| Cleveland Browns | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Quarterbacks coach | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1967-11-11)November 11, 1967 (age 58) Grand Junction, Colorado, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Grand Junction (CO) | ||||||||
| College | Oregon | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1991: 4th round, 106th overall pick | ||||||||
| Position | Quarterback, No. 14 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference | |||||||||
William Scott Musgrave (born November 11, 1967) is an Americanfootball coach and former player who is the quarterbacks coach for theCleveland Browns of theNational Football League (NFL). He has also served as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for multiple NFL teams. He playedcollege football for theOregon Ducks, earningall-conference honors in thePac-10. He is also the uncle ofGreen Bay Packers tight endLuke Musgrave as well as the dad ofCardsHQ Carter Musgrave.
Musgrave is a 21-year coaching veteran with 19 years of NFL experience as a quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator. He has previously coached in the NFL with theDenver Broncos (2017–18),Oakland Raiders (2015–16, 1997),Philadelphia Eagles (2014, 1998),Minnesota Vikings (2011–13),Atlanta Falcons (2006–10),Washington Redskins (2005),Jacksonville Jaguars (2003–04) andCarolina Panthers (1999–2000). During his coaching career, Musgrave helped three different quarterbacks toPro Bowl seasons:Derek Carr (2015–16),Matt Ryan (2010) andSteve Beuerlein (1999).[1]
Musgrave attendedGrand Junction High School, earning All-conference honors atsafety as a sophomore. The next year he was named the starter atquarterback and earned All-conference honors in his last 2 seasons.
He was the Colorado High School Athlete of the Year in 1985, after registering 30touchdown passes (a state record). He also received theDenver Post Gold Helmet Award as the state's top scholar football athlete.[2]
Musgrave accepted a football scholarship from theUniversity of Oregon, at a time when the school had only four winning seasons in the last 22 years and hadn't been invited to a bowl game since 1963. He became a starter as a freshman, leading his team to a No. 16 national ranking, including wins againstUSC andWashington.
As a sophomore, he helped Oregon achieve a top-20 ranking and a 6–1 record, until breaking his collarbone againstArizona State University. The team went winless in the last 4 games.
As a junior, he posted 3,081 passing yards, 22touchdowns and 16interceptions. AgainstBYU, he passed for a then school-record 489 yards, combining with CougarsquarterbackTy Detmer who tallied 470 passing yards, to set anNCAA record for passing yardage in a game by two players.
As a senior, he was named team MVP, first-team All-conference quarterback, GTE AcademicAll-American of the Year, and earned a Scholar-Athlete Award by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. In his final game he injured his shoulder in the fourth quarter againstUCLA, only to return and throw a 16-yardtouchdown pass with 2:10 remaining for a 28–24 win.
He was a four-year starter atquarterback and a three-year team captain, while leading the Oregon to its firstbowl game in 26 years and to back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in school history. He finished with 8,343 passing yards, a 57.4 passing percentage, 60touchdowns and 40interceptions. Musgrave finished as the school's all-time leader in passing yards and total offense, until being broken byMarcus Mariota in 2014. He set 15 passing records, while his 60 career passing touchdowns and 8,343 career yardage ranked second only toJohn Elway inPacific-10 Conference history.
In 1996, he was inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame.
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft2+1⁄4 in (1.89 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | 31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | 4.98 s | 1.77 s | 2.87 s | 4.27 s | 30.5 in (0.77 m) | ||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[3] | ||||||||||||
Musgrave was selected by theDallas Cowboys in the fourth round (106th overall) of the1991 NFL draft.[4] He went intotraining camp withTroy Aikman,Babe Laufenberg andCliff Stoudt atquarterback. On August 25, the Cowboys traded forSteve Beuerlein to improve the backup position and released Musgrave and Stoudt, opting to keep just two quarterbacks.[5]
On August 28,1991, he was signed to thepractice squad by theSan Francisco 49ers. He was promoted to the active roster in week 11 and made his professional debut in the week 17 game against theChicago Bears,[6] throwing for a touchdown and 33 yards, after replacingSteve Young late in the contest.[7] The next year, he was the fourth-string quarterback, until being placed on theinjured reserve list on December 15. In1993 and1994, he was named the team's third-string quarterback and was rarely activated on game days although he did appear inSuper Bowl XXIX where he threw a pass for 6 yards. He played under head coachGeorge Seifert and offensive coordinatorsMike Holmgren andMike Shanahan.
In1995, he signed as afree agent with theDenver Broncos, reuniting with Shanahan, who was the new team's head coach. He was the backup quarterback behindJohn Elway, starting a game in 1996 against the Packers when Elway was injured before announcing his retirement on July 22,1997.[8]
Following a brief coaching stint as the quarterbacks coach of theOakland Raiders, Musgrave signed with theIndianapolis Colts on April 8,1998, but was released during training camp.[9]
Immediately after being released as a player, Musgrave joined theOakland Raiders as a quarterbacks coach in 1997 under head coachJoe Bugel. When the Raiders fired Bugel following the season, Musgrave attempted another try as a player with the Colts in 1998, but was released during training camp. He was immediately hired by thePhiladelphia Eagles as an offensive assistant underRay Rhodes, a former 49ers assistant coach. Musgrave was promoted tooffensive coordinator and called plays in place ofDana Bible for the final 10 games of the season. However, Musgrave was not retained by new head coachAndy Reid when Rhodes was fired at the end of the season.
Musgrave was hired as the quarterbacks coach underGeorge Seifert with theCarolina Panthers in 1999, in an arrangement that saw he and Seifert having a heavy hand in calling the plays over offensive coordinatorGil Haskell. Upon Haskell's departure to Seattle, Musgrave was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2000. The team chose him to replace Haskell, who was a holdover from a previous staff, due to his favorable relationship with Seifert as well as his experience calling plays the previous season. However, as an inexperienced coordinator, Musgrave had faltered at times, been criticized in the media for choices in playcalling, and was at one point rumored to have been yelled at by Seifert in front of the team. Musgrave resigned from the position after three games.[10]
Musgrave was hired as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and tight ends coach underAl Groh for theVirginia Cavaliers in 2001, tutoring quarterbackMatt Schaub to school records in his two years as coach.
Musgrave was hired as the offensive coordinator for theJacksonville Jaguars under new head coachJack Del Rio in 2003. In 2004, he picked up additional duties as quarterbacks coach before he was fired at the conclusion of the season.
Musgrave was the quarterbacks coach for theAtlanta Falcons from 2006 to 2009. In 2010, Musgrave was promoted to assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach. Coaching quarterbacks with very different skillsets, Musgrave played a large role in the development ofMichael Vick (2006),Matt Schaub (2006) andMatt Ryan (2008–10).[11]
Musgrave was hired by theMinnesota Vikings to the position of offensive coordinator under head coachLeslie Frazier on January 16, 2011.[12] The Vikings posted the top-ranked rushing offense in the league over that span, andAdrian Peterson had his 2,000 rushing yards season and received theAP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2012. After three seasons with the Vikings, he was not retained by new head coachMike Zimmer after the 2013 season.
Musgrave was hired by thePhiladelphia Eagles as the team's quarterbacks coach on January 27, 2014.[13] The Eagles finished sixth in the league in passing offense (272.3 ypg) despite splitting time between two quarterbacks.Nick Foles andMark Sanchez started eight games apiece for the Eagles and combined to throw for 4,581 yards—a total topped by only five NFL quarterbacks that season.[14]
Musgrave was hired by head coachJack Del Rio for a second time, on January 19, 2015, to serve as offensive coordinator.[15] Musgrave took over an offense that ranked last in the NFL in total offense (282.2 ypg) and 31st in scoring (15.9 ppg) in 2014. The Raiders made the biggest offensive improvement in the NFL in yards per game (+91.1) and scoring (+10.2 ppg) in two seasons under Musgrave, finishing in the top seven in the league in both categories in 2016 (373.3 ypg/26.0 ppg).[16] The Raiders' offensive resurgence was spurred by the development of quarterbackDerek Carr, who in two seasons in Musgrave's offense passed for nearly 8,000 yards to go along with 60 touchdowns.[17]
On January 10, 2017, Musgrave's contract was not renewed, and was let go by head coachJack Del Rio after losing to theHouston Texans in a wild card playoff game.
Musgrave was hired by the Broncos on January 13, 2017, to serve as the quarterbacks coach under new head coachVance Joseph. He was promoted to offensive coordinator following the firing of offensive coordinatorMike McCoy on November 20, 2017. The Broncos posted a 6–10 record during the 2018–19 season. Musgrave's offense finished ranked 19th in total yards, 12th in rushing yards, and 19th in passing yards.
Following the 2018–19 season, the Broncos hiredVic Fangio as head coach and did not retain Musgrave.
On January 3, 2020, Musgrave was announced as the offensive coordinator for theCalifornia Golden Bears, replacingBeau Baldwin and marking his return to the college ranks after 18 years. Musgrave was let go on November 13, 2022, after the Golden Bears lost their sixth game in a row to Oregon State.[18]
On February 26, 2023, Musgrave was hired as a senior offensive assistant for theCleveland Browns under head coachKevin Stefanski.[19]
Musgrave was promoted to the role of quarterbacks coach on January 28, 2025.[20]