Cleveland Browns special teams coach Bubba Ventrone done with long hair, NFL kickoff rule

BEREA — The Bubba Ventrone who Browns fans remember from his playing days in the late 2000s and early 2010s had a look. There were the long, flowing locks coming out from the back of his helmet.

But the Bubba Ventrone who has returned to the Browns this offseason as their assistant head coach and special teams coordinator has replaced the Sampson-like look with one more aligned with Mr. Clean.

No longer does Ventrone's hair hang down to his shoulders. Now, it can fit perfectly under the ballcap perched atop his head.

"Do I miss the long hair?" Ventrone said back to a questioner this week during a voluntary offseason team activity. "The reason I got rid of it, honestly, was because it was too hard to maintain as a coach. Not as much time and not as much free time, but I could still grow it out. I get a little impatient when it starts to get a little too long. Well, hopefully I can put some good memories in your head with the short hair, too."

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The locks that Browns fans may recall have disappeared. However, the intensity that made the former NCAA FCS Division I football player from Villanova University first a Bill Belichick favorite with the New England Patriots before Eric Mangini brought him to Cleveland in 2009 remains.

That intensity is no longer directed toward trying to block or tackle players on kickoffs or punts. It's focused on trying to teach players how to properly block or tackle on kickoffs or punts.

"He's a guy, man," cornerback and special-teamer Mike Ford Jr. said last month. "He's been inside the locker room. He has the energy."

That's why, to no one's surprise, Ventrone is one of many NFL special teams coaches who are upset with the new kickoff rule the league has implemented for the upcoming season. The rule allows for return men to fair catch kickoffs between the goal line and their own 25-yard-line and the ball will automatically be placed at the receiving team's 25.

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The league said the new rule comes from perspective of players' safety. Ventrone has his own opinions.

"We see a cutup of the concussions that happened on kickoff," he said. "Me personally, do I agree that all those concussions are a result of how the play is? No, I completely disagree on that, actually. Do I feel like that play is safe? I do feel like that play is a safe play. I don't feel like it's a dangerous play. You're not allowed to have a wedge in the backend. There's not high-end collisions in the backend anymore. The double teams in the front eight are safe. I don't think that's an unsafe play."

New rule or not, Ventrone's been tasked with transforming the Browns special teams units from middle of the pack — at best — into one of the league's best. It's what he was able to do during his five seasons as Indianapolis Colts special teams coordinator.

Specifically, Ventrone helped turn around the Colts' return game, turning both into some of the league's premier units. The Browns have promising candidates for those spots, including Jerome Ford back after ranking in the league's top 10 on kickoff returns; Donovan Peoples-Jones, who earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors in Week 13 as a punt returner; and Jakeem Grant Sr., a veteran return standout who missed last season with an Achilles injury.

That past success and present group of returners are why Ventrone isn't a big fan of fair catching kicks.

"I don't think a lot of players want to use a fair catch, nor do coaches," Ventrne said. "So I feel confident in our group to this point. I know we've got a lot of good returners. We've got depth in all those ball handlers on the roster, so my mentality would be to return first, but we'll explore every option that we have with it."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns special teams coach Bubba Ventrone no fan of NFL's kickoff rule