CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns hired former Miami offensive coordinator Mark Whipple as their quarterbacks coach on Monday.

Whipple spent the past two seasons with the Hurricanes, but was fired when the school dismissed Randy Shannon before the end of last season. Earlier this month, Whipple nearly received Connecticut’s top job, which went to former Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni instead.

The Browns made a formal announcement about Whipple on Monday night. They also announced the additions of Dwaine Board (defensive line), Bill Davis (linebackers), and Mike Wilson (wide receivers) to the staff.

Before Miami, Whipple was an offensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008. He also spent three seasons (2004-06) as quarterbacks coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It’s still not known if new Browns coach Pat Shurmur intends to hire an offensive coordinator. At his introductory news conference, Shurmur, St. Louis’ offensive coordinator the past two seasons, said he plans to call plays next season.

Published: Monday, January 31, 2011, 6:23 PM     Updated: Monday, January 31, 2011, 6:43 PM

BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns announced this evening the hiring of  four assistant coaches.

Dwaine Board was named defensive line coach, Bill Davis is the new linebackers coaches, Mark Whipple is the quarterbacks coach, and Mike Wilson is the wide receivers coach, according to the team release.

The Plain Dealer had reported the hirings earlier in the day.

Board was defensive line coach for Oakland in 2009 after six seasons at Seattle, where he worked for Browns President Mike Holmgren. He spent most of his 10-year playing career with San Francisco.

Davis was the Browns defensive quality control coach in 1999 and spent the past four seasons as linebackers coach, then defensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals. He is a Youngstown native and son of former Browns director of player personnel Bill Davis.

Whipple spent the 2009-10 seasons as the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at the University of Miami. He was an offensive assistant with Philadelphia in 2008 and was quarterbacks coach of the Steelers for three seasons.

Wilson spent the 2009-10 seasons as the wide receivers coach of the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL. Before that he was tight ends and receivers coach for the Cardinals.

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Browns hired former Miami offensive coordinator Mark Whipple as their quarterbacks coach on Monday.

Whipple spent the past two seasons with the Hurricanes, but was fired when the school dismissed Randy Shannon before the end of last season. Earlier this month, Whipple nearly received Connecticut’s top job, which went to former Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni instead.

The Browns made a formal announcement about Whipple on Monday night. They also announced the additions of Dwaine Board (defensive line), Bill Davis (linebackers), and Mike Wilson (wide receivers) to the staff.

Before Miami, Whipple was an offensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008. He also spent three seasons (2004-06) as quarterbacks coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It’s still not known if new Browns coach Pat Shurmur intends to hire an offensive coordinator. At his introductory news conference, Shurmur, St. Louis’ offensive coordinator the past two seasons, said he plans to call plays next season.

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Browns are expected to hire former Miami offensive coordinator Mark Whipple as their quarterbacks coach.

Whipple spent the past two seasons with the Hurricanes, but was fired when the school dismissed Randy Shannon before the end of last season. Whipple was recently close to getting Connecticut’s top job, which went to former Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni instead.

The Browns could make a formal announcement about Whipple later Monday. His cell phone could not accept any more messages.

It’s still not known if new Browns coach Pat Shurmur intends to hire an offensive coordinator. At his introductory news conference, Shurmur, St. Louis’ offensive coordinator the past two seasons, said he plans to call plays next season.

Published: Monday, January 31, 2011, 4:00 PM     Updated: Monday, January 31, 2011, 4:02 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio — When the Cleveland Browns lost their excellent punter, Dave Zastudil, to a torn patella (knee) tendon during the 2009 season, it was generally assumed that there would be a downgrade at the position with replacement Reggie Hodges.

There’s no sense to compare the two punters. Hodges made a reputation for himself this past season with his strong performance.

Matt Florjancic continues his position reviews for clevelandbrowns.com. Part of what he writes about Hodges: 

Browns punter Reggie Hodges had 15 punts downed inside the opponent’s 10-yard line. He finished third in the NFL in that category, trailing only Steve Weatherford of the New York Jets (20) and Sam Koch from the Baltimore Ravens (17).

Hodges launched 78 punts for 3,424 yards, pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line 29 times and averaged 43.9 yards-per-punt, all of which were career highs.

Plain Dealer and cleveland.com Browns coverage includes Mary Kay Cabot’s story that the Browns have hired Mark Whipple as their quarterback coach and Bill Davis as the linebacker coach; on Starting Blocks TV, PD reporter Dennis Manoloff’s opinion on whether the Browns should pursue quarterback Kevin Kolb; a Starting Blocks poll on whether the Browns should offer Kolb a contract; video of Browns center Alex Mack scoring a rather unique touchdown in Sunday’s Pro Bowl.

 

DL draft depth

One of the Browns’ most urgent needs is to improve their defensive line play, especially considering that they will likely switch from their familiar 3-4 defense to a 4-3 with new defensive coordinator Dick Jauron.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated’s SI.com interviews NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock and asks him about the quality of defensive ends that will be available in April’s draft.

Mayock replies that the defensive linemen, in general, from a strong group:   

It’s a pass-first league now, and anyone who can get pressure on a quarterback is highly coveted. [Defensive end] Da’Quan Bowers is one of those guys who jumps off the tape when you watch him. Incredible explosion and strength, he plays hard and you don’t have to worry about him off the field from what I know so far. Forget team needs and who is picking in the first five; I don’t think Da’Quan Bowers gets out of the top five.

To me, Von Miller of Texas A&M is one of the most gifted pass rushers in this draft, though most of the teams look at him as a 3-4 rush linebacker, so he is not listed as a defensive end. You have Robert Quinn, and that’s a kid where you have to take other considerations into play: How good a football player is he after he missed a year [because of suspension]? You have to go back to the tapes in ’09.

Mayock says that for now, he ranks Quinn in the top five, but to learn more about him, “you have to do the homework with the coaches at North Carolina.”

Browns stuff

Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets what another Pro Bowl selection means to Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas.

Alex Mack’s Pro Bowl TD, by Matt Florjancic on clevelandbrowns.com.

Opinion about the NFL draft, by Dave Kolonich on Scout.com’s Orange and Brown Report.

Some players who could boost their draft hopes at the NFLPA Bowl, by Wes Bunting for the National Football Post.