Alex Van Pelt coordinated an offense in Cleveland that started five different quarterbacks and still managed to make the playoffs.
It wasn’t enough to save his job.
Despite going 11-6 and finishing with the NFL’s 10th ranked scoring offense, the Browns sent Van Pelt packing after a Wild Card exit. It was welcome news for the Patriots though, who scooped him up and named him their new offensive coordinator.
On Tuesday’s episode of “Eye on Foxborough,” Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot explained that it wasn’t Van Pelt’s performance that led to his ouster as much as it was trying to find the perfect fit for Deshaun Watson, who has underwhelmed since arriving in Cleveland.
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“Really just it’s all about new energy, new vibe. Actually, they haven’t even really said it quite like that, but that’s basically what the idea was,” Cabot said. “They are gearing everything towards Deshaun Watson this year and I think they wanted a coordinator that had experience working with dual threat quarterbacks and that’s their bent. That’s what they like to do. Really, Alex is very steeped in the West Coast scheme. It’s not that he’s not open-minded or open to new things, but I think they just kind of wanted a dual threat QB expert. And we know that (new Browns coordinator) Ken Dorsey has worked to great success with Cam Newton, with Josh Allen, and they just wanted someone like that.”
Cabot made it clear that Van Pelt still has plenty of fans and said the Patriots shouldn’t shy away from a dual-threat quarterback at No. 3 overall. It’s simply that Cleveland needs to do everything they can to get Watson — and his fully guaranteed $230 million contract — on track.
“If you listen to Aaron Rodgers, he raved about Alex Van Pelt when he was his quarterbacks coach in Green Bay and he was very dismayed that he was let go (in 2018),” Cabot said. “So, we know that Aaron Rodgers loves him. And the Browns coaches really, really seemed to like him. Baker Mayfield really liked him a lot. But I just have a feeling that there was some kind of a paradigm shift that they were seeking when it came to Deshaun Watson and what he can do vs. what Alex Van Pelt is comfortable with.”
