The Cleveland Browns made two strategic moves this offseason, along with all of their player acquisitions. These two acquisitions happened on their coaching staff as they added two former players to their staff during this pivotal offseason.
On the offensive side of the football, they added former running back Demetric Felton, who played for Cleveland in 2021 and 2022 before bouncing around to a couple more stops. The other addition was former NFL linebacker LaRoy Reynolds.
Unlike Felton, Reynolds put together a very long career. He played in the league for nine years across seven different teams. Felton registered just two seasons in Cleveland but bounced around to a couple of different franchises.
Felton finished his career as more of a receiver than a running back. He had 20 career catches for 189 yards and two career touchdowns. On the ground, he had just eight carries for 20 yards. Modest numbers, but he found paydirt a couple of times.
In Reynolds’ nine seasons, he played in 116 total games and registered 118 total tackles. He tallied 3.0 tackles for loss but was an altogether very solid player in the NFL.
Browns complete coaching staff overhaul
Now, both of those players have taken their talents to the coaching ranks with the Cleveland Browns. Their official job titles have yet to be announced, so for now, they are just former player assistants. Both of these guys are very welcome additions to a young and inexperienced coaching staff.
New head coach Todd Monken had to get off on the right foot with both his players and the fanbase in Cleveland. He needed to show his players that he means business and the fanbase as well. To do that, he brought in two former high-quality players who are also used to being Cleveland Browns players.
These coaches are a part of the Browns’ 120 process that their owner, Jimmy Haslam, put them on five months ago when they moved on from Kevin Stefanski. He challenged the organization to nail the hire, nail free agency, nail the staff, and then nail the draft.
After getting Todd Monken to become the head coach, the Browns approached free agency in a very efficient way. They were strategic in addressing needs in a financially responsible way before taking a couple of shots at some big talent on their offensive line.
Then, they went into the draft, and if it was just on paper, they wont the thing outright, and it wasn’t even close. They grabbed four top-50 players and did it by giving up a couple of late-round picks.
The last piece of the puzzle was the staff, and Monken nailed it for all intents and purposes. All four of those boxes are checked, and the cherry on top was adding two former players on staff.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns add two former NFL players to their coaching staff
Reporting by Anthony Moeglin, Browns Wire / Browns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
