Notable Coaching Change Could Reveal Browns NFL Draft Plans

The Cleveland Browns named Bill Musgrave their quarterback coach this week and the veteran coach has a notable connection to Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders
Oct 26, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) prepares to pass in the second half against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Oct 26, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) prepares to pass in the second half against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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The Cleveland Browns made some important tweaks to the coaching staff this offseason, starting, most notably, with the promotion of Tommy Rees from tight ends coach into a new role as offensive coordinator.

This week brought another notable change though, with the team looking internal once again to name Bill Musgrave as the team's next quarterback coach. Musgrave has been serving as a senior offensive assistant with the organization since 2023, but now goes back to his roots by taking over a role he's plenty familiar with.

The 57-year-old has coached quarterbacks at nine different stops throughout his coaching tenure in the pros. He'll do it a 10th time for the Browns now, and depending on the team's plans at the quarterback position could very well end up coaching someone he's familiar with.

Before entering the coaching ranks as a quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders in 1997, Musgrave played the position himself. First at the University of Oregon, and then in the NFL. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth-round of the 1991 NFL Draft, but only spent his first offseason there before joining the San Francisco 49ers.

It's the bay where Musgrave crossed paths with eventual Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who came to San Francisco for one season in 1994 and helped lead the franchise to a Super Bowl. Sanders has actually talked before about his relationship with Musgrave, including what he considers "his favorite Super Bowl memory," when Musgrave got to play during the 49ers blowout win over the San Diego Chargers.

More than 30 years later, Musgrave is coaching for the team that is in position to select Sanders son, Shedeur Sanders with the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. That relationship could play a pivotal role in the Sanders willingness to play in Cleveland – something that has been called into question this offseason.

General manager Andrew Berry made it clear at the Senior Bowl that he isn't worried about Sanders Hall of Fame father nixing him coming to Cleveland if they were to draft him. Perhaps the presence of Musgrave is a selling point.

There's no telling quite yet what direction the Browns will go with the second overall pick. But it's hard not to connect the dots on the possibility of Shedeur Sanders being united with his father's scout team quarterback in what would be a pretty unique full-circle moment.


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Spencer German
SPENCER GERMAN

Spencer German is a contributor to the Northeast Ohio cluster of sites, including Cavs Insider, Cleveland Baseball Insider and most notably Browns Digest. He also works as a fill-in host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, one of the Browns radio affiliate stations in Cleveland. Despite being a Cleveland transplant, Spencer has enjoyed making Northeast Ohio home ever since he attended college locally at John Carroll University, where he graduated in 2013.