Update: Make that the Minnesota Vikings, according to Chris Mortensen.
Change is afoot among the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff. And no, it's not who you think. Bill Musgrave is expected to be named offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, according to a report by Jason La Canfora. Musgrave served as quarterbacks coach for the Falcons since 2006 before being promoted to assistant head coach this past season. He'd previously been linked to the Minnesota Vikings coordinator position.
A change in the Falcons' coaching ranks was expected this offseason but the money was on Mike Mularkey leaving. Mularkey, the Falcons offensive coordinator since 2008, interviewed for the head coaching job in Cleveland but the team chose to go with former St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur instead.
Musgrave, who was the favorite for the Falcons coordinator job had Mularkey left, takes over an offense that ranked 29th in the league in 2010 but is only four years removed from a Top 10 offense and includes several talented pieces. Quarterback Colt McCoy, the Browns third round pick last season, will benefit from the tutelage of Musgrave and Peyton Hillis is a 24-year old wrecking ball who finished sixth in the NFL in yards from scrimmage in 2010.
In Musgrave's previous stops as coordinator he has had mixed success. In 2000, he orchestrated a Carolina Panthers offense that finished 20th in the league. Then, after a two-year hiatus at the University of Virgina, Musgrave returned to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars to the 12th-best offense in the NFL. The following season, his offense ranked 21st.
How much of Matt Ryan's success was dependent on Musgrave or Mularkey is up for debate but 2011 will be a telling season now that Musgrave will be calling the plays for another young quarterback.