Jeff Stoutland's Top Assistant Roy Istvan Leaves Eagles For Browns

In a surprise move, Roy Istvan, Jeff Stoutland's longtime top assistant, has left the Eagles and is taking the same position on Kevin Stefanski's Browns team.

The Browns announced on their website Thursday morning that Istvan — the Eagles' assistant offensive line coach since 2019 — has been hired as an assistant offensive line coach under new Browns O-line coach Andy Dickerson. Dickerson replaced Bill Callahan — the Eagles' offensive line coach under Ray Rhodes — who is now the O-line coach under his son Brian, the Titans' new head coach.

Istvan's connection to Stoutland goes back more than 30 years. Istvan played for Stoutland and then coached with Stout at Southern Connecticut State in the late 1980s. He joined the Eagles in 2019 after coaching in college for nearly three decades.

Stoutland posted a video on social media last week that indirectly suggested he was returning to Nick Sirianni's staff, and so far he's the only Eagles 2023 assistant coach we know of among the new coordinators Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio returns.

Istvan will see a lot of familiar faces in Cleveland.

Stefanski hired Duce Staley as running backs coach earlier this month, and Istvan and Staley were with the Eagles in 2019 and 2020 under Doug Pederson. Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was also here with Istvan. Additionally, Browns general manager Andrew Berry served as the Eagles' vice president of football operations in 2019.

Istvan is the seventh assistant coach from Nick Sirianni's 2023 roster who is known to be no longer with the team.

Offensive coordinator Brian Johnson is now the Commanders' passing game coordinator, defensive coordinators Sean Desai and Matt Patricia have left but have not been hired elsewhere, quarterbacks coach Alex Tanney is the Colts' passing game coordinator under Shane Steichen, senior offensive assistant Marcus Brady is the Chargers' passing game coordinator Tracy Rocker is a defensive coach under Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, the former Eagles secondary coach, and secondary coach DK McDonald is co-defensive coordinator at Kansas.

The assistants whose fates we don't yet know include running backs coach Jemel Singleton, receivers coach Aaron Moorehead, tight ends coach Jason Michael, linebackers coach DJ Eliot and edges coach Jeremiah Washburn, as well as a number of assistant position coaches and quality control trainer.

In Istvan's five years with Stoutland, the Eagles had four offensive linemen make a total of 11 Pro Bowls – Jason Kelce five, Lane Johnson three, Landon Dickerson two and Brandon Brooks one.