New Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods will stick with 4-3 defense

San Francisco 49ers defensive backs coach Joe Woods.

Joe Woods was officially named Browns defensive coordinator on Friday.AP

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The big question whenever the Browns hire a new defensive coordinator has been answered: They are not switching schemes under Joe Woods.

Woods was officially announced as defensive coordinator on Friday. He joins the Browns after a season as the defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator in San Francisco. The franchise had to wait for the 49ers’ season to end to officially hire Woods.

“Absolutely worth the wait,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “It’s good to see when you’re taking a coach from another team, it’s good to see that team having success. It was fun to watch those guys. They had an incredible season. Joe’s impact on that defense was very real."

As for the question of scheme, Woods said he’ll keep the Browns in a 4-3.

“I think you want to make sure that you’re putting the guys that you have in the right position to make plays,” Woods said. “I know the personnel here is tailored toward a 4-3 scheme, which I’m very comfortable with. We’ll stay with the 4-3 system here and focus on putting the guys in the right positions to make plays.”

Woods has seen the Browns’ talent on defense up close, both with San Francisco last year and when the Browns visited Denver the season before.

“You could definitely see they had some pieces in place,” Woods said, “some talented players that I’ve evaluated over the years.”

Woods is back as a defensive coordinator after he held the position in Denver for two years in 2017 and 2018 before joining the 49ers last year.

“It’s good to be back in this role,” Woods said. “I felt like I learned a lot from my time in Denver. It’s really about managing people, game-planning and how to call a game, so I feel like I’m more prepared now than I was then."

Woods grew up near Pittsburgh, so he already knows all about the Browns’ biggest rivalry, too.

“I know they’re a division rival and I was on the other side of it my whole life because I grew up in Pittsburgh but now it’s about business.”

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