Rob Chudzinski was born in Ohio and grew up a Cleveland Browns fan. So it was easy to say yes when Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner asked Chudzinski to be the team's new head over dinner this week.
Rob Chudzinski lands ‘dream job’ with Cleveland Browns
The Ohio-born coach is ready to get started with the Browns.
Jeremy Brevard-US PRESSWIRE
“The tradition of this franchise is such that the people here want a winner,” Chudzinski said during his introductory press conference Friday. “I would not miss this for the world to bring a winner back to Cleveland.”
Chudzinski takes over for Pat Shurmur, who was fired after two seasons on Dec. 31. Shurmur was 9-23 overall with the Browns and finished fourth in the AFC North both seasons.
Chudzinski joins the Browns after being the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers the last two years. He was in Cleveland twice before, as the tight ends coach in 2004 and the offensive coordinator in 2007 and 2008, as well as in San Diego.
The first order of business, Chudzinski said, is to get a coaching staff together. He will meet with the current coaching staff and decide whether or not any of the coaches will join his staff.
Chudzinski, 44, declined to comment on specific players. He said he wouldn’t do that until he had time to review more tape and talk to the team.
“There are some pieces here and some parts here that we can build on,” he said. “It’s going to be a process with the people that we’re putting in place.
“I promise you that we’re going to put a product on the field and a team on the field that you can be proud of, and we’ll win.”
While the coaching staff is still up in the air, Chudzinski knows he wants an aggressive defense.
“We’re going to be an attacking-style defense. We’re going to create turnovers and get after the quarterback,” he said. “Whether that’s a 4-3 or a 3-4 -- nowadays there’s a lot of hybrid systems out there -- it will tie in more with the coordinator. I think we have the versatility of going either way.”
Chudzinski said he will stress fundamentals to his team, but he also wants to be innovative on the field.
“This is going to be about the process. A lot of times people are focused on the end result. The process is the important thing,” he said. “That process is going to be the right process to get us to where we want to be.
“To bring back the pride, the passion, the success that this franchise has had in the past, I want to be part of that.”
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