Gregory Alexander Van Pelt (born May 1, 1970) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player who is the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

Playing career

College

Van Pelt attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, where he was a quarterback for the Panthers. When he graduated, Van Pelt held school passing records previously set by

Dan Marino Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and be ...

. His single-season mark of 3,163 passing yards in 1992 was broken in 2003 by

Rod Rutherford Rod Rutherford (born December 12, 1980) is an American football coach and former quarterback. Rutherford spent time on both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers rosters, mostly as a practice squad player. Rutherford entered the Nat ...

. *1989: 192/347 for 2,881 yards with 17 touchdowns vs 12 interceptions. Ran for 4 touchdowns. *1990: 201/351 for 2,427 yards with 14 touchdowns vs 17 interceptions. Ran for 2 touchdowns. *1991: 227/398 for 2,796 yards with 15 touchdowns vs 14 interceptions. Ran for 1 touchdown. *1992: 245/407 for 3,163 yards with 20 touchdowns vs 17 interceptions.

Professional

Van Pelt was an eighth round draft pick of his hometown

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, but was released during training camp. Van Pelt spent three games with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

late in the 1993 NFL season following a hamstring injury to Joe Montana. He was re-signed by the Chiefs prior to the

1994 NFL season The 1994 NFL season was the 75th regular season of the National Football League. To honor the NFL's 75th season, a special anniversary logo was designed and each player wore a patch on their jerseys with this logo throughout the season. Also, a ...

, but was released during training camp. He was signed by the

later in the 1994 season following a knee injury sustained by

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United State ...

and spent the remainder of his career as a backup with the Bills. Van Pelt's first NFL win as a starter would come on November 2, 1997, against

and the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he started 8 games, going 2–6, and playing well enough to justify a contract extension that would allow the Bills to release failed Doug Flutie successor Rob Johnson. Van Pelt would not start any games after 2001 due to a Bills trade with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

for Drew Bledsoe, who became the full-time starting quarterback. Van Pelt remained with the team as Bledsoe's backup for the next two seasons before retiring. In his eleven-year career, Van Pelt totaled 16

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s and 24

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s on 477 pass attempts in 31 career appearances and 11 starts.

Broadcasting career

After retiring from football in 2004, Van Pelt was John Murphy's partner on Bills Radio Network broadcasts. He did color commentary for the

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

broadcast of all Bills games until the 2005 season.

Coaching career

University at Buffalo

Van Pelt was a volunteer winter quarterbacks coach for the University at Buffalo in 2005.

Frankfurt Galaxy

Van Pelt was the quarterbacks coach for the

Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy: * Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007 * Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

, the NFL's developmental league, in 2005, where he was responsible for all offensive play calling.

Buffalo Bills

On February 13, 2006, Van Pelt was hired by

head coach

Dick Jauron Richard Manuel Jauron (born October 7, 1950) is a former American football player and coach. He played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL), five with the Detroit Lions and three with the Cincinnati Bengals. Jauron served as the he ...

as offensive quality control coach. On January 16, 2008, the Bills promoted him to quarterbacks coach. On September 4, 2009, he was promoted again to

after

Turk Schonert Turk Leroy Schonert (January 15, 1957 – January 17, 2019) was a quarterback, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator in the National Football League (NFL). Schonert was the head coach of the United Football League's Sacramento Mountain Lio ...

was fired. On January 4, 2010, Van Pelt, along with the rest of the Bills coaching staff, was fired following a 6–10 season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Van Pelt was hired by the

as the quarterbacks coach on February 1, 2010. When Buccaneers head coach

Raheem Morris Raheem Morris (born September 3, 1976) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009 to 2 ...

was fired on January 2, 2012, the whole staff was let go as well.

Green Bay Packers

Van Pelt was hired by the Packers as the running backs coach on February 13, 2012. On February 7, 2014, Van Pelt was promoted to quarterbacks coach and his contract expired on January 3, 2018.

Cincinnati Bengals

On January 12, 2018, Van Pelt was hired by the

as their quarterbacks coach.

Cleveland Browns

On January 29, 2020, Van Pelt was hired by the

as their offensive coordinator under head coach

Kevin Stefanski Kevin Lawrence Stefanski (born May 8, 1982) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Vikings from 2006 to ...

. Stefanski missed the team's wild card playoff game against the

on January 10, 2021, and Van Pelt took over as offensive play caller for the game.

Personal life

Van Pelt lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife Brooke and their three children.

References

External links

Packers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Pelt, Alex 1970 births Living people American radio sports announcers American football quarterbacks Buffalo Bills announcers Buffalo Bills coaches Buffalo Bills players Frankfurt Galaxy coaches National Football League announcers National Football League offensive coordinators Pittsburgh Panthers football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Players of American football from San Antonio Sportspeople from San Antonio Cleveland Browns coaches