The Cleveland Browns continue to revamp their coaching staff ahead of what’s expected to be an exciting and big bounce-back season.
They’ve now lured Utah State Defensive Coordinator Ephraim Banda to the NFL to serve as their safeties coach, according to a report by NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
The #Browns are expected to hire Ephraim Banda as their safeties coach, source said. Banda is currently the defensive coordinator at Utah State and spent time at Mississippi St and Miami before that.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 21, 2023
The 41-year-old coach will now get his first opportunity to coach at the professional level after turning plenty of heads during his brief tenure with the Aggies.
He was a walk-on at Incarnate Word sixteen years ago before suffering a career-ending injury, later pursuing a career as a student assistant.
Then, he climbed up the coaching ladder at Texas, Mississippi State, and Miami before taking that position with the Utah State Aggies.
Of course, there’s always a risk when hiring ‘rookies’ to serve at the NFL level, but the Browns were in desperate need of a major shakeup in the defensive coaching staff after such a disappointing season in 2022, and he was a quick riser at the collegiate level.
Notably, this isn’t the only big move Kevin Stefanski made to his staff today, as he also let go of Special Teams coordinator Mike Priefer earlier in the afternoon, so there could be some other crucial changes within the organization in the next couple of weeks or so.
As for the Aggies, HC Blake Anderson will now have to dig deep into the market to replace both main coordinators ahead of next season, as former OC Anthony Tucker also left the program for a bigger role with the Indiana Hoosiers.
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