The Browns brought in a new head coach this offseason and turned over much of their coaching staff after the switch from Freddie Kitchens to Kevin Stefanski, but one of the team’s coordinators will be back.
Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said on Wednesday that he heard about opportunities to potentially pursue other jobs, but “wanted to be a part of this franchise” for a second season. The Browns obviously wanted him as well, but Priefer doesn’t think that’s because his units did an impeccable job.
Priefer said he wants to see improvement from kicker Austin Seibert and punter Jamie Gillan as they move into their second NFL seasons. He wants them to know that there are players “on the street that are willing to do whatever it takes to get on an NFL team” and that continued inconsistency will lead the Browns to consider making changes.
“They did so many good things, there’s a reason why they made our football team, there’s a reason why they won those jobs, but if you’re not going to be more consistent, then we have to start making our list and looking elsewhere,” Priefer said, via Cleveland.com.
Seibert was 25-of-29 on field goals and 30-of-35 on extra points in 2019. Gillan had a net average of 41.6 yards per punt in his first NFL campaign.