Browns Officially Hire Mike Pettine As Their New Head Coach

BREAKING NEWS: #Browns name Mike Pettine head coach. #WelcomePettine Press conference scheduled TODAY at 4:45PM EST #StayTuned

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) January 23, 2014

• Mary Kay Cabot first reported the hiring Bills DC Mike Pettine as their new head coach.
• According to Cabot, Pettine received a five-year contract from the Browns.

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam on the decision to hire Pettine:

“Mike is the epitome of what we want Browns to be -tough, aggressive and innovative -with a blue-collar, team-1st mentality.”

“We wanted to be thorough right from the start and we interviewed as many people as we could,” CEO Joe Banner said. “From that group, we hired the best individual for this job. Our players and fans are going to really enjoy Mike Pettine and his leadership style. We’re excited to have him out in front of our team, and we look forward to working closely with him.”

Potential Coordinators:

• Jason La Canfora reports that Bills LB coach Jim O’Neil is expected to be a top candidate for the Browns defensive coordinator position.
  • According to La Canfora, Browns special teams coach Chris Tabor is likely to remain with the team.
  • La Canfora reports that although Packers RBs coach Alex Van Pelt was Pettine’s top target for offensive coordinator, he has elected to remain in Green Bay and will takeover as their quarterbacks coach. 
• Ian Rapoport reports that former Titans assistant Gregg Williams is interested in joining Pettine’s staff.

Pettine has been considered the favorite to land the job for a few days now and despite reports from Wednesday that the Browns met with former Buccaneers HC Greg Schiano and spoke Patriots OC Josh McDaniels again, it appeared as though this deal was going to get done.

Pettine is a solid defensive coach who spent time with Rex Ryan before joining the Bills staff last year. He was coaching high school football 13 years ago, so he has ascended up the NFL coaching ranks rather quickly.