Browns keep Mike Priefer, Doug Colman

The Cleveland Browns have decided to keep special teams coordinator Mike Priefer and assistant Doug Colman. 

This is a decision that seemed more than likely to happen. The Cleveland Browns retaining their special teams coordinator Mike Priefer and assistant Doug Colman. Priefer and Colman both came to Cleveland before the 2019 season. 

Doug Colman played for the Browns for one season (2000). Colman was an assistant in Dallas and Houston before being hired in Cleveland. 

The Priefer decision is hardly surprising. Priefer previously coached with Kevin Stefanski in Minnesota. There is familiarity between the two and that seems to ultimately have played a factor. Cleveland is looking for organizational alignment and retaining Priefer points in that direction.

Mike Priefer helped improve the Browns special teams unit in 2019. Cleveland went from one of the worst to middle of the pack last season. That’s a huge improvement, but when you start near the bottom it’s hard not to move up the rankings list. Priefer receives a ton of praise for his work, but he still couldn’t get Dontrell Hilliard to make the right decision on kickoff returns. Hilliard would routinely take the ball out of the end zone and get stopped short of the 25 yard line. Priefer being unable to fix that for 15 games is a little bit concerning.