Browns Make Key Hire To Beef Up Athletic Training Staff

Cleveland named Dr. Dustin Nabhan the team's new Head of Athlete Health and Performance

Browns general manager Andrew Berry watches minicamp, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Berea. / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK

With training camp just around the corner, the Browns are continuing to make tweaks to their staff ahead of the 2024 season.

On Friday the team announced the hiring of Dr. Dustin Nabhan as the new Head of Athlete Health and Performance. Nabhan's role will consist of overseeing the entire training staff.

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It's often said that winning a championship requires a team to be healthy at the right time of year. Nabhan specializes in injury prevention and research programs, something that could serve to benefit the Browns over the course of an expansive 17-game regular season schedule.

“We are excited to welcome Dustin as our new Head of Athlete Health and Performance, where he will oversee all player health and performance initiatives for our Club,” Browns Executive Vice President and General Manager Andrew Berry said via an official release from the team. “Dustin brings a wealth of multidisciplinary knowledge across this space and rich experience in competitive athletics from his 12 years working with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Dustin has extensive experience directing athlete patient care across many sports and has successfully overseen injury prevention and research programs. He brings an insatiable work ethic, a natural curiosity to find innovative health solutions and a relatability that our players and staff will appreciate. We look forward to seeing Dustin integrate into our team and augment our existing practices.”

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Last season along saw the Browns lost more than a dozen players to season-ending injuries. That list included the likes of star players like quarterback Deshaun Watson, running back Nick Chubb, their top three offensive tackles, among others. While some of those injuries were freak incidents – such as Chubb's brutal knee injury – there are others of the soft tissue variety that Cleveland is hoping to reduce thanks to Nabhan's expertise.

"I’m equally honored and excited to be able to join the Cleveland Browns organization,” said Nabhan. “In meeting with the leadership team throughout the interview process, it’s clear that the organization shares my passion for athlete health, safety and performance. I’m looking forward to collaborating with our staff in place and being additive to the mission of helping our players with a holistic approach to maximize their physical and mental performance, all to put us in the best position to win and compete at the highest level for championships. I want to thank the Haslam and Johnson families, Andrew Berry, Kevin Stefanski, Paul DePodesta, and everyone else involved in the process to enable this opportunity.”

As Berry mentioned, Nabhan has a very diverse employment portfolio in sports medicine. He spent more than a decade as part of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee from 2009-21, starting out as a Sports Medicine Fellow before rising the ranks to his role as Vice President of Sports Medicine, Research and Innovation from 2019-21.

He then went on to serve as Vice President of Health and Performance at Canyon Ranch from 2021-23. Over the last year he's also done work as a Health and Human Performance Consultant for various sports organizations and technology companies.

A graduate of the University of Arizona, Nabhan earned went on to earn a graduate degree from Southern California University of Health Sciences, finishing valedictorian as a Doctor of Chiropractic. Later, he earned his PhD in sport science at the Norwegian School of Sport Science in Oslo, Norway.