Ken

Dorsey

Stefanski has called offensive plays for the Browns since first being hired by the team in 2020, and he doesn’t plan on backing off now. A two-time NFL Coach of the Year award winner, Stefanski’s offense has finished in the top 15 in points per game in two of his four years at the helm, and they hope a fully healthy Deshaun Watson can elevate them beyond last year’s 10th place finish last season. The Browns hired former Bills defensive coordinator Ken Dorsey as their offensive coordinator this offseason. While Dorsey has experience calling plays in-game, he won’t be making the final call on plays this season.

In some of the most bizarre timing in NFL history, the Browns leaked the news at the literal two-minute warning mark of the AFC Championship Game. That would seem to be a “news dump,” though the reality is these things just can’t be timed. Fired mid-season by the Bills, Dorsey watched his former unit become more stable but less explosive. There has been talk of coach Kevin Stefanski surrendering play-calling duties in Cleveland, but he is certifiably better than Dorsey. That being said, Dorsey was more scapegoat than actual problem in Buffalo this year. It’s a perfectly fine hire for the Browns.

Dorsey, summarily dismissed by the Bills in mid-November after Tyler Bass missed a critical late-game field goal in a loss to the Broncos, also has interest from the Browns. The Bucs, meanwhile, are moving fast to fill the void left by Dave Canales, who was hired this week as the Panthers head coach. Dorsey was a quick riser before Buffalo’s offense stumbled in 2023.

Dorsey was fired by Buffalo after an embarrassing loss to the Broncos in Week 10. The Bills had lost four of their past six games and were unable to top 25 points in any of those contests. Though the Bills had gotten off to a hot start in their first month of action, the mid-season slump mandated a change and Dorsey took the fall. Dorsey’s scheme was often criticized for lacking creativity, but he also deserves some credit for overseeing a season and a half of elite counting stats from Josh Allen and company. A job in Cleveland would give Dorsey a shot at redemption given how desperate the team is to see signs of life from Deshaun Watson.

Someone had to take the blame for the team’s disastrous 2023 season, and it appears Buffalo brass has chosen Dorsey, once a hot name in NFL coaching circles. It’s not that the Bills offense has been bad this season. Only the 49ers and Dolphins are better in EPA per play and only six teams average more offensive yards per contest than the Bills. The team’s offense has appeared stagnant and fairly predictable over the past month, with little use of motion and only flashes of the creativity we saw early in the Josh Allen era. Dorsey’s chances of becoming a head coach are effectively over, though he should land with another team’s offensive staff in 2024. Former Panthers OC Joe Brady will take over as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator.

Dorsey was promoted from QBs coach/passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator when Brian Daboll departed last year. Buffalo’s offense was as dominant as ever under Dorsey, leading to his first interview for a head coaching gig. The interview will take place over the weekend. Dorsey got his start in coaching as the Panthers’ quarterbacks coach in 2013. If he doesn’t land the gig in Carolina this offseason, Dorsey will likely be a popular name in league circles next year.

The Giants dangled a carrot at Dorsey to reunite with GM Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll in New York, but Buffalo countered with an in-house promotion to ensure the team’s cohesiveness on that side of the ball continues into 2022. The state of Buffalo’s offense should not change in the slightest since Dorsey was the Bills’ passing game coordinator in addition to coaching their quarterbacks last year. Even Josh Allen gave a sterling review, stating his career “definitely changed” in terms of how he “viewed the game of football.”

Dorsey is expected to follow Brian Daboll, who was hired as the Giants’ head coach. The Bills are also looking to retain and promote Dorsey as Daboll’s replacement at offensive coordinator but may not be willing to match the contract the Giants are offering. Dorsey, who was Buffalo’s passing game coordinator in addition to coaching the quarterbacks, would call plays under Daboll if he’s hired.

Allen wants current OC Brian Daboll to stick around, but that seems unlikely at this point. If Daboll goes, Allen would like Dorsey to get a shot at the job. “There’s a guy in this building that I’m a huge advocate for,” Allen said of Dorsey. The quarterback for perhaps the greatest college football team of all time (go look at the 2001 Miami Hurricanes roster), Dorsey spent five years as a quarterbacks coach in Carolina before joining the Bills in 2019.

Dorsey will remain Josh Allen’s position coach, but he’ll also slide into a more prominent role as OC Brian Daboll’s right-hand man. Daboll is destined for a head-coaching job soon, so perhaps Dorsey will be his eventual in-house replacement. Dorsey previously coached Cam Newton for five years in Carolina before joining Buffalo in 2019.