Shurmur's Replacements

Before we get going, wasn't it refreshing to see the owner of the Cleveland Browns during a telecast of the football game?

Seeing him was enough (especially since we never saw Randy Lerner). But seeing him give genuine emotion during the game? Times, they are a changing, my friends.

Jimmy Haslam III's body language during Sunday's game in Indianapolis told Joe Cleveland a lot about what he thinks about the coach he inherited, Pat Shurmur.

It now leads me to believe that the question is no longer "if" Shurmur will be fired at the end of the season, it now becomes "when."

As in, will Haslam fire Shurmur next week? At the bye week? With two weeks to go in the regular season? In the locker room following the season finale?

Mike Holmgren is on his way out the door. Shurmur's fresh out of friends. Sure, new CEO Joe Banner knew Shurmur when the latter was an assistant coach on Andy Reid's staff in Philadelphia, but that may not be the best thing for Shurmur.

Shurmur's only won five games in a year-and-a-half. Shurmur has an 11-game losing streak to his credit. Shurmur has made countless coaching blunders during games that have cost his teams a chance to win.

I'll let this one sink in for you ... Shurmur was outcoached yesterday by an interim coach. Bruce Arians (remember him as the offensive coordinator who perpetuated the Tim Couch-Kelly Holcomb controversy back in the early 2000s) outcoached Pat Shurmur.

Joe Cleveland woke up Monday fully expecting to see a banner headline on Cleveland.com saying that Shurmur was fired. It would not have surprised me.

Sure, Shurmur could still save his job. But this team is 1-6 and lost to a very beatable Colts team. Coaching decisions, such as the decision to punt on fourth-and-1 from the Indy 40 with six minutes left (then going for it from the same yard line but fourth-and-six), kicking the extra point instead of going for the potential game-tying 2-point conversion after Josh Gordon's touchdown to start the third quarter, and essentially abandoning the run game against a very weak run defense in a game that within one possession the majority of the game will come back to haunt him.

Shurmur would have to win at least five more games over the remaining nine to even be in the discussion to come back. I believe that he would have to sweep the Steelers as well. Can it be done? There are some winnable games on the schedule -- the Chiefs, the Redskins, the Raiders, the Steelers (both), the Ravens and the Chargers are all winnable games. That's seven of the remaining nine games, so it's not as if they're having to play the Patriots, Packers, Falcons, Texans and 49ers.

The only two games on the schedule that look like definite losses are the Cowboys and the Broncos on the road. Even the Cowboys look beatable.

Will it be done? Even with a roster of up-and-coming talent that has been competitive each and every week, I don't think it will.

So, let's get the ball rolling and see who could be on the short list of guys to replace Shurmur. Mike Holmgren essentially took himself out of the equation by retiring at the end of this season, and I can't see existing assistants with head coaching experience such as Brad Childress and Dick Jauron being legitimate candidates.

Haslam and Banner will want a proven head coach that can turn this collection of talent into a perennial winner, or at lease someone with a winning background. Here's who could be on that list:

1. Jon Gruden, ESPN Monday Night Football analyst: Gruden, a Sandusky native who grew up as a Browns fan, was everyone's No. 1 choice two years ago when Holmgren fired Eric Mangini. Gruden was from the Holmgren coaching tree and the two remained close through the years. Gruden turned a struggling Raiders franchise into a winner then left after a falling out with owner Al Davis. He landed in Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl (over the Raiders) in his first season there, giving the perennial losing Bucs their first Super Bowl berth and title. He kept the Bucs a perennnial winner, but was fired in 2008 after his team missed the playoffs. For whatever reason (ego?), Holmgren decided to go the unproven route (a decision that greased his skids out of town). But the time may be right for Gruden to get back into coaching. He's also high on current rookie QB Brandon Weeden, and he may look forward to working with him. Gruden has ring, the local pedigree and the big name to get people talking.

2. Bill Cowher, CBS NFL analyst: Cowher is always on Browns fans' radars whenever they make a coaching change. He'll always be the one that got away in a lot of fans' eyes when the Dead Judas passed on the former Browns linebacker and defensive assistant for Bill Belichick back in 1991. The next year, Cowher was hired to replace Chuck Noll at Pittsburgh, and he immediately turned around a franchise that was stagnant under Noll back into a contender. Cowher was always a thorn in the Browns' side, but, like his mentor Marty Schottenheimer, his Steeler teams were prone to a big playoff choke every single year. He finally got that monkey off his back in his second-to-last year when the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2005. Since he stepped down, he's been a fixture on CBS's Sunday game-day telecasts. At least once, Cowher turned down Randy Lerner to be the Browns head coach and he has not given any indication that he would be interested in returning. Also, Haslam's Steeler ties occurred AFTER Cowher left, so they do not have a prior relationship. Do I think Cowher would come to Cleveland? Probably not. But, as long as there is a coaching vacancy, you have to include him on any short list.

3. Nick Saban, Alabama head coach: Saban's name has suddenly become hot rumored commodity, especially after Saban's interview for the NFL Network documentary "Cleveland 95: A Football Life," in which he waxes poetically about his time as the Browns defensive coordinator under Belichick and how close that team was to becoming a winner. Saban left the Browns to become Michigan State's head coach, and he has been very successful there, at Louisiana State (a national championship in 2006) and at Alabama (two national championships in 2008 and 2011 and potentially a third this year). In between LSU and Alabama, there was a forgettable two-year stint as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2005-06, in which his teams went 15-17. Saban's track record shows a guy who doesn't like to get settled down in one place too long, and he may feel the time is right for a return to the pro game. With his former Tide star Trent Richardson as the cornerstone of the Browns' offense, and with Haslam's deep checkbook, Saban could come here. But, let's take a moment and remember the last college coach that came here, Butch Davis, and how well that four-year stint went. Just because a guy was successful in college doesn't mean that will translate to the pros.

4. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles head coach: Reid's hot seat in Philly keeps getting hotter the more his team loses games. His firing of defensive coordinator Juan Castillo at the bye week reeked of a desperation move. He came very close to losing his job last year after going 8-8 despite a ton of high profile free agent signings that bolstered both defense and the offense. He's only been to one Super Bowl in his 10 years in Philly, so it may be title or bust for him. Banner worked closely with Reid at the Eagles, although their relationship was strained at best (according to some reports). Reid also worked with current Browns GM Tom Heckert, although Reid had final say on the roster. Reid may keep a lot of the assistant coaches because of his familiarity with them and may keep up some of continuity. Reid's a proven winner (129-83-1), but he's never won a championship.

5. Brian Billick, FOX NFL/college game analyst: If Cowher's the one that got away for the old Browns, Billick is the one that got away for the expansion era. Billick quickly emerged as Carmen Policy's No. 1 candidate to be the head coach of the new Browns. After his Vikings were upset in the NFC Championship game by the Atlanta Falcons, then-GM Dwight Clark was whisked to Minneapolis on Al Lerner's private jet with a contract for Billick to sign. However, Billick wanted to meet with the Ravens first and talk about their opening. An insulted Policy yanked the offer away from Billick and watched him agree to become the Ravens coach. He quickly turned Baltimore's fortunes around, winning the Super Bowl in just his second year and turning the franchise into a perennial winner. The Browns may have cost him his job in 2007, when they memorably swept his Ravens and knocked them into a losing season. Since then, he has not been a serious candidate for any head coaching openings. Who knows if he has the itch, but his familiarity with the AFC North Division (especially the Ravens) would make him a legitimate candidate if he decided to test the waters. Plus, he has a ring and his name is recognizable. Oh, and did I mention he was an Ohio native (Fairborn)?

6. Jim Tressel, University of Akron vice president: Tressel is like a modern-day Paul Brown when it comes to Ohio football coaches. Tressel, after turning Youngstown State into a perennnial Division I-AA (FCS) powerhouse, winning four national championships in the 80s and 90s, came to Ohio State and immediatly won the school's first national championship since 1968 (well, in his second year, but it was pretty close to immediate). He coached the Buckeyes to two other national championship games and always had his program on the verge of national contention. His teams owned the Michigan rivalry, only losing once from 2001-10. However, he was forced out following a scandal involving several of his players selling their memorablilia (such as trophies) for tattoos. Last season, he served as a consultant for the Indianapolis Colts and was interviewed for their head coaching job (which wound up going to Chuck Pagano). The NCAA has barred him from accepting another college head coaching job for the next five years. He stated many times that the one NFL job he would even consider leaving Ohio State for was the Browns job, because he grew up in Berea and was still a die-hard Browns fan. He was even linked to the job twice during Romeo Crennel's up-and-down four-year tenure, but was never a serious candidate. While his style may be best suited for college players, there's no denying that he's a winner. Plus, he'd be a very popular choice with the fans -- many still think he got a raw deal even though it was proven that he lied to NCAA investigators.

7. Tony Dungy, NBC Sunday Night Football analyst: Dungy, like Cowher, Gruden and Billick, has found a home on television following his retirement from being the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts following the 2008 season. Since then, Dungy has been a fixture on NBC's Football Night in America highlight show and on the SNF postgame studio show. Dungy was in the process of turning Tampa Bay's football fortunes around from 1996-2001 before he was mysteriously fired (and replaced by Jon Gruden, who promptly won a Super Bowl with his players). Indy snapped him up to replace Jim Mora, and, with the help of Peyton Manning, rode a wave of prosperity with the Colts from 2002-08, even winning the Super Bowl in 2006 and building a team that got to the Super Bowl a year after he stepped down. Dungy, a former Steeler player and assistant coach, is one of the most respected figures in professional football today and would bring instant credibility to this franchise. However, it appears he's comfortable as a TV analyst and hasn't leaked any indication of a possible return to coaching. He'd be worth talking to, though.

8. Kevin Gilbride, New York Giants offensive coordinator: As the architect of the Giants' offense, Gilbride has won two Super Bowl championships over the last five years and has the chance to win a third this season. Gilbride is one of the most respected offensive minds in the NFL, dating back to his Run-&-Shoot offensive scheme with the Houston Oilers in the early 1990s. However, as a head coach, he didn't cut the mustard, going 6-16 during his two years as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers (1996-98). Gilbride may be one of those guys who is just cut out to be a top-level assistant but not ready to be a head coach. However, the work he's done with the Giants lately has seemingly put him back on the radar for head coaching gigs. He's arguably the top candidate among current assistant coaches. If the Giants reach the Super Bowl again, his name will definitely be a hot commodity.

9. Philip Fulmer, CBS college football analyst: I throw Fulmer's name on this list because he's a coaching legend from the University of Tennessee. Haslam's father was a football player for the Volunteers, and the Haslam family is one of Tennessee's biggest athletic boosters and a very influential family down there. Fulmer won Tennessee's only BCS National Championship in 1997, and his Volunteers are still the last SEC team to win back-to-back conference championships (1997-98). Fulmer hasn't coached anyone since Tennessee fired him after a 5-7 season in 2008, but he has said that he hasn't ruled out a return to coaching. I refer to my earlier statement on college coaches making the transition to the NFL, and, if any college coach makes the jump, it's likely to be Saban. Also, Fulmer has never even been an NFL assistant coach. But, anything's possible.

10. Dom Capers, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator: Capers has had a sketchy track record as an NFL head coach. In two four-year stints with the Carolina Panthers (1995-98) and the Houston Texans (2002-05), his record is just 48-80. However, he did take over two expansion franchises, and his Panthers reached the NFC Championship game in just his second year. However, that 1996 season was his only winning season as a head coach. His defenses were always tough, but his offenses were conservative and lackluster. Capers is an Ohio native (Byesville) who played collegiately at Mount Union and also served as an assistant coach with both Kent State (1972-74) and Ohio State (1982-83), so he has some Ohio ties. He was also the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 1992-94 under Cowher. His Packers' units are known to be among the top defenses in the NFL. However, he did win a Super Bowl with the Packers in 2010 and could very well do it again this year. His background in the 3-4 defense clashes with the Browns' current desire to go with a 4-3.

HONORABLE MENTION: Urban Meyer, Ohio State head coach; Aaron Kromer, New Orleans Saints interim head coach; Todd Haley, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator; Herman Edwards, NFL Network analyst; Kirk Ferentz, Iowa head coach; Jay Gruden, Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator; Wade Phillips, Houston Texans defensive coordinator; Joe Vitt, New Orleans Saints assistant head coach; Rob Ryan, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator.

There is no shortage of legitimate candidates to be the next Browns head coach, one that would surely get the fans excited and help put this team over the hump.

And, I've got to say, I would prefer anyone on this list over Pat Shurmur.

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!

Why such hatred toward all things Steeler?

Every once in a while, Joe Cleveland gets asked that question. Not often, though. And, it's usually from a fan of the Pittspuke Squeelers that just so happens to live around here.

No, the Steelers didn't kill members of my family or burn down my house or kick my dog or anything like that. However, I DESPISE them. I DESPISE their fanbase, the so-called "Steeler Nation." And, I DESPISE the Steeler Fan who happens to live in my own backyard (no, not one particular person, but you catch my drift).

(On a related note, any fanbase that refers to themselves as a "Nation" should be neutered. The only "Nation" I admit to is the the United States of America. I've never heard anyone refer to "Browns Nation" or "Tribe Nation" or "Cavs Nation" and I hope I never do. It takes a "Nation" of millions to hold this guy back ... and yes, that was a Public Enemy reference.)

As much as Joe Cleveland love the Browns, it's the complete opposite for the Steelers. And, it seems like that hatred has only grown and grown ever since the Browns came back to the NFL in 1999.

But why?

There was always a natural rivalry between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Both are Rust Belt Cities in the Midwest filled with blue-collar people who love the game of football. The communities are only seperated by 200 or so miles, so it's not exactly a lengthy commute to get to Cleveland from Pittsburgh or vice versa.

Pittsburgh is the closest "Major League" city to Cleveland. It's closer than in-state rival Cincinnati, and it's probably just a little further away from Columbus (who has no opposing teams to Cleveland, just the beloved Ohio State Buckeyes). It's also closer than Detroit, Indianapolis and Chicago. The close proximity only adds fuel to the rivalry.

And, because there are some spots in Ohio that are actually closer to Pittsburgh than Cleveland, there are some spots where the Steeler game would be televised instead of the Browns game. And, there are more Steelers fans than Browns fans.

When the Browns (who were formed in the rival All-American Football Conference in 1946) joined the NFL in 1950, they were an elite team. The Steelers, meanwhile, were a laughingstock. The Browns reached the NFL Championship game the first five years they were in the NFL, winning three of them. The Steelers never even made the playoffs.

In fact, it took about four years before the Steelers were able to beat the Browns in football. As Pittsburgh fans like to say now as they beat the Browns every single year, there really was no rivalry then. Back then, the Browns biggest rivals were the Lions and the Giants, and that was because those were the teams the Browns had get through every single year in order to win the NFL. Also, the Rams, because they were in Cleveland before they moved to Los Angeles following winning the 1945 NFL Championship.

It wasn't until the 1960s when there seemed to be a genuine rivalry between the two teams. The Browns reached the NFL Championship game in 1964, 65, 68 and 69 (winning it in 1964), but were pretty mediocre from 1957 (their last NFL Championship game appearance) to 1964. During that time, Art Modell bought the team, fired Paul Brown and built their team around the tremendous running of Jim Brown. Also, the Steelers began to compete with the Browns on the field.

By the end of the 1960s, the Steelers were back to being bad and the Browns seemed to be on the verge of becoming an NFL powerhouse again. The Steelers had the No. 1 pick in the 1969 draft and had just hired a former Browns offensive lineman and Colts defensive coordinator named Chuck Noll as their head coach. That season, the Steelers only won one game, even though they drafted future Hall of Famer "Mean" Joe Greene.

That's when everything changed, and the rivalry ratched up a notch.

Almost mirroring the intense rivalry between Bo Schembechler's Michigan teams and Woody Hayes' Ohio State teams (the "Ten Year War"), the Steelers and Browns games grew more intense as the Steelers suddenly got good. Meanwhile, the Browns were slipping into mediocrity. Browns fans weren't used to being beat by the Steelers, and they didn't like it very much.

In 1970, Three Rivers Stadium opened in Pittsburgh, and the Browns failed to win a game there for the first 16 years that facility was opened. They finally won there in 1986, actually starting a run of four consecutive years of beating the Steelers on the road. And, for good measure, the Browns did squeak out a win there in their return season of 1999, just two years before Three Rivers was closed and the Steelers moved to Heinz Field.

It was during the 1970s that, legend has it, Joe Cleveland's impression of the Steelers was ingrained forever.

I don't know how true this story is, because I was only 4 or 5 at the time, and it was relayed to me by other family members. But, one summer day, my parents took me and my infant brother to Sea World. They decided, for whatever reason, to dress us in identical Pittsburgh Steelers shirts.

I guess we went on one of those ferry boat rides where the fake cowboys shoot air rifles at the fake Indians. As we settled in, the driver of the boat was saying the dos and don'ts of the ride over the loudspeaker. He said the following:

"Please be sure to keep your hands and feet inside the boat at all times and please refain from jumping into the water. Steeler fans, however, can be tossed overboard."

Everyone started laughing, as did I. Until I realized people were looking at me, who was wearing a Steeler shirt.

I don't know if that started it, but ever since then, I DESPISED that team. You can blame Sea World, I guess.

Like I said, I don't know how true that story is. I never asked my parents about it. But, part of me wants to believe that story to be true. Maybe my parents were trying to teach me that liking the Steelers was no good, and we live in Cleveland, so we should love the Browns. And, no, I don't believe my parents were being cruel. They loved me and still do.

But, as I became more and more aware of football, you start to realize that, as a Browns fan, you don't like Pittsburgh and you don't like Cincinnati. And, I HATED both teams with a passion. I also hated the Houston Oilers and the Denver Broncos, but not as intensely and, in the case of the Broncos, for different reasons.

What makes Joe Cleveland cringe and sick is sudden crop of Steeler Fans who live among us in Northeast Ohio and have always lived among us. Where did they all come from, and why?

The Steelers I first heard of were the Super Bowl dynasty of the 1970s, but when I began to follow football, the Steelers were a joke. The Browns were getting into the playoffs regularly and beating the Steelers. Chuck Noll had lost it, and the team never seemed to find a competant replacement for Terry Bradshaw (Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone, David Woodley, Bubby Brister, Todd Blackledge ... I laugh just thinking about it).

I believe locals began to shed their allegiance for all things Brown and Orange in three different stages.

The first stage is when the Browns passed over Bill Cowher, a popular former player and assistant coach, for Bill Belichick in 1991. Modell didn't believe Cowher was "ready" to be a head coach and may have held a grudge because Cowher followed Marty Schottenheimer out the door when Marty left the Browns to coach the Kansas City Chiefs. The next year, Noll finally retired, and the Steelers hired Cowher. I think some Browns fans were miffed that Belichick (who wasn't very popular among the fans) was their coach and Cowher was with the Steelers. Cowher immediately turned the Steelers into winners as well, while the Browns seemed to be mired in mediocrity under Belichick. So, they may have started to follow the coach they wanted all along and root for the Steelers.

The second stage is when the Browns were moved to Baltimore in 1995. Supposedly, there were some in Pittsburgh who were decidedly against the move. They lamented the loss of their fiercest rival and claimed "it would never be the same" with the team in Baltimore (they were wrong, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. They are from Pittsburgh). Steelers owner Dan Rooney was one of the few who lobbied for the NFL to keep the team in Cleveland and block Modell from moving. The Steelers and the Bills were the only two teams to vote against the move. With the Browns gone, some Browns fans began to adopt other teams to root during the three years the NFL wasn't in Cleveland, and Pittsburgh became a popular choice.

The Steelers had reached the Super Bowl in 1995, so you had the bandwagoners. Browns fans wanted to see the newly christened Baltimore Ravens suffer, and the Steelers played them twice a year. And, Pittsburgh was the closest NFL city to Cleveland, so a lot of Steelers games were shown on the TV.

The third stage was after the Browns came back in 1999. That first game was against the Steelers. And, we all know that the Steelers dominated the Browns, 43-0, in front of a National TV Sunday Night audience. I think some Browns fans could never fully embrace the new team and were also tired of the losing. Meanwhile, the Steelers consistantly qualified for the playoffs. More and more bandwagoners shed their Browns gear for Steelers gear.

What's sad is the local Steeler Fan acts as if they've followed the team forever. They brag about how the Steelers never change coaches (umm, they did hire a new coach four years ago, but whatever) and about how the Steelers have more Super Bowl championships than every other team. They brag about how the Rooney family is the "standard of excellance" for NFL owners. And, even though most of them dissed the hiring of Mike Tomlin when it happened, they can't stop bragging about their head coach.

Newsflash, it's all because of winning. Steeler fans would be screaming for Tomlin's head if the team didn't reach two Super Bowls in the last four years (including this year's). They talk up Bill Cowher as great, even though his teams continually choked in the playoffs before they finally were able to win a Super Bowl just two years before Cowher retired. They wondered why the Steelers would draft a MAC quarterback with a long last name until Ben Roethilsberger was forced into action as a rookie and he won every single game he played. They can forgive Roethlisberger's many transgressions as long as he continues to win.

People don't realize that Art Rooney was a joke of an owner when he first famously bought a share of what was called the Pittsburgh Pirates after a successful day at the horse track (seriously, look it up). Rooney was always broke and had to merge with other NFL teams twice in the 1940s to keep his franchise afloat. At one point, he was bought out by Bert Bell, but after Bell became the NFL commissioner, Rooney got his controlling interest back.

The Steelers reached the playoff a grand total of ONCE between their formation in 1933 and 1970. And, they lost that playoff game. They never won an NFL title during that span, nor played for one, for that matter.

The Steelers had a young Johnny Unitas in training camp, and CUT him. Unitas wound up catching on with the Baltimore Colts and became one of the greatest QBs to ever play in the NFL. The Steelers, meanwhile, sucked.

The Steelers would grab great players on the downswing of their careers. Bobby Layne and Marion Motley immediately come to mind. Both were legendary players with the Lions and Browns, respectively, but stumbled and bumbled around as Steelers before they mercifully retired.

The Browns, actually, have more professional football championships than the Steelers do. The Browns have eight compared to the Steelers' six. If you want to count the Cleveland Rams' 1945 NFL title, the City of Cleveland has had NINE football championship teams, compared to the Steelers' six.

But, all that matters is what has happened from 1970 to now. The Steelers have had three head coaches during that span, reached eight Super Bowls, have won six (and, hopefully, that number stays that way in two weeks) and have won countless division championships. They've reached the AFC Championship game 14 times, winning eight.

The Browns, meanwhile, have only won five division titles, reached the playoffs 11 times, reached the AFC Championship game three times (losing all three) and no Super Bowls. They've been to the playoffs once since the team returned in 1999 and twice since 1990. Both times, they met (and lost to) the Steelers in the playoffs.

They also haven't won a division title since 1989. Oh yeah, and the Browns have only beaten the Steelers four times since they returned in 1999 (twice at home, once at Three Rivers and once at Heinz Field).

You do the math as to why there is a sudden proliferation of Steeler fans around here. Funny part is, real Steeler fans (i.e. people who live in and are from Western Pennsylvania) are ANNOYED at the bandwagon Steeler fans that live in Northeast Ohio. "Follow your own damn team," they say.

For a time, my biggest rival was the Baltimore Ravens, but that was because they were the old Browns owned by Art Modell. A loss to the Ravens bothered me more than a loss to the Steelers. In fact, I actually rooted for the Steelers against the Ravens in the 2007 AFC Championship game. This year, I rooted for the Ravens. I still despise them, but not as much as I despise the Steelers.

I think the sudden crop of Steeler fans around here have added to my hate. You don't see a lot of Ravens fans living around here, nor Bengals fans for that matter. Fans of other teams that live around here (like the Cowboys, Eagles, Jets, Packers, etc.) don't play the Browns every year, or share a divsion with them, so they don't bother me as much.

My new second-favorite team is whoever plays the Steelers every week. On my birthday this year, the Browns lost, but so did the Steelers. For me, it was a wash.

Joe Cleveland is what his name says he is -- a fan of Cleveland teams. I've never allowed Steeler garb to be worn on my person since that fateful day at Sea World, and I never will again. I was born here, I live here and I plan on living here for many, many more years until the day the Good Lord takes me away (hopefully in at least 40 more years). So, I root for the teams that represent me and my area. Pittsburgh doesn't represent me, and they never will. Cleveland does.

So, Go Packers, and remember that Cleveland Rocks!