. He was the one who called me on draft day. He got me on the phone with Coach Palmer and Carmen Policy. I remember when Dwight made ‘The Catch’ to beat the Cowboys. That one was famous around the world.”
“I remember running onto the field for the 1999 Hall of Fame Game in Canton. People were just ecstatic. There we were in the birthplace of the NFL. What an experience for a 21-year-old rookie.”
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Reality set in with a blowout loss to Pittsburgh in the opener. The ’99 Browns eventually fell to 0-7.
“Building an expansion team from scratch was really hard,” Chiaverini said. “There were some really cool moments. We won at New Orleans on a Hail Mary from Tim to Kevin Johnson.
“We beat Pittsburgh, at Pittsburgh. We were down by two, late. I remember catching a pass from Tim. We got those 23 yards and 15 more because Tim took a late hit (from Mike Vrabel).
“We were in a lot of close games at the end. We just didn’t win a ton. I thought for being the first year back in Cleveland and having a rookie quarterback … Kevin was a rookie. I was a rookie. We were young overall.”
One close game was against a 12-1 Jacksonville team. Couch left with an injury and was replaced by veteran Ty Detmer. Chiaverini’s 10-yard touchdown catch allowed the Browns to trail just 17-14 in the fourth quarter.
He wound up with 10 catches that day, a Browns rookie record.
“I was in a zone,” he said. “It felt like everything Ty threw to me, I was catching.”
Johnson led the 1999 Browns with 66 catches. Chiaverini was the No. 2 wideout with 44.
The 2000 Browns got off to a 2-1 start. Chiaverini caught five passes in a 23-20 home win over the Steelers. He caught a touchdown pass the following week at Oakland. Couch missed the last nine games with an injury. Head coach Chris Palmer was fired at the end of a 3-13 year, replaced by Butch Davis.
“That was tough for all of us,” Chiaverini said. “I really feel we had a chance to continue to build that organization with young draft picks and do it the right way. We probably got to a point we didn’t make much progress in the win-loss column, and they decided to make a change.
“Coach Davis comes in wanting to bring in his ideas, his coaches and his players. He’s going to do free agency the way he thinks best, which he should. That’s his opportunity. But for guys like me and other players on the roster, it’s tough because they’re going to want to move on from us.
“I was having a good 2001 preseason when I was traded to the Cowboys after the third preseason game.”
Chiaverini saw a last day in the sun for the 2001 Cowboys when they faced an 11-3 San Francisco team. His touchdown catch put them ahead to stay in an upset win. After the Cowboys cut him the following spring, he got in several 2002 games as a Falcons backup.
He resurfaced in the Arena football League with the Austin Wranglers. He made 114 catches in 2005. One game was against the Columbus Destroyers, coached by former Massillon and Ohio State star Chris Spielman, who was the veteran face of the 1999 Browns before his career ended with a preseason neck injury.
“I still remember the play in practice where Chris got injured,” Chiaverini said. “He was running downhill and the fullback, Tarek Saleh, was carrying the ball downhill. It was one of the loudest collisions I ever heard, as a player or a coach. You could tell something was wrong.
“Chris was a stoic guy. He had this look to him just walking around the cafeteria. I don’t think he said five words to me in 1999. It was cool that he came up to me at the end of the Arena game to say hello.”
Couch was drafted with the hope he would grow with a team that became a consistent winner. He lasted five seasons in Cleveland before spending time in Green Bay’s 2004 camp. By then his body was shot.
“Tim was a tough, tough player, man,” Chiaverini said. “He had leadership qualities. He was a fiery competitor. I was bummed I didn’t get to play with him longer.
“I think if they could have continued to build around him and give him the pieces he needed to stay healthy, he could have done well.”
Chiaverini will turn 49 in October. His working life, for a long time, has been coaching football. He gets a kick out of working with his son, Curtis, who coaches Northeastern State’s quarterbacks.
“My coaching journey has taken me all over the United States, just like my playing career did,” he said. “It’s been a fun ride.
“I see things from a coach’s perspective now. As a player you sometimes don’t understand what the coaches are trying to accomplish.
“You’ll never recapture that feeling of being a player, but coaching is the next best thing. It’s very gratifying to help these young kids be the best version of themselves.”
He never stopped following the Browns.
“They have a big place in my family’s heart,” he said. “I’m hoping they can get it turned around.
“They were close when Tim got them to the 2002 playoffs, and then again when Baker (Mayfield) got them to the playoffs not long ago.
“They haven’t been able to get over the hump. I’m hoping they can get there at some point.”
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Why ex-Brown Chiaverini thinks Shedeur Sanders could be a draft hit
Reporting by Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository / The Repository
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