Browns Retain Special Teams Coordinator Chris Tabor

Congratulations are in order for Cleveland Browns special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, who has survived another coaching purge with the Browns. Tabor first joined the Browns in 2011 under Pat Shurmur's staff. When Shurmur was fired at the end of the 2012 season, the only two coaches that survived his staff were offensive line coach George Warhop and Tabor.

Tabor got to work with several Pro Bowlers in 2012 in Phil Dawson and Joshua Cribbs. During Rob Chudzinski's first year as a head coach, the Browns chose to rid themselves of Dawson, Cribbs, and punter Reggie Hodges, which tested Tabor's ability to coach up their replacements.

At the end of the year, it ended up being a mixed bag for the Browns on special teams. Travis Benjamin was electric on punt returns until he tore his ACL mid-way through the season. Dion Lewis, who was supposed to be the kick returner, broke his leg in the preseason and landed on IR. Billy Cundiff was signed in Week 1 after not being in training camp, and did a respectable job. Spencer Lanning was decent in his first year as a punter. The only reason I suspected that Tabor might get the boot was due to the special teams collapse in the second quarter against the Bengals, which saw one punt blocked and one punt deflected due to protection issues.

Also being retained is assistant special teams coach Shawn Mennenga, who also joined the Browns in 2011.