BEREA, Ohio — It's been a while since Ken Dorsey was under center for the Cleveland Browns, a quarterback for the team from 2006 to 2008. Now back as the new offensive coordinator, Dorsey is looking forward to helping the offense in a different role.
For him, walking through the doors of the Browns' facility doesn't feel the same as it did nearly 20 years ago. That's a testament to the work the organization has done over the decades.
"I think the only thing that's the same is the staircase in the front and the door I walk through. Other than that, the place is completely different in a great way," Dorsey said. "And just walking in here, it's like the vibe is just so much different than when I was here as a player. And that's the fun part about it for me. It's just like when you walk into a building and you're excited to come into work every day, that's something that's invaluable and just a very welcoming thing for me."
Dorsey was welcomed in officially on Monday morning, holding an introductory press conference in Berea. During the press conference, the new offensive coordinator shared things he's most excited about. One of those things is working with the offensive line—which has been the most consistent strength of the Browns.
"First and foremost, you can't help but get jacked up about this opportunity because of those guys up front. Those guys, you watch them on tape and you can't help but get excited about the guys that we got up there and what they're able to do because they’re diverse in what they can do," he said.
While the Browns still need to hire an offensive line coach to replace Bill Callahan, Dorsey is excited to see how the line shapes up this year. He appreciates the strengths of the guys up front and their schemes that open up the offense for a heavy passing game or a strong running game and wants to help that thrive.
Dorsey is also excited to start working with head coach Kevin Stefanski to revamp the offense and exchange ideas to bring their joint product to life.
"I think there's a lot of philosophical things that we will see eye to eye on, and then there's going to be some things that we're going to hash out and we're going to say, 'Hey, this is what I think.' And then Kevin will say, 'This is what I think,' and we'll end up going in whatever direction we feel like is best suited for us as an offense. And at the end of the day, obviously, Kevin's the head coach and if that's the decision he makes, then we're full bore that direction," Dorsey said.
But perhaps most importantly for the offense, Dorsey is looking forward to working with quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Dorsey watched plenty of film on the Browns before interviewing for the offensive coordinator position. In what he saw, he believes there's been a good foundation set for Watson to thrive in Cleveland's offense—but he wants to help get Watson back in the conversation of being an elite NFL quarterback.
"I'm extremely excited to work with this offense, especially Deshaun and him being one of the top quarterbacks in this league. The opportunity to really go out there this season and help him prove that he really is that -- a top quarterback in this league that can operate and help us win a bunch of football games," Dorsey said. "So I'm super excited about that opportunity and really looking forward to this challenge, and not only with him but this whole unit that has clearly done a lot of great things throughout Kevin's time here and really evolved into a special group that can really go out and show that we could be a top offense in this league.”
Dorsey views Watson as a true dual-threat quarterback and appreciates the level of understanding he has for all kinds of offensive schemes. With that in mind, Dorsey is confident he can get the best out of Watson—because he helped do that for stretches for Cam Newton with the Panthers and Josh Allen with the Bills.
"I think there's things you could take away, whether it's the run game, the zone read game, the RPO game, because all those things, a lot of times you can't necessarily teach them. It's a natural feel that these guys have. And watching Deshaun, he clearly has a great feel for a lot of different aspects of football, whether it's scheme-wise for us, instincts of what he sees on the field in terms of the defense and adjusting things. But I think that's the exciting part about working with him is getting him back to the elite level of who he is," Dorsey said.
Dorsey and Watson have already started to have conversations, at this point mostly just getting to know each other. The offensive coordinator is working to lay a foundation down with his quarterback early, the start of the work to make their goals a reality next season.
And while Dorsey has his ideas and strategies for how to get the most out of Watson, and really the entire offensive unit, the one question many fans have on their mind won't be answered just yet.
"Play calling, which I know everybody wants to talk about. We'll get there. It's Feb. 5. What's most important, what I'm looking forward to the most is putting this offense back together with Ken really leading the charge and that's why he's here and I’m really pleased to have him here," Stefanski said.
Dorsey is happy either way — aiming only to make sure his team has the best shot of winning on any given Sunday.
"Play calling to me is not as important as winning football games. To me, it's more about, alright, what's the decision that we feel most comfortable about moving forward to help our team win? And I've been, in my career, more interested about, OK, what can I do to help this team win more so than anything else? And that's the only thing that matters to me," Dorsey said. "So whether Kevin's calling it, I'm calling it, that's to me, the most important thing is us as a team. So now if Kevin's calling, what can I do? I can do my job to as high an ability as humanly possible. I can get Deshaun ready to play each and every week. I can get our room ready to play each and every week because we've got a great room and I'm sure we'll add to that."
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