CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
After missing the final 10 games of the 2021 season due to a medical issue, Stump Mitchell will make his return to the Cleveland Browns' sideline next season.
On Tuesday, the Browns announced that Mitchell will return as the team's running backs coach in 2022. A member of Cleveland's coaching staff since the 2019 season, the 62-year-old Mitchell missed the final 10 games of the Browns' 2021 campaign after undergoing two separate procedures to repair a previous knee injury.
According to the Browns, Mitchell's injury began irritating him again last June, but The Citadel's all-time leading rusher attempted to coach through the pain. But after coaching Cleveland's first seven games of the 2021 season, he opted to undergo surgery, which marked the first time since the start of his high school career at Camden County High School in Kingsland, Georgia that he hadn't been with his team.
“I think this is probably the first time I ever missed coaching a game, either in college or the NFL,” Mitchell said in a recent interview provided by the Browns.
“It's definitely an adjustment. You want to be able to play and help your team out, and you try to do that by supporting them. But it's still not the same as being there. You want to be in front of the guys. You want to be in the battle with them as well.”
Assistants Callie Brownson, Ryan Cordell and Kevin Rogers helped coach the Browns' running backs in Mitchell's absence. With Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt still under contract, Cleveland is currently expected to return one of the leagues' top rushing attack in 2022, while D'Ernest Johnson is set to be a restricted free agent.