Hal Hunter was a good offensive line coach for the Browns back in the day.

I also believe Hal Hunter will be a good offensive coach for the Browns in the present day.

And that bodes well for the line, which in turns bodes well for the quarterback, which in turns bodes well for the offense, which in turns bodes well for the Browns overall.

Hunter, whose father, the late Hal Sr., coached four years, first under head coach Bud Carson in 1989 and ’90 and then for Bill Belichick in 1991 and ’92, is in first season with Browns. As with many assistants hired by head coach Hue Jackson, he inherits a position area that is a fixer-upper, perhaps not to the level of some other spots on the team, but still a fixer-upper in various regards nonetheless.

It starts with the fact that, to a great extent, the line really wasn’t coached last season. Really.

The line coach, Andy Moeller, the son of former Michigan head coach and Ohio State linebacker/center Gary Moeller, a Lima, Ohio native, didn’t make it through his second season with the Browns in 2015, being let go after being involved in a messy domestic dispute. When the assistant line coach, George DeLeone, took over, the players – to a man – said the sudden and unexpected change wouldn’t be a problem, but it was. The line was a mess. Cleveland quarterbacks were sacked 53 times. The linemen should have been charged with negligence.

Hunter gets the benefit of having future Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas at left tackle and two decent guards in John Greco and Joel Bitonio, but he’s also been saddled with a giant problem – literally and figurative – at the all-important position of center.

At least initially, the Browns are going to go with 6-foot-5, 313-pound Cam Erving there as a replacement for Pro Bowler Alex Mack, who departed in free agency in the offseason. I think Erving is too tall for the position. I’ve never heard of a pro center that size. He is built more like a tackle.

But the Browns don’t care what I think.

Let’s hope they’re right, and that I’m wrong.

Erving didn’t look like an NFL lineman last year, no matter what position he would have played. After being taken No. 19 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft, Erving had a miserable rookie season. Realistically, it couldn’t have been much worse.

Part of it, certainly, was the upheaval of the coaching change, but there’s also the fact that despite being 6-foot-5 and 313 pounds, he was getting manhandled play after play after play when he was in there, mostly at guard. It was ugly.

If Hunter does nothing else this season, he has to make a player out of Erving – at least one good enough not to get embarrassed like that again.

There is so much focus on whether or not Robert Griffin III can rebound and be a good quarterback again as he gets a second chance after coming to Cleveland, but if Erving can’t do the job and fortify the middle of the line, then it won’t make any difference who the quarterback is because he will spend most of the time running for his life. In addition, if the middle is clogged up, the Browns also won’t be able to run the ball effectively so as to take the pressure off RG 3 to make plays.

The offense was always going to struggle some this season, at least at first, because there are a lot of moving parts – new parts — that will need a little time to blend together. But if Erving is a bust again, then that sets the offense back even further.

On the other hand, if Erving is just average, that will make Griffin better, and if he is making some plays, the offense will eventually do enough to be competitive. With that, then, if the offense is holding up its end of the bargain, then it will help the team overall to be competitive.

It’s all connected, see?

You might say it all starts with Erving, and in some ways, it does. But Erving will not be successful unless he’s coached up, so it actually starts with Hal Hunter.

And as is the case with most of the rest of the coaches Jackson has assembled, I have confidence that Hunter will be able to get the most out of all his players, including Erving, although it won’t be easy because I’m not convinced that the talent – and the toughness – is there. Indeed, I’m dubious that Erving can ever be a solid player, but if it’s possible, then Hunter is the guy who can make it happen.

After all, doing a good coaching job with offensive linemen is in his genes.