After weeks of speculation and different reports of different names, the Cleveland Browns finally have themselves a new linebackers coach. Jason Tarver was officially hired to coach the LBs under new head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Tarver’s name had been the most prominent among those connected to the job. He comes to the Browns from Vanderbilt, where he was the Commodores’ defensive coordinator. Tarver spent two years in Nashville after several NFL seasons.
Some of that NFL experience came as the coordinator of the Oakland Raiders defense. Cleveland’s new defensive coordinator Joe Woods worked under him as the DBs coach in 2014. He spent many years in San Francisco on the 49ers staff in various defensive capacities, as well as college stints at Stanford and UCLA.
Tarver’s hiring nearly completes the inaugural Stefanski staff. All the major position groups now have coaches on both sides of the ball. There are still some positional and general assistants to be hired, but the important base of the staff is complete.
There were virulent reports connecting former Ohio State coach Fred Pagac to the Browns LB coach job, but those proved false leads.