Browns fire OC Ken Dorsey, OL coach Andy Dickerson after 1 season in Cleveland: Source

The Cleveland Browns fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey on Sunday in the wake of a 3-14 season.

A team source confirmed the move, which came about 12 hours after the Browns lost their sixth straight game to end the season with their worst mark since going winless in 2017. The Browns also fired offensive line coach Andy Dickerson.

Both had been with the team for just one season. NFL Network first reported the move. The NFL report also said Kevin Stefanski will remain as head coach.

The Browns will finish the season as the league’s lowest-scoring team and totaled just 26 points over their final four games. They started four quarterbacks, and Dorsey’s addition ahead of a crucial season for Deshaun Watson didn’t provide the spark for Watson that the organization hoped and needed it to provide.

Watson suffered a season-ending ruptured Achilles tendon during a Week 7 loss to the Bengals. Dorsey took over play-calling from Stefanski in Week 8 following the switch from Watson to Jameis Winston. The Browns were 29th in scoring and last in total yards at the time of the change, and though Winston energized the passing game and led victories over the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, the success was not sustained. The Browns threw 23 interceptions, a league-high ahead of the start of the final Sunday of the regular season.

The Browns didn’t reach 20 points in their first seven games and only reached 300 yards for the first time with garbage-time yards from Winston in Week 7. With the season long over, the Browns benched Winston ahead of Week 15 after he threw 10 interceptions in a three-game span. Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Bailey Zappe each started games late in the year.

Dorsey called the plays in Buffalo in 2022 and for the first half of the season in 2023 before he was fired with the Bills needing a spark. Dorsey had prior experience working with Cam Newton in Carolina and Josh Allen in Buffalo, and the Browns hoped that Dorsey would be able to use that experience to build an explosive offense that thrived on Watson improvising and occasionally running by design.

Instead, Cleveland will finish last in the league in numerous categories, according to TruMedia:

• Expected points added per drive
• EPA per play
• Turnover margin
• EPA per dropback
• Third down conversion percentage
• Points per game

The Browns moved on from offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt two days after their 2023 season ended and hired Dorsey in late January. Stefanski announced at the beginning of training camp that he would maintain the play-calling duties and offered no hints about a potential change until the Browns were 1-6 and went to Winston as their quarterback.

Around midseason, Browns coaching consultant Mike Vrabel shifted his primary focus from helping the tight ends to helping the offensive line. Though the offensive line played better in the second half of the season, many of the early season sacks could likely be attributed to Watson holding the ball too long.

Vrabel spent the season’s first 16 weeks with the Browns and now is pursuing another head-coaching job. He interviewed with the Jets last week.

Stefanski returning for a sixth season would make him the Browns’ longest-tenured coach since the early 1980s. He is 40-44 over five seasons with two playoff appearances.

(Photo: Nick Cammett / Diamond Images via Getty Images)