CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It didn't take long for the Browns to replace Mike Priefer.
Raymond “Bubba” Ventrone is returning to Cleveland. This time as assistant head coach and special teams coordinator a league source confirmed to 92.3 The Fan.
An official announcement from the team is expected soon.
Ventrone played for the Browns from 2009-2012 where he was a special teams standout and in retirement has established himself as one of the best special teams coordinators in the game with the Indianapolis Colts.
The assistant head coach title means that Ventrone would be called upon to fill in for Stefanski if needed, much like Priefer did during the Browns 48-37 Wild Card win at Pittsburgh in January 2021.
League rules required the Browns to interview at least one minority candidate so on Wednesday they interviewed two of them – Jets assistant special teams coach Leon Washington and Giants assistant special teams coach Anthony Blevins, but Ventrone appeared to be their top target since Tuesday.
Ventrone spent the last five years with the Colts after entering the coaching ranks with the Patriots as an assistant special teams coach in 2017 and he was a member of their Super Bowl LI championship team.
Ventrone, whose Colts unit ranked in the top-10 in four of the past five seasons, will be tasked with turning around the Browns special teams unit, which struggled the last few years under Priefer.
The Browns averaged a league-worst 12.3 yards allowed per punt return in 2022 and ranked 18th overall according to NFL writer Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings.
Cleveland used four punt returners and averaged a combined 9.6 yards per return and five kickoff returners that combined to average 23.0 yards per return this past season.
Rookie kicker Cade York, selected in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, made 24 of 32 field goal attempts and 35 of 37 PAT tries.
The Colts led the NFL with 27.8 yards per kickoff return and they averaged 8.5 yards per punt return this past season while their opponents averaged 23 yards on kickoff returns and 7.4 yards on punt returns under Ventrone.




