Following their 45-14 loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round, changes are coming to the Cleveland Browns’ coaching staff.
What exactly those changes will be, however, depends on who you listen to.
At 6 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson reported that Browns had fired offensive coordinator Alex Vane Pelt, running backs coach Stump Mitchell and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney. In a subsequent post, Anderson noted that the coaching staff changes stemmed from Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski wanting “to change course.”
Breaking Cont: I’m told #Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told coaches Alex Van Pelt, Stump Mitchell & T.C. McCartney the news that they were relieved of their duties on Tuesday actually. Stefanski noted we wants to change course, per source.
Van Pelt was the OC two out of the… https://t.co/Cw26O9hgHp
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) January 17, 2024
Roughly an hour after Anderson’s initial report, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (who will soon become a free agent) weighed in, confirming that Mitchell had been fired and that McCartney won’t be retained. As for Van Pelt, Rapoport seemed to have differing information, as he stated that the offensive coordinator remained under contract in Cleveland and that no determination had been made on his future.
The #Browns are going through the offensive staff role evaluation process, source said. RB coach Stump Mitchell has been fired, as @JosinaAnderson reported. TE coach TC McCartney will not be retained. OC Alex Van Pelt remains under contract, with no other final decisions made.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 17, 2024
Responding to the discrepancy in Rapoport’s report, Anderson doubled down on Van Pelt having been let go by the Browns.
“I’m told Alex Van Pelt informed some of members of the team yesterday he was let go Tuesday afternoon upon hearing this specific news & received messages of condolences to that end, along with Mitchell and McCartney per source,” she wrote, before later adding that such discussions were ongoing as of 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
I’m told Alex Van Pelt informed some of members of the team yesterday he was let go Tuesday afternoon upon hearing this specific news & received messages of condolences to that end, along with Mitchell and McCartney per source. https://t.co/rWdOOZAPi9
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) January 17, 2024
I’m also told many of these discussions happening between team members over notifications of these offensive changes were occurring as late as 9pm EST Tuesday evening, per source. #Browns https://t.co/2xDTXvKcKa
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) January 17, 2024
Roughly around the same time that Rapoport reported that Van Pelt remained under contract with the Browns, multiple beat reporters in Cleveland, including Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot and WEWS’ Camryn Justice, posted similar reports.
#Browns are going through the offensive staff role eval process. RB Coach Stump Mitchell has been fired as @JosinaAnderson reports. TE coach TC McCartney will not be retained. Alex Van Pelt remains under contract. No other final decisions have been made about the offensive…
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) January 17, 2024
Alex Van Pelt remains under contract and no other final decisions apart from Mitchell and McCartney have been made at this time.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) January 17, 2024
At this point, everyone seems to be in agreement that both Mitchell and McCartney have been let go. It’s curious, however, that Anderson is reporting that Van Pelt has already been fired, while other reporters — both nationally and locally — say otherwise.
But while Rapoport and the Browns’ beat have insisted that Van Pelt has yet to be fired, it’s worth noting that none of them have reported that he will, in fact, return as Cleveland’s offensive coordinator. It will be interesting to see what changes are ultimately made to the Browns’ staff and how they reflect the current reporting regarding the situation.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.