Alex Van Pelt
Gregory Alexander Van Pelt (born May 1, 1970) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills. Playing career. College. Van Pelt attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he was a quarterback for the Panthers. When he graduated, Van Pelt held school passing records previously set by Dan Marino. His single-season mark of 3,163 passing yards in 1992 was broken in 2003  by Rod Rutherford. Professional. Van Pelt was an eighth round draft pick of his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, but was released during training camp. Van Pelt spent three games with the Kansas City Chiefs late in the 1993 NFL season following a hamstring injury to Joe Montana. He was re-signed by the Chiefs prior to the 1994 NFL season, but was released during training camp. He was signed by the Buffalo Bills later in the 1994 season following a knee injury sustained by Jim Kelly and spent the remainder of his career as a backup with the Bills. Van Pelt 's first NFL win as a starter would come on November 2, 1997, against Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins. In 2001, he started 8 games, going 2–6, and playing well enough to justify a contract extension that would allow the Bills to release failed Doug Flutie successor Rob Johnson. Van Pelt would not start any games after 2001 due to a Bills trade with the New England Patriots for Drew Bledsoe, who became the full-time starting quarterback. Van Pelt remained with the team as Bledsoe's backup for the next two seasons before retiring. In his eleven-year  career, Van Pelt totaled 16 touchdowns and 24 interceptions on 477 pass attempts in 31 career appearances and 11 starts. Broadcasting career. After retiring from football in 2004, Van Pelt was John Murphy's partner on Bills Radio Network broadcasts. He did color commentary for the radio broadcast of all Bills games until the 2005 season. Coaching career. University at Buffalo. Van Pelt was a volunteer winter quarterbacks coach for the University at Buffalo in 2005. Frankfurt Galaxy. Van Pelt was the quarterbacks coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe, the NFL's developmental league, in 2005, where he  was responsible for all offensive play calling. Buffalo Bills. On February 13, 2006, Van Pelt was hired by Buffalo Bills head coach Dick Jauron as offensive quality control coach. On January 16, 2008, the Bills promoted him to quarterbacks coach. On September 4, 2009, he was promoted again to offensive coordinator after Turk Schonert was fired. On January 4, 2010, Van Pelt, along with the rest of the Bills coaching staff, was fired following a 6–10 season. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Van Pelt was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the quarterbacks coach on February 1, 2010. When Buccaneers head  coach Raheem Morris was fired on January 2, 2012, the whole staff was let go as well. Green Bay Packers. Van Pelt was hired by the Packers as the running backs coach on February 13, 2012. On February 7, 2014, Van Pelt was promoted to quarterbacks coach and his contract expired on January 3, 2018. Cincinnati Bengals. On January 12, 2018, Van Pelt was hired by the Cincinnati Bengals as their quarterbacks coach. Cleveland Browns. On January 29, 2020, Van Pelt was hired by the Cleveland Browns as their offensive coordinator under head coach Kevin Stefanski. Stefanski missed the team 's wild card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 10, 2021, and Van Pelt took over as offensive play caller for the game. Personal life. Van Pelt lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife Brooke and their three children.