Browns hire Joe Woods as their Defensive Coordinator

The history of Joe Woods

Joe Woods has been coaching football since 1992. After graduating from Illinois State, he worked on getting into coaching. His first job was with Muskingum College as a Defensive Backs coach. Over the next ten years, Joe was working at different colleges, primarily as a defensive backs coach. His first break in the NFL came in 2004 and 2005 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on defense.

After leaving Tampa Bay, this is where the relationship with Kevin Stefanski begins to happen. Woods was the Defensive Backs coach with the Minnesota Vikings from 2006-2013. Stefanski was a coach on the offensive side as he was brought in to the organization by then Head Coach Brad Childress. So this started a relationship that is now being rekindled in 2020.

Woods spent one year in Oakland and then in 2015, joined the Denver Broncos staff as a defensive backs coach for two years. And then in 2017, Woods was given a promotion to Defensive Coordinator the year after the Super Bowl win. Woods was taking over one of the best defensive units in the NFL, but this was the year that Payton Manning retired, and Denver’s offense was not very good. Joe was let go after the 2018 season as Denver went through a Head Coaching change. As a result, Joe Woods was hired by the San Francisco 49ers as a defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator.

What does this mean for 2020

In an interview, Joe Woods said he is going to keep this defense running a 4-3 concept. The Browns have talent on this side of the ball, but they do have some decisions to make this offseason. Once Myles Garrett is reinstated, you have one of the best young talents at defensive end in the NFL. They have the lockdown corner in Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams at the other corner. With them staying in the 4-3, the Browns will need to find another starting linebacker and might need two safeties.

Free agents Demarious Randall and Joe Schobert are two critical guys that they may have to replace. I think Randall is gone, but who knows if the coaching change is enough to make him stay. Randall did have an off-year that was riddled with injury and discipline issues that cost him a game against Pittsburgh. Schobert has been a staple in the middle of the Browns defense the past three years with one Pro Bowl appearance. It will be interesting to see what happens here with the new staff coming in. Do they let Joe walk? Stay with the 2019 draft picks Sionne Takitaki and Mack Wilson as the starters.

Final thoughts on this hire

The work Kevin Stefanski has done putting this coaching staff together is very impressive. With the recent hire of Alex Van Pelt as the Offensive Coordinator and former Dolphins Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea as the wide receivers coach. Defensively, Chris Kiffin followed Woods over to the Browns and will serve as the defensive line coach. Kiffin was the pass rush specialist with the 49ers over the last two years. Hiring a former head coach and well-respected coach in the league in Bill Callahan as the offensive line coach is a great move. Stefanski is giving himself great coaches who know how to win and get the talent to perform.

Joe Woods is an aggressive coach, and if you’ve never seen what his defense looks like, watch the Denver Broncos after their Super Bowl season. That defense carried the team the whole season and was a difficult team to score points against. With that being said, this defense has the chance to be dominant in the upcoming year, but they do need to figure out the linebacker position and both safety spots. I’m trying to temper my excitement as it’s only February, but I have been impressed so far.