Browns Hire Former Rice HC Mike Bloomgren As OL Coach

The Cleveland Browns announced Wednesday that they have hired former Rice HC Mike Bloomgren as their new offensive line coach.

“Mike has a wealth of knowledge and is extremely bright,” Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said. “In addition to his NFL experience, he has worked in a number of pro-style offenses on the college level. He has proven to be successful as a teacher and motivator, which will be vital for our offensive line room. We are excited to add Mike to our coaching staff.”

“I am excited about joining this organization,” Bloomgren said. “From the Haslams to the alignment with Andrew (Berry) and Kevin, I think it’s an exciting time to be here. The commitment that they all have to making this place great, and making another playoff run, is everything I want to be a part of. I think as a coach, we exist for the players and that’s always going to be the case. I also think it’s our job to give them clear direction of how to do things. I know there’s a Hall of Fame player here in Joel Bitonio. I think there are some really good pieces, and we have to see exactly how they can fit and see exactly how this offense gets formed, but I am excited about the potential with that group.”

Bloomgren, 47, began his coaching career at Alabama as a graduate assistant back in 1999. He had stints with Catawba and Delta State before the Jets hired him as an offensive quality control coach in 2007.

Bloomgren worked his way up to assistant offensive coordinator with the Jets before being hired at Stanford where he spent seven years.

Rice hired Bloomgren as their head coach in 2018 and he remained in that role for seven seasons before being fired this past October. 

At Rice, Bloomgren posted a record of 24-52.