The fallout from a 1-15 season continued for the Browns on Tuesday when the organization announced it had fired five more assistant coaches.
With coach Hue Jackson parting with defensive coordinator Ray Horton on Saturday and replacing him with Gregg Williams, a major overhaul on the defensive staff was expected.
So it should come as no surprise that the Browns let go of Louie Cioffi (defensive backs), Johnny Holland (inside linebackers), Ryan Slowik (outside linebackers) and Cannon Matthews (assistant defensive backs) to make way for assistants of Williams’ choosing.
But the Browns also fired offensive line coach Hal Hunter, the second significant change on that side of the ball. The first occurred Monday when associate head coach-offense Pep Hamilton accepted an offer to join Jim Harbaugh’s staff at the University of Michigan.
In Hunter’s first season with the Browns, they allowed 66 sacks, 17 more than any other NFL team. Hunter is a former University of Akron offensive line coach (1987-90) whose late father, Hal Hunter Jr., coached the offensive line for the Browns in the late 1980s.
The Browns don’t expect to oust any more coaches this offseason.
So special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, running backs coach/run game coordinator Kirby Wilson, senior offensive assistant Al Saunders, tight ends coach Greg Seamon, defensive line coach Robert Nunn and other assistants are expected to return.
Nunn is the main holdover on defense. He arrived in Cleveland last year with vast experience coaching four-man fronts, and Williams has traditionally employed a 4-3 scheme.
Successful surgery
Browns two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden announced Tuesday on Twitter the surgery he had to repair two groin muscles was successful.
“Groin surgery went Great! Rehab starts now!! First team all pro here I come!!! No excuses just RESULTS!! #HadenNation ,” he tweeted.
Haden revealed Dec. 22 he would undergo surgery on the two groin muscles he injured during the 2016 season.
He suffered a left groin injury in practice before the Browns faced the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 25 and missed the game. Then he suffered a right groin injury in practice before they played the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 16 and missed two games.
He was only healthy for the first two games, and he pushed through both groin injuries in the final nine games.
Haden, 27, didn’t meet his standards on an individual basis during the 2016 season, and the Browns finished 1-15. But Haden was still named a Pro Bowl alternate and had 48 tackles, 11 passes defensed and three interceptions in 13 games.
“I’m on a mission next season,” he tweeted. “This year I didn’t live up 2 my expectation! Hate me or love me.... Ima make u respect my GAME.”
Pryor’s update
Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor also provided a brief update Tuesday about the surgery he had Jan. 4 on a torn ligament in his right middle finger.
Pryor tweeted a photograph of himself wearing a cast on his right hand and wrote, “4 more weeks pain gone and out cast.” He played with the injury for the final three games of the 2016 season.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.