The Cleveland Browns head coaching search was so long and exhaustive, it seemed to take on a life of it's own.
I'm sure someone created a Twitter account for the Browns' 2014 head coaching search. They've already created one for the I-480 bridge, "The Three Stooges" (the moniker bestowed upon owner Jimmy Haslam, CEO Joe Banner and general manager-in-hiding Mike Lombardi) and "The Factory of Sadness" (what comedian Mike Polk Jr. referred to FirstEnergy Stadium as during an epic rant in the midst of a forgettable 2011 season).
The national media had a field day with it, because as we all know, any chance to further embarrass Cleveland is too hard to pass up for the ESPNs of the world. The Browns organization was referred to as "toxic," among other adjectives, by coaches who dropped out of the running or various other league sources.
Finally, after 24 long days and at least 10 candidates interviewed, the Browns introduced former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine as the 15th full-time head coach in franchise history. He also becomes the 7th full-time head coach hired since the franchise came back to Cleveland in 1999, which means Browns' head coaches last here an average of 2.2 years before they are fired or leave.
As expected, the hiring of a coach like Pettine, a widely respected coach in NFL circles who worked his way from being a great high school coach into an NFL head coach in 10 years, was universally praised. The Buffalo media and fans were upset that they were losing a coach of his caliber. Reports out of Baltimore -- where the Ravens gave him his first coaching job -- were equally favorable, as well as from New York, where Rex Ryan took Pettine with him and made him his first defensive coordinator. However, the journey to get to Pettine -- a coach the Browns could have hired three days after Rob Chudzinski was fired because his Bills did not make the playoffs -- is still a head-scratcher.
The decision to bring Pettine in and ultimately hire him is probably because Haslam took over the search himself. Unfortunately, Banner and Lombardi butchered this search from the rip, and the longer it drug out, the worse it looked for the CEO and his puppet GM.
Ultimately, the one who looks the worst (and will be blamed by the Cleveland media who never liked him to begin with) is Lombardi. When Lombardi was being touted as the Browns' next GM under Haslam and Banner, Lombardi leaked to his cronies in the national media that whoever brought him in would have their choice of either Nick Saban, Chip Kelly, Bill O'Brien or Josh McDaniels as the new head coach. He also talked up Doug Marrone, the former Syracuse head coach who wound up taking the Buffalo job and hired Pettine as his defensive coordinator. And, two coaching searches in two years later, none of those guys are the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
It appeared early on that McDaniels had the inside track on the job, to the point that many figured that it was his job to lose. Whether McDaniels withdrew after his interview because he wasn't Haslam's No. 1 candidate, or whether McDaniels was assured by Robert Kraft that he is the heir apparent whenever Bill Belichick retires (which could be within the next couple of seasons), or whether McDaniels didn't want to uproot his family after settling into the Boston area, or whether he believed that Browns job was as "toxic" as some felt, we'll never really know. It was probably a combination of all four of those reasons. At any rate, Lombardi's golden boy was out, which had to make his seat even hotter than before.
Banner brags to everyone who will listen how he found Andy Reid and turned him into a great NFL coach. Reid wasn't even a coordinator when Banner's Eagles interviewed him -- the only NFL team that did interview him -- and hired him in 1999. Reid took the Eagles to the Super Bowl and kept them relevant before he was unceremoniously fired last season. He quickly found a home in Kansas City and turned the Chiefs from the NFL's worst team into a playoff contender in one season. So, when the Browns were bringing in unknown guys like Ben McAdoo, who was Green Bay's quarterback coach, it had Banner's fingerprints all over it. McAdoo wound up becoming the offensive coordinator of the Giants, which is probably a better job for him than the head coach of the Browns.
Haslam fell in love with Adam Gase, the young Denver Broncos offensive coordinator, because of his connection to Peyton Manning. Haslam has made it clear that Manning can have a job within the Browns organization as soon as his playing career is over if he would like it. The two became close because of their University of Tennessee connections, and as Manning praised the young offensive guru, the more interested Haslam became. But Gase never interviewed with the Browns. First, he declined interview requests during the first week because he wanted focus on his team's run to the playoffs. Then, after the Broncos reached the Super Bowl, he finally got around to telling Haslam that he might as well not even wait until Feb. 3 to interview him because he wasn't going to take the job.
Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who bears a striking resemblance to Pettine, did interview during that first week and quickly became a hot target as his Seahawks made their run to the Super Bowl. But, after spending several days with Pettine last week and dragging things out, it became clear that the Browns had a choice to make.
Do they give Pettine the job, who said that if he wasn't going to get the offer, he would take himself out of the running to be fair to the Bills? Or, do they wait for the Super Bowl to over and offer Quinn the job? Either choice would have been good. However, it would have been a gamble to wait for Quinn. While Quinn said he was interested in the Browns job, a lot could change between now and the Super Bowl. Quinn and the Seahawks could win the Super Bowl and Seattle could offer him more money and a better job title to stay put. He could simply determine he loved coaching his young defense in Seattle and wanted to stay. Or, he could say (like Gase did) that he didn't feel ready to be a head coach yet and would wait. If the Browns waited and Quinn said no, it could have been fatal. Pettine would not be a fallback choice. Most of the other candidates they interviewed either took different jobs or simply took themselves out of the running.
They may have had to settle for Atlanta offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, ex-Tampa Bay head coach Greg Schiano or former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel (who was gaining a grass-roots push to be considered a candidate from local football fans). The hiring of either Koetter or Schiano, who were both interviewed days before Pettine got the job, would have went over like a fart in church, and hiring Tressel would have looked embarrassing because of the fans' push for the team to hire him.
Banner and Lombardi appeared to be so sold on Pettine that one of them (probably Lombardi) reached back out to McDaniels the day before Pettine was hired to see if he was serious about taking himself out of the running. And, Banner wasn't shy about his praise of Quinn during the Pettine introduction, but said they couldn't risk waiting until after the Super Bowl when they had a coach in their laps that they really liked. Also, like he's been at just about every major press conference, Lombardi was conspicuous by his absence at the Pettine press conference.
Hopefully, Pettine becomes the head coach who can lift this franchise too the next level. Pettine, who bears a resemblance to former pro wrestler and NFL player Bill Goldberg, won skeptical fans over when he talked about holding players accountable for their mistakes, how they needed to "bloody their nose a bit" if they wanted to compete for an AFC North title, and how nothing he could say in his introductory press conference would really win over the fan base, that they'd have to do their talking with how they play on the field and win games. By saying he wasn't about winning press conferences and more about winning games, he essentially won the press conference.
Pettine has a reputation for being a no-nonsense kind of coach. His players respect him, fear him and love him. His nickname is "Blunt Force Trauma," which had to get Browns fans fired up. Jets linebacker Bart Scott, who followed Ryan and Pettine to New York from Baltimore, couldn't stop praising him. And, while the Bills went 6-10 this past season, it certainly wasn't the defense's fault. Pettine turned the Bills into the hybrid 3-4 defense that Haslam and Banner prefer (the same defense that Ray Horton ran here last year) and got tremendous results. He coaxed a comeback season from Mario Williams by lining him up both as a down lineman and at linebacker, depending on the situation. He turned Kiko Alonso into the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year.
And, while Browns fans remember the Bills giving up 37 points in that Thursday Night game in Cleveland, they forget that 14 of those points were the result of a punt return by Travis Benjamin and an interception return by T.J. Ward. And, Brandon Weeden only threw two truly great passes in that game, and they were on back-to-back plays and resulted in a long touchdown by Josh Gordon.
Pettine's first challenge was hiring a staff. He was able to get a few of his Bills' assistants to come to Cleveland and be his defensive staff, such as Jim O'Neil as the new defensive coordinator, and retained Chris Tabor to be the special teams coordinator. It appears, as of this writing, that former Washington offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is the front-runner to be Pettine's offensive coordinator, with Oakland running backs coach John DeFilippo and Dallas offensive coordinator Bill Callahan also as contenders.
But the hiring of Pettine and Haslam's increased role in the search may have put the target squarely on the backs of both Banner and Lombardi. Banner attempted to alleviate some of the tension by making a "Three Stooges" joke to start Pettine's press conference, saying that "since Mike and I are Larry and Moe, we needed a Curly. And there's not many Curly's around, but we found one in Mike Pettine." The joke worked, but I'm sure Banner's seat is getting a bit warmer than it was.
The team announcing that Ray Farmer, the assistant GM, would not be taking the Miami GM job only seems to solidify that that Lombardi will be the next one fired. Farmer's interview with Haslam was so good two seasons ago that he created a position for Farmer on the staff, essentially promoting Lombardi from VP of Player Personnel to GM so there could be an assistant GM.
The bizarre saga of receiver Davone Bess only makes Lombardi look worse, since it was he who traded for him and then suggested re-signing him to a lengthy contract extension. Banner admitted that the Browns did not know about Bess' arrest and hospitalization a month before the trade was made, which means that somebody did not do their due diligence on the subject. Sure, you can blame the Dolphins and Jeff Ireland (who is out of job now) for withholding that information and dealing the Browns some damaged goods. But, it's buyer beware in the NFL.
Many of Lombardi's moves during the season deserve to be questioned. The signing of a wide receiver of the Green Bay practice squad, who showed up to Berea with a torn ACL, was a bad one. Because the Browns purchased a player off an opposing practice squad, they had to (by rule) keep that player on the 53-man roster for three weeks. So, that player took up a roster spot for three weeks before he could be placed on injured reserve. Not very good.
Last year, there was dischord between the front office and the coaching staff and the result was a 4-12 season, a seven-game losing streak to end the season and the dismissal of the head coach, the offensive coordinator and the defensive coordinator. I'm sure Haslam will now hold Banner and his cronies more accountable for the support they give Pettine and his staff, because the national perception was that they did little to support Chud and his staff.
Pettine will get more than one year for sure, unless the Browns go 0-16 (God, let's hope not). The fanbase is restless, and many loyal season ticket holders are ready to put their wallet where their mouths are and not renew. The Browns will have a remodeled stadium next year, a new coach and coaching staff and some new players, even perhaps a new quarterback (although Pettine loves Brian Hoyer and said he'd open training camp as the starter). If there was ever a make-or-break season for the Cleveland Browns, the 2014 season is it.
It seems unlikely that Cleveland fans would treat the Browns like the Indians, where years of years of dischord between the team's front office and the fan base resulted in low attendance numbers for a team that had hired a marquee manager and won 93 games, even qualifying for the postseason. While season ticket and advance ticket sales may spike this season, it probably won't be anything earth shattering. It will be up to the Indians to prove to the fans that they are, indeed, committed to fielding a winning product every single season.
The Browns have never had to prove anything to the fanbase, other than just show up in July for training camp in those brown jerseys and orange helmets and then take the field in early September. That's pretty much it. The fans have desperately proved to the NFL that they can support a team after it was stolen from them in 1995, but I think we've proved enough. We've proved that we're extremely passionate about the Cleveland Browns. We're very angry and not shy about spewing it on message boards or on Twitter or Facebook or in blogs such as this one. But, we continue to go back like lemmings on their death march to the Stadium every Sunday because we hope that "this year's gonna be the year we turn it around."
At least with the Indians, fans are still passionate about them. Hatred or criticism can be construed as interest, and I'm sure the Dolans and Mark Shapiro do that. With the Cavs, the team has been so bad for four years and continues to struggle that the fans have begun to not care about them -- just like they did before LeBron James was dropped on our doorstep in 2003.
2014 is a big year for Cleveland sports. The Indians have to prove to their skeptical fans that last season wasn't a fluke (like 2007 was) and sustain winning. The Browns have to prove that their heads aren't up their collective asses and actually put a winning product on the field for once. The Cavs just have to regain their relevance locally, and trading for Luol Deng was a good start, but it hasn't translated into wins. They may have to do something drastic, like running GM Chris Grant and head coach Mike Brown out of town after the season is over. Bringing Brown back three years after firing him wasn't a very popular move locally to begin with, and it's only gotten worse as the team plays worse.
In case you were wondering about the title to this blog, it's a reference to Mike Patton (whose name sounds very similar to Mike Pettine's). Patton is known mainstream as the former lead singer of Faith No More, who had that hit song "Epic" back in the early 1990s. But he also (at least to fans of music and heavier music) is known as the front man for his side project, Mr. Bungle. He also wore a Mr. Bungle T-shirt in the video for "Epic," which was played everyday on MTV for about a year.
Basically, Joe Cleveland can only hope that I'm not referring to Mike Pettine as "Mr. Bungle" when the games are being played this season. Because the Browns front office, while also living up to their "Three Stooges" moniker, really Mr. Bungled this coaching search from the rip. Hopefully, they stumbled into their diamond in the rough, because I don't know how much more of this we can take as Browns fans.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Showing posts with label Michael Lombardi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Lombardi. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Three Stooges and a Dud
Remember when Jimmy Haslam came riding into town from Tennessee in the summer of 2012? Fans were excited that this truck-stop magnate billionaire with a passion for sports, that was endorsed by the likes of the Rooney family, Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones, would give the Cleveland Browns someone who would be more accountable, reputable and visible as an owner than Randy Lerner ever was.
Sure, Haslam has been way more visible than Lerner, albeit for less flattering things like ripping off his trucker customers on their rebates and getting hauled into federal court. But, it appears that the one thing Haslam has in common as Lerner and his father, Al, and even going back to Art "Judas" Modell, is the propensity for running a dysfunctional NFL franchise.
As the Browns prepared to kick off this past Sunday at Heinz Field for their season finale against the hated Steelers, rumors perpetuated the Twitter-verse that Haslam and his top deputies, CEO Joe Banner and the general manager-in-hiding Mike Lombardi, were prepared to fire head coach Rob Chudzinski after just one season coaching the team he grew up rooting for in nearby Toledo. Browns fans were aghast, especially when there were no signs that "Chud" was even in danger.
But, after a disappointing 20-7 loss to the Steelers, and just a few hours after arriving back at Berea, the Browns announced that they were, in fact, firing their first hand-picked head coach less than one year after hiring him.
Browns players, interviewed following the loss in the locker room, were incredulous that the questions about Chud's survival were even brought up. D'Qwell Jackson and Joe Thomas, in particular, were very vocal in their defense of their embattled head coach, even though the team slumped to a 4-12 season after seven consecutive losses and 10 losses in their final 11 games. By the time they arrived in Berea to clean out their lockers for the offseason, they had to be shocked.
Haslam, Banner and Lombardi, in firing Chudzinski, did something that neither of the Lerners, Modell or any other Browns owner in this franchise's storied history had ever done -- fire a coach after just one season. Sure, if Chudzinski's Browns would have gone 0-16 or 1-15 or even 2-14, perhaps you can justify the move. But 4-12?
And after he had to juggle three different starting quarterbacks at various times this season, due to injuries or overall inadequacy? And knowing that he had to give Brandon Weeden not two, but THREE different chances as the starting quarterback after backups Brian Hoyer and Jason Campbell got injured while looking and performing considerably better than the opening day starter?
And after the starting running back and the 2012 No. 3 overall pick in Trent Richardson -- the team's only viable running threat -- was traded for a 2014 first-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts after just two games? And not finding an adequate replacement for Richardson (who struggled considerably in Indy, making the trade look genius) until there were three games left in the season, when an unknown Edwin Baker scored as many rushing TDs as the aging Willis McGahee did all season long?
And having a rotating field at the guard position due to injuries and inadequacy, as John Greco, Oniel Cousins, Shaun Lavauo, Jason Pinkston and Garrett Gilkey all got starts on the interior of the offensive line? And that line couldn't open up holes for a running game all season long and gave up a ton of sacks -- and that's even with two Pro Bowlers (Thomas and center Alex Mack) starting on that line?
And realizing that the rookies Lombardi handed you were underwhelming, to say the least? Barkevious Mingo looked like a playmaker at times, finishing with five sacks on the year, but had a quiet end to his season. Leon McFadden, other than his phantom pass interference penalty at the end of the New England debacle, couldn't get off the bench and then didn't play well when he was finally pressed into service. Gilkey only started the season finale and was taken to school by aging veteran Brett Keisel. Armonty Bryant, the one draft pick that everyone was against due to his checkered past, actually played the best out of all of them, and even he was a situational player.
And opening the year with the NFL's eventual leader in receiving yards, Josh Gordon, suspended for two games and allowing trade rumors to swirl about him until the deadline came and went? And also signing a possession receiver in Davone Bess who suddenly forgot how to catch a football and then was excused from the team for the final two games due to some off-the-field issues? And having to start Greg Little all season long?
Haslam was disgusted by Pat Shurmur for being too conservative and too predictable in his playcalling, and deservedly so. Chud was the antithesis of Shurmur -- he went for it on fourth down a lot (three times in the Steeler game inside of scoring position). He called for fake punts and fake field goals. He allowed his quarterbacks to throw deep (at least when they weren't getting killed or throwing horrible interceptions). But, in the end, in two seasons of Haslam's stewardship, the Browns have fired two head coaches, a team president and a GM.
According to longtime Browns beat reporter Tony Grossi, the decision was made to fire Chud prior to the Steeler game, and not even a win over the team's biggest rival would have saved him. This, despite Banner speaking as late as November in effusive praise of his young head coach.
Part of the problem may have been the disastrous seven-game losing streak. The Browns were 3-2 and 4-5 at various points this season. Coming off their bye week, believe it or not, the team controlled its own playoff destiny and seemed to have the inside track at the AFC North crown. But a 30-point second-quarter monsoon due to special teams breakdowns in Cincinnati led to a 41-20 loss to the eventual division champs (and lone playoff team from the North), and it spiraled from there.
The Browns had a propensity to break down either late in the first half, or in the fourth quarter, or even both. The Browns made two hapless offensive teams in Jacksonville and the New York Jets look almost unstoppable at times in two late-season losses. There was the debacle in New England, in which referee's questionable penalties and decisions allowed Tom Brady to score 13 unanswered points in the final two minutes to pull off an improbable 27-26 win. And there was another fourth quarter meltdown in the home season finale against Chicago that allowed the Bears to come away with a 38-31 victory. Oh, and let's not forget another season sweep by the Steelers after it appeared Pittsburgh was a team on the decline after an 0-4 start.
Another part of the problem may have been the NFL awarding the Browns five Pro Bowl players -- the most out of any other team in the AFC North -- and the opportunity for a sixth in safety T.J. Ward. It's never a good sign when a team has more Pro Bowlers than wins. It shows that there is talent in the building, but coaching isn't getting the most out of said talent.
Grossi goes even further by saying there was a dischord between Chud and Lombardi. Remember that Lombardi wasn't officially hired until AFTER Chud was named head coach, even though most insiders proclaimed that Lombardi was heavily involved with the process. The two butted heads over players receiving playing time all season long.
One of the biggest problems was with the quarterback position. Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner seemingly ignored Hoyer during training camp until Hoyer was pressed into service in the preseason finale against Chicago and played very well. Turner, at one point, said that the player of Hoyer "surprised" him and the coaching staff. As Weeden and Campbell combined to win only one game the rest of the season and underwhelm at times, you had to believe that Lombardi was throwing Hoyer's emergence and Turner's "surprised" comment around liberally to Haslam and Banner.
At one point, Banner urged Chud to "shake things up" and release disappointing players such as Little and Lavauo. Chud argued against such moves and stood up for his players. In Banner's eyes, it seemed that Chud wasn't holding the Browns players accountable for their mistakes, which led to the regression in the second half of the season.
The fact that every other new coaching hire had a better record than Chud's Browns -- while the Jaguars under Gus Bradley also finished 4-12, they improved in the second half of the season and also came to Cleveland and won 32-28 -- did not sit well with Haslam, Banner and Lombardi.
Also, keep in mind that Carolina (where Chudzinski was offensive coordinator), San Diego (where Turner was head coach) and Arizona (where Ray Horton was defensive coordinator) all improved in 2013 after those men left to coach the Browns. It may not be a coincidence.
So, while Haslam had many reasons to make the decision that he made, it opened things up for the Browns organization to look like a giant joke on the national sake.
It's another cycle of wash-rinse-repeat -- new coach, new system, new quarterback. This after Chud's predecessors Eric Mangini and Shurmur were only given two seasons before they were sent packing, partly due to the team's incompetence but also due to impending regime changes (Mike Holmgren with Mangini; Haslam and Banner with Shurmur). The Browns have now gone through Chris Palmer (1999-2000), Butch Davis (2001-04), Romeo Crennel (2005-08), Mangini (2009-10), Shurmur (2011-12) and now Chudzinski (2012) -- that's six full-time head coaches and one interim coach in Terry Robiskie (2004) -- that have coached the Browns since the franchise returned in 1999. Meanwhile, the Steelers have only had three different head coaches since 1969 and the Patriots have had just one -- Belichick, who was run out of Cleveland after the move to Baltimore -- since 2000.
Keep in mind that from 1946-70, the Browns only had two full-time head coaches in the legendary Paul Brown (46-62) and Blanton Collier (63-70). Not coincidentally, the Browns won eight world championships during that span and were a legitimate contender throughout. That's what continuity will get you, and this Browns organization has none. However, from 1971-95, Modell ran through six different head coaches. He ran two of them out -- Forrest Gregg and Bud Carson -- fairly quickly, with Carson only lasting a season-and-a-half.
Before the Browns moved away, the franchise had eight full-time head coaches -- Brown, Collier, Nick Skorich, Gregg, Sam Rutigliano, Marty Schottenheimer, Carson and Belichick. The "new" Browns are already dangerously close to eclipsing that number in far less time. Other than Schottenheimer and Belichick, none of the head coaches hired within the last 25 years have gone on to any type of success anywhere else in the NFL as head coaches. And Belichick is the only one who has won a Super Bowl after leaving -- not even Paul Brown won a championship after he was unceremoniously fired by Modell following the 1962 season.
What was also concerning about Monday's press conference was the lack of the third member of the Browns' triumverate -- Lombardi. Since his introductory press conference (and the disaster that it was), Lombardi has been kept under wraps by Banner and Haslam. Other than briefly during the 2013 draft, Lombardi has been the "ghost of Berea." You know he's there, but you don't see him or don't hear from him. Fans were already uncomfortable with Lombardi's return due to his handling of the Bernie Kosar situation and his status as one of Modell's chief lieutenants leading up to The Move. While he deserves credit for pushing for Brian Hoyer's arrival (although only nine quarters isn't that large of an example), most of his other moves have not panned out. His silence on the subject has only fanned the fires among a very frustrated fanbase.
A local TV reporter became a folk-hero of sorts when he, reading off fans comments from his station's Facebook page, gave Haslam and Banner an earful during Monday's press conference. At one point, he asked Haslam what would he say to calm down fans who believe that "The Three Stooges" were running this organization. Suddenly, hashtags mentioning The Three Stooges and YouTube videos of the comic trio were being linked to on-line accounts everywhere. Whether Haslam and Banner like it or not (and it appears they don't, judging by their facial expressions and responses during the presser), that moniker is here to stay.
The only way it changes is if the Browns hit a home run with their coaching hire (they need a Terry Francona-esque hire, seriously), spend their $30 million of salary cap space wisely to improve the team with more talent, use those 10 draft picks and two first-rounders on players that will make not only an immediate impact, but an impact for seasons to come, and -- bottom line -- WIN. Browns fans are sick and tired of the 5-11/4-12 dance that has permeated this franchise every year since 2008. Browns fans are sick of only one playoff berth since they've returned (2002) and only two winning seasons during that span. Browns fans are tired of coaching carousels, quarterback carousels, running back carousels, etc.
A fancy, schmancy scoreboard and restructured seating are nice, but the best way to improve the "game-day experience" is by putting a winning product on the field. You can gloss over those things at Quicken Loans Arena or Progressive Field with fire-breathing scoreboards and fun fan activities during the downtime. But Browns fans are a different animal. They'll even put up with a drumline over a cheerleading squad if it means the team will go 10-6, 11-5, 12-4 or even (gasp) better next season and in the seasons that follow. Browns fans are fiercely loyal to their team, but the constant losing is starting to test that loyalty. The botching of last season's head coaching search and the need for another new one is another loyalty test.
Already, Canton native Josh McDaniels, a former head coach of the Denver Broncos and long-time Bill Belichick disciple, is being mentioned as the leading candidate for the job. This is the same McDaniels who squandered a 6-0 start to his career by never making the playoffs and drafting Tim Tebow in the first round. He also ran off Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Peyton Hillis in one fell sweep (although Hillis wound up proving McDaniels right in the end), depleting his offense. McDaniels tries too hard to be another Belichick. And, like most Belichick disciples (such as Mangini, Crennel, Jim Schwartz, Scott Pioli and Charlie Weis, among others), people have come to realize that there is only one Bill Belichick and the rest should give it up.
Like Belichick, who struggled in his first coaching stop in Cleveland before succeeding in New England, Browns fans can only hope history will repeat itself with McDaniels. It didn't with Mangini, as we remember, so the bar is set pretty low.
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is suddenly on the radar, after Chip Kelly (who turned down the Browns) recovered from a slow start to go 10-6 with the Philadelphia Eagles and reach the playoffs -- another offensive genius/guru from college and no NFL experience. Can lighting strike twice, especially after another college coach (Greg Schiano) gets run out of the NFL after two seasons?
Joe Cleveland will likely give up his Browns season tickets this season, but he'll still remain a Browns fan. A very frustrated and angry Browns fan, but a Browns fan nonetheless.
Here's wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year. Hopefully 2014 is much better than 2013 was, not just in sports, but in overall life.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Sure, Haslam has been way more visible than Lerner, albeit for less flattering things like ripping off his trucker customers on their rebates and getting hauled into federal court. But, it appears that the one thing Haslam has in common as Lerner and his father, Al, and even going back to Art "Judas" Modell, is the propensity for running a dysfunctional NFL franchise.
As the Browns prepared to kick off this past Sunday at Heinz Field for their season finale against the hated Steelers, rumors perpetuated the Twitter-verse that Haslam and his top deputies, CEO Joe Banner and the general manager-in-hiding Mike Lombardi, were prepared to fire head coach Rob Chudzinski after just one season coaching the team he grew up rooting for in nearby Toledo. Browns fans were aghast, especially when there were no signs that "Chud" was even in danger.
But, after a disappointing 20-7 loss to the Steelers, and just a few hours after arriving back at Berea, the Browns announced that they were, in fact, firing their first hand-picked head coach less than one year after hiring him.
Browns players, interviewed following the loss in the locker room, were incredulous that the questions about Chud's survival were even brought up. D'Qwell Jackson and Joe Thomas, in particular, were very vocal in their defense of their embattled head coach, even though the team slumped to a 4-12 season after seven consecutive losses and 10 losses in their final 11 games. By the time they arrived in Berea to clean out their lockers for the offseason, they had to be shocked.
Haslam, Banner and Lombardi, in firing Chudzinski, did something that neither of the Lerners, Modell or any other Browns owner in this franchise's storied history had ever done -- fire a coach after just one season. Sure, if Chudzinski's Browns would have gone 0-16 or 1-15 or even 2-14, perhaps you can justify the move. But 4-12?
And after he had to juggle three different starting quarterbacks at various times this season, due to injuries or overall inadequacy? And knowing that he had to give Brandon Weeden not two, but THREE different chances as the starting quarterback after backups Brian Hoyer and Jason Campbell got injured while looking and performing considerably better than the opening day starter?
And after the starting running back and the 2012 No. 3 overall pick in Trent Richardson -- the team's only viable running threat -- was traded for a 2014 first-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts after just two games? And not finding an adequate replacement for Richardson (who struggled considerably in Indy, making the trade look genius) until there were three games left in the season, when an unknown Edwin Baker scored as many rushing TDs as the aging Willis McGahee did all season long?
And having a rotating field at the guard position due to injuries and inadequacy, as John Greco, Oniel Cousins, Shaun Lavauo, Jason Pinkston and Garrett Gilkey all got starts on the interior of the offensive line? And that line couldn't open up holes for a running game all season long and gave up a ton of sacks -- and that's even with two Pro Bowlers (Thomas and center Alex Mack) starting on that line?
And realizing that the rookies Lombardi handed you were underwhelming, to say the least? Barkevious Mingo looked like a playmaker at times, finishing with five sacks on the year, but had a quiet end to his season. Leon McFadden, other than his phantom pass interference penalty at the end of the New England debacle, couldn't get off the bench and then didn't play well when he was finally pressed into service. Gilkey only started the season finale and was taken to school by aging veteran Brett Keisel. Armonty Bryant, the one draft pick that everyone was against due to his checkered past, actually played the best out of all of them, and even he was a situational player.
And opening the year with the NFL's eventual leader in receiving yards, Josh Gordon, suspended for two games and allowing trade rumors to swirl about him until the deadline came and went? And also signing a possession receiver in Davone Bess who suddenly forgot how to catch a football and then was excused from the team for the final two games due to some off-the-field issues? And having to start Greg Little all season long?
Haslam was disgusted by Pat Shurmur for being too conservative and too predictable in his playcalling, and deservedly so. Chud was the antithesis of Shurmur -- he went for it on fourth down a lot (three times in the Steeler game inside of scoring position). He called for fake punts and fake field goals. He allowed his quarterbacks to throw deep (at least when they weren't getting killed or throwing horrible interceptions). But, in the end, in two seasons of Haslam's stewardship, the Browns have fired two head coaches, a team president and a GM.
According to longtime Browns beat reporter Tony Grossi, the decision was made to fire Chud prior to the Steeler game, and not even a win over the team's biggest rival would have saved him. This, despite Banner speaking as late as November in effusive praise of his young head coach.
Part of the problem may have been the disastrous seven-game losing streak. The Browns were 3-2 and 4-5 at various points this season. Coming off their bye week, believe it or not, the team controlled its own playoff destiny and seemed to have the inside track at the AFC North crown. But a 30-point second-quarter monsoon due to special teams breakdowns in Cincinnati led to a 41-20 loss to the eventual division champs (and lone playoff team from the North), and it spiraled from there.
The Browns had a propensity to break down either late in the first half, or in the fourth quarter, or even both. The Browns made two hapless offensive teams in Jacksonville and the New York Jets look almost unstoppable at times in two late-season losses. There was the debacle in New England, in which referee's questionable penalties and decisions allowed Tom Brady to score 13 unanswered points in the final two minutes to pull off an improbable 27-26 win. And there was another fourth quarter meltdown in the home season finale against Chicago that allowed the Bears to come away with a 38-31 victory. Oh, and let's not forget another season sweep by the Steelers after it appeared Pittsburgh was a team on the decline after an 0-4 start.
Another part of the problem may have been the NFL awarding the Browns five Pro Bowl players -- the most out of any other team in the AFC North -- and the opportunity for a sixth in safety T.J. Ward. It's never a good sign when a team has more Pro Bowlers than wins. It shows that there is talent in the building, but coaching isn't getting the most out of said talent.
Grossi goes even further by saying there was a dischord between Chud and Lombardi. Remember that Lombardi wasn't officially hired until AFTER Chud was named head coach, even though most insiders proclaimed that Lombardi was heavily involved with the process. The two butted heads over players receiving playing time all season long.
One of the biggest problems was with the quarterback position. Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner seemingly ignored Hoyer during training camp until Hoyer was pressed into service in the preseason finale against Chicago and played very well. Turner, at one point, said that the player of Hoyer "surprised" him and the coaching staff. As Weeden and Campbell combined to win only one game the rest of the season and underwhelm at times, you had to believe that Lombardi was throwing Hoyer's emergence and Turner's "surprised" comment around liberally to Haslam and Banner.
At one point, Banner urged Chud to "shake things up" and release disappointing players such as Little and Lavauo. Chud argued against such moves and stood up for his players. In Banner's eyes, it seemed that Chud wasn't holding the Browns players accountable for their mistakes, which led to the regression in the second half of the season.
The fact that every other new coaching hire had a better record than Chud's Browns -- while the Jaguars under Gus Bradley also finished 4-12, they improved in the second half of the season and also came to Cleveland and won 32-28 -- did not sit well with Haslam, Banner and Lombardi.
Also, keep in mind that Carolina (where Chudzinski was offensive coordinator), San Diego (where Turner was head coach) and Arizona (where Ray Horton was defensive coordinator) all improved in 2013 after those men left to coach the Browns. It may not be a coincidence.
So, while Haslam had many reasons to make the decision that he made, it opened things up for the Browns organization to look like a giant joke on the national sake.
It's another cycle of wash-rinse-repeat -- new coach, new system, new quarterback. This after Chud's predecessors Eric Mangini and Shurmur were only given two seasons before they were sent packing, partly due to the team's incompetence but also due to impending regime changes (Mike Holmgren with Mangini; Haslam and Banner with Shurmur). The Browns have now gone through Chris Palmer (1999-2000), Butch Davis (2001-04), Romeo Crennel (2005-08), Mangini (2009-10), Shurmur (2011-12) and now Chudzinski (2012) -- that's six full-time head coaches and one interim coach in Terry Robiskie (2004) -- that have coached the Browns since the franchise returned in 1999. Meanwhile, the Steelers have only had three different head coaches since 1969 and the Patriots have had just one -- Belichick, who was run out of Cleveland after the move to Baltimore -- since 2000.
Keep in mind that from 1946-70, the Browns only had two full-time head coaches in the legendary Paul Brown (46-62) and Blanton Collier (63-70). Not coincidentally, the Browns won eight world championships during that span and were a legitimate contender throughout. That's what continuity will get you, and this Browns organization has none. However, from 1971-95, Modell ran through six different head coaches. He ran two of them out -- Forrest Gregg and Bud Carson -- fairly quickly, with Carson only lasting a season-and-a-half.
Before the Browns moved away, the franchise had eight full-time head coaches -- Brown, Collier, Nick Skorich, Gregg, Sam Rutigliano, Marty Schottenheimer, Carson and Belichick. The "new" Browns are already dangerously close to eclipsing that number in far less time. Other than Schottenheimer and Belichick, none of the head coaches hired within the last 25 years have gone on to any type of success anywhere else in the NFL as head coaches. And Belichick is the only one who has won a Super Bowl after leaving -- not even Paul Brown won a championship after he was unceremoniously fired by Modell following the 1962 season.
What was also concerning about Monday's press conference was the lack of the third member of the Browns' triumverate -- Lombardi. Since his introductory press conference (and the disaster that it was), Lombardi has been kept under wraps by Banner and Haslam. Other than briefly during the 2013 draft, Lombardi has been the "ghost of Berea." You know he's there, but you don't see him or don't hear from him. Fans were already uncomfortable with Lombardi's return due to his handling of the Bernie Kosar situation and his status as one of Modell's chief lieutenants leading up to The Move. While he deserves credit for pushing for Brian Hoyer's arrival (although only nine quarters isn't that large of an example), most of his other moves have not panned out. His silence on the subject has only fanned the fires among a very frustrated fanbase.
A local TV reporter became a folk-hero of sorts when he, reading off fans comments from his station's Facebook page, gave Haslam and Banner an earful during Monday's press conference. At one point, he asked Haslam what would he say to calm down fans who believe that "The Three Stooges" were running this organization. Suddenly, hashtags mentioning The Three Stooges and YouTube videos of the comic trio were being linked to on-line accounts everywhere. Whether Haslam and Banner like it or not (and it appears they don't, judging by their facial expressions and responses during the presser), that moniker is here to stay.
The only way it changes is if the Browns hit a home run with their coaching hire (they need a Terry Francona-esque hire, seriously), spend their $30 million of salary cap space wisely to improve the team with more talent, use those 10 draft picks and two first-rounders on players that will make not only an immediate impact, but an impact for seasons to come, and -- bottom line -- WIN. Browns fans are sick and tired of the 5-11/4-12 dance that has permeated this franchise every year since 2008. Browns fans are sick of only one playoff berth since they've returned (2002) and only two winning seasons during that span. Browns fans are tired of coaching carousels, quarterback carousels, running back carousels, etc.
A fancy, schmancy scoreboard and restructured seating are nice, but the best way to improve the "game-day experience" is by putting a winning product on the field. You can gloss over those things at Quicken Loans Arena or Progressive Field with fire-breathing scoreboards and fun fan activities during the downtime. But Browns fans are a different animal. They'll even put up with a drumline over a cheerleading squad if it means the team will go 10-6, 11-5, 12-4 or even (gasp) better next season and in the seasons that follow. Browns fans are fiercely loyal to their team, but the constant losing is starting to test that loyalty. The botching of last season's head coaching search and the need for another new one is another loyalty test.
Already, Canton native Josh McDaniels, a former head coach of the Denver Broncos and long-time Bill Belichick disciple, is being mentioned as the leading candidate for the job. This is the same McDaniels who squandered a 6-0 start to his career by never making the playoffs and drafting Tim Tebow in the first round. He also ran off Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Peyton Hillis in one fell sweep (although Hillis wound up proving McDaniels right in the end), depleting his offense. McDaniels tries too hard to be another Belichick. And, like most Belichick disciples (such as Mangini, Crennel, Jim Schwartz, Scott Pioli and Charlie Weis, among others), people have come to realize that there is only one Bill Belichick and the rest should give it up.
Like Belichick, who struggled in his first coaching stop in Cleveland before succeeding in New England, Browns fans can only hope history will repeat itself with McDaniels. It didn't with Mangini, as we remember, so the bar is set pretty low.
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is suddenly on the radar, after Chip Kelly (who turned down the Browns) recovered from a slow start to go 10-6 with the Philadelphia Eagles and reach the playoffs -- another offensive genius/guru from college and no NFL experience. Can lighting strike twice, especially after another college coach (Greg Schiano) gets run out of the NFL after two seasons?
Joe Cleveland will likely give up his Browns season tickets this season, but he'll still remain a Browns fan. A very frustrated and angry Browns fan, but a Browns fan nonetheless.
Here's wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year. Hopefully 2014 is much better than 2013 was, not just in sports, but in overall life.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Monday, October 7, 2013
Hoyer Paranoia
One day after the Cleveland Indians did their usual disappearing act whenever fans fill those green seats at Progressive Field to the max and the national media pays attention, the Cleveland Browns had the chance to turn those frowns upside down in the exact same scenario.
While most of the NFL Network's preseason hype on this game surrounded Buffalo first-round rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel, lately, the talk had shifted to this little-known third-string quarterback that had suddenly made the Browns relevant this early in the season -- North Olmsted native Brian Hoyer.
Most football gurus remembered Hoyer as Tom Brady's primary backup for a few seasons in New England after Hoyer made the Patriots as an undrafted rookie out of Michigan State. Hoyer had a stellar career at St. Ignatius, but wasn't exactly the second-coming while playing for the Spartans. In fact, some might say his college career was eerily similar to that of Brady's -- both were Big Ten quarterbacks in the state of Michigan, both weren't exactly great in college and both were lightly regarded by the NFL after their senior seasons.
Whatever knowledge Brady passed on to Hoyer he appeared to soak up like a sponge. Those close to Patriots head coach Bill Belichick believed that Hoyer had what it took to become a good starting quarterback in the NFL, including an NFL Network insider who previously worked in Cleveland named Michael Lombardi.
In December of 2011, Lombardi went on the NFL Network and proclaimed that both New England backups Hoyer and Ryan Mallett had what it took to become franchise quarterbacks in the NFL. His quote that has gotten repeated a lot over the past few weeks -- "I think Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett are starters. I've said this many times; If I would have taken the GM job of the 49ers, I would have gone after Brian Hoyer, because I think he has all the traits and characteristics. If I were the Cleveland Browns, I'd rather have Brian Hoyer behind center than Colt McCoy. I think he's got all the traits you need, in terms of leadership, toughness, the arm strength, the ability to move a team."
Within months of becoming the new GM of the Cleveland Browns, Lombardi proved to be a man of his word, signing Hoyer to a two-year contract. Then, after Brandon Weeden sprained his thumb late in a Week 2 14-6 loss to Baltimore and backup Jason Campbell threw an ill-advised underhanded toss to Jordan Cameron on fourth down with his team trailing by eight, Hoyer got his chance to show the world that Lombardi was actually right.
Hoyer's come-from-behind rally to beat the Minnesota Vikings after a tumultuous Week 3 had Cleveland buzzing. He then outplayed Cincinnati's Andy Dalton in his first home start ever, leading the Browns to a 17-6 win over the team most had pegged as the favorite to win the AFC North this season.
Needless to say, the NFL Network and the rest of the country had begun to take notice of Hoyer. Cleveland was already going nuts over their homegrown quarterback. In a hero-starved city desperately looking for the next Brian Sipe, Bernie Kosar or a combination of both, Hoyer appeared to be on his way to becoming the next one on that list.
Then, just six snaps into his nationally-televised debut, after what could have been an 90-yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon was dropped after hitting Gordon in stride and right in the breadbasket, Hoyer took off on an innocent scramble after not seeing anyone open, went to slide after an 11-yard gain, was blasted by Buffalo rookie linebacker Kiko Alonso and tore the ACL of his knee when his leg bent awkwardly beneath him.
Now, the old Browns would have simply tucked their tail between their legs and gotten run out of their own building. The Bills had a 10-0 lead and Weeden, who had barely taken any snaps since suffering his thumb injury three weeks ago, was rusty as heck and was hearing about it from the Browns fans who had fallen head-over-heels in love with their homegrown quarterback. Even those who had supported Weeden were now buying into "Hoyer Paranoia."
However, these Browns aren't those old Browns.
Weeden suddenly shook off the rust and led the Browns to a touchdown drive. Then Travis Benjamin lit a spark in the crowd of 73,000 with a long, dazzling punt return touchdown that gave the Browns a sudden 17-10 lead.
Even after Buffalo came storming back to take a 24-17 lead, the Browns didn't quit. Weeden made, arguably, the two best throws of his career on back-to-back plays -- a 47-yard rope to Greg Little and a 37-yard bomb to Gordon that Gordon made a fantastic play on -- to tie the game at 24. Weeden then led the Browns to two more field goals before T.J. Ward sealed the deal with a pick-six off of undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel, who appears to have no business being on an NFL roster, let alone as the backup of the Bills (the Bills agreed, promoting ex-Browns third-stinger Thad Lewis to starter for the foreseeable future with Manuel's timetable to return undetermined).
Cleveland was understandably happy. The bad taste left in their mouths following the Indians' 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay was gone. The Browns had won three straight games and found themselves in sole possession of first place in the AFC North five weeks into the season. This after many believed they were raising the white flag on the season after giving up Trent Richardson for a 2014 first-round pick.
But, when the news hit that Hoyer was out for the rest of the season, suddenly first place didn't matter (at least to some people). That entertaining performance the previous night under the national spotlight was forgotten. The fact that Weeden was the quarterback for 95 percent of that game was apparently forgotten as well.
This is Cleveland, where we dwell on the negative and forget about the positive. Hoyer was done, and apparently, so are the Browns.
Joe Cleveland begs to differ.
Keep in mind that Weeden came into this season as the Browns' starting quarterback. He was a first round pick last season and started 15 of 16 games. If he doesn't injure his thumb in Week 2, Hoyer doesn't even get his chance.
Hoyer couldn't even beat out Campbell for the backup job in preseason, even though, by all accounts, Hoyer outplayed the veteran. And, when Rob Chudzinski announced that Hoyer was going to bypass Campbell and start in Week 3, many of you felt that it was a sure sign that the Browns were in tank mode.
Just two weeks later, many of those same fans believe that Hoyer was the next Kosar or Sipe, and he only played in two full games. Calm down, people!
We may never know if Hoyer would have been the answer or not, which is a shame because he had been playing so well. But Hoyer's debut coincided with the debut of Gordon after a two-game suspension, and if you can't see the difference in the Browns offense with it's only true vertical threat playing, then you're not watching the same game.
Perhaps the Browns would be 0-4 if Weeden hadn't gotten hurt, but we'll never know, will we? The fact is, Hoyer came in, played very well and helped the Browns get into the position that they are. And while Weeden does not have Hoyer's quick release and takes too many sacks, the fact is, when they take the shackles off of him, Weeden can make any throw necessary for his team to win. That was evident on those two tosses to Little and Gordon that turned this game solely on its axis in favor of the Browns.
When Weeden says he was friends with Hoyer, I believe him. And when he says he learned from some of the attributes Hoyer brought to the table, along with the work ethic he brought with him from the Patriots, I believe him too. And, if Weeden can't be motivated to play his absolute best after seeing one his backups play as well as he did with talk still swirling about the Browns still targeting a quarterback in next year's draft, then there's no hope for him.
I believe we'll see the Brandon Weeden that some folks believed he could be after a stellar career at Oklahoma State. Perhaps it took getting injured and coming off the bench to light a fire under his ass. Prior to that, everything was handed to him. The starting job was handed to him after Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert took him with the 22nd overall pick, and he was never challenged by Colt McCoy or Lewis or Seneca Wallace. His GM called the Weeden selection a "panicked disaster" on the NFL Network last season, so he knows the deck is stacked against him.
He very correctly answered that "those things are out of my control," when Rich Eisen asked him about the QB rumors in the postgame show Thursday night. It's true. All he can do is play as well as he can and things will take care of themselves.
This Browns team has a legitimate shot at a postseason berth, something I don't think anybody would have said with a straight face just three weeks ago. The North Division looks very mortal, as the Bengals and Ravens pull Jeckyl and Hyde impressions every other week and the Steelers can't win a single game. The rest of the schedule doesn't look very daunting, as a 3-2 Lions team comes to town this Sunday that was just throttled by the Packers and went a dismal 4-12 last season. Even Green Bay looks beatable this season, as does New England (both on the Browns schedule).
The Browns aren't going to win every single game the rest of the season, and if they happen to lose to Detroit, fans will point out Weeden's 0-3 record as a starter compared to Hoyer's 3-0. But they have the defense to hang with any team in front of them, and the offense has enough playmakers (even without Richardson and Hoyer) to do some damage.
Remember how people were complaining about the kicker position and how the Browns would regret letting Phil Dawson go? You don't hear that very much anymore, do you? Billy Cundiff has only missed two field goals (one was blocked) and most of his kickoffs go through the uprights. Spencer Lanning even made an extra point for good measure and has proven to be the Browns' most reliable punter since the days of Dave Zastudil. And Benjamin has made many people forget about Josh Cribbs, although they do miss Cribbs on kickoff returns.
The Browns are not a finished product, by any means. But can they win this season and make a playoff push? Absolutely.
The Browns may wind up being like the Indians in this regard -- being good enough to qualify for the playoffs, but not quite good enough to make a championship push. And you know what, that's fine.
You don't hear many people complaining about the Indians today because they exceeded everyone's expectations by simply winning 92 games and qualifying for a Wild Card berth. Sure, you would have liked to see them score at least one run against the Rays, especially when they had numerous chances to do so, but the fact that they brought exciting October baseball back to Carnegie and Ontario after five years seemed to have lit a spark under this dormant fan base. Now, everyone's excited about this offseason, and deservedly so. It's been a while since fans have legitimately been anticipating an Indians offseason, and the Tribe has some decisions to make if they want to keep building off of this season.
The Browns are in the same boat. If this team somehow goes 10-6 or 9-7 or even 8-8 and wins the AFC North, you don't think Browns fans aren't going to be excited? Even if that means they're set up for an ass-kicking by the Denver Broncos, so be it. This offseason was already anticipated before the Browns captured our imaginations and won three straight games. Every Browns offseason is anticipated, but you don't think the anticipation would grow 10-fold if this team somehow snuck into the playoffs? NFL playoff football hasn't visited Cleveland since 2002 and only twice since 1994 -- you're damn right we're going to go apeshit, just like everyone did when the Tribe made it after a six-year absence.
Cleveland fans are dying to see what the Indians can do for an encore in 2014 and whether or not the 2013 was an abberation or something that can be built upon. They will be dying to see what the Browns can do for 2014, regardless of whether they make the playoffs or not (but it will be greater if they can be a postseason team). And, Lord only knows about the Cavs in the summer of 2014 when you-know-who decides to become a free agent, regardless of whether they can finally taste the postseason for the first time since that you-know-who took his talents elsewhere in the summer of 2010.
Can we see three playoff teams in the same calender year for the first time in a long time, perhaps EVER? The closest we got was 2007, with the Cavs making the NBA Finals, the Indians making the ALCS and the Browns winning 10 games, but finishing a tiebreaker shy of an NFL playoff berth. Too early to tell.
But don't let Hoyer's season-ending injury spoil your feelings about the Cleveland Browns. Yeah, it's a tough break for the hometown hero. But let's see if Weeden can rise to the challenge and answer the bell. Let's see if this defense continues to play like one of the best units in the NFL. Let's see if the special teams continue to do special things. Let's see if Willis McGahee can get better as he works off his own rust, and let's see if Gordon, Little, Cameron and Davone Bess can continue to give Weeden reliable weapons that he can use to attack NFL defenses and put points on the board.
The Browns are playing their best football in YEARS. Don't let an injury to a guy who began the year as the third-string quarterback spoil that.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
While most of the NFL Network's preseason hype on this game surrounded Buffalo first-round rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel, lately, the talk had shifted to this little-known third-string quarterback that had suddenly made the Browns relevant this early in the season -- North Olmsted native Brian Hoyer.
Most football gurus remembered Hoyer as Tom Brady's primary backup for a few seasons in New England after Hoyer made the Patriots as an undrafted rookie out of Michigan State. Hoyer had a stellar career at St. Ignatius, but wasn't exactly the second-coming while playing for the Spartans. In fact, some might say his college career was eerily similar to that of Brady's -- both were Big Ten quarterbacks in the state of Michigan, both weren't exactly great in college and both were lightly regarded by the NFL after their senior seasons.
Whatever knowledge Brady passed on to Hoyer he appeared to soak up like a sponge. Those close to Patriots head coach Bill Belichick believed that Hoyer had what it took to become a good starting quarterback in the NFL, including an NFL Network insider who previously worked in Cleveland named Michael Lombardi.
In December of 2011, Lombardi went on the NFL Network and proclaimed that both New England backups Hoyer and Ryan Mallett had what it took to become franchise quarterbacks in the NFL. His quote that has gotten repeated a lot over the past few weeks -- "I think Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett are starters. I've said this many times; If I would have taken the GM job of the 49ers, I would have gone after Brian Hoyer, because I think he has all the traits and characteristics. If I were the Cleveland Browns, I'd rather have Brian Hoyer behind center than Colt McCoy. I think he's got all the traits you need, in terms of leadership, toughness, the arm strength, the ability to move a team."
Within months of becoming the new GM of the Cleveland Browns, Lombardi proved to be a man of his word, signing Hoyer to a two-year contract. Then, after Brandon Weeden sprained his thumb late in a Week 2 14-6 loss to Baltimore and backup Jason Campbell threw an ill-advised underhanded toss to Jordan Cameron on fourth down with his team trailing by eight, Hoyer got his chance to show the world that Lombardi was actually right.
Hoyer's come-from-behind rally to beat the Minnesota Vikings after a tumultuous Week 3 had Cleveland buzzing. He then outplayed Cincinnati's Andy Dalton in his first home start ever, leading the Browns to a 17-6 win over the team most had pegged as the favorite to win the AFC North this season.
Needless to say, the NFL Network and the rest of the country had begun to take notice of Hoyer. Cleveland was already going nuts over their homegrown quarterback. In a hero-starved city desperately looking for the next Brian Sipe, Bernie Kosar or a combination of both, Hoyer appeared to be on his way to becoming the next one on that list.
Then, just six snaps into his nationally-televised debut, after what could have been an 90-yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon was dropped after hitting Gordon in stride and right in the breadbasket, Hoyer took off on an innocent scramble after not seeing anyone open, went to slide after an 11-yard gain, was blasted by Buffalo rookie linebacker Kiko Alonso and tore the ACL of his knee when his leg bent awkwardly beneath him.
Now, the old Browns would have simply tucked their tail between their legs and gotten run out of their own building. The Bills had a 10-0 lead and Weeden, who had barely taken any snaps since suffering his thumb injury three weeks ago, was rusty as heck and was hearing about it from the Browns fans who had fallen head-over-heels in love with their homegrown quarterback. Even those who had supported Weeden were now buying into "Hoyer Paranoia."
However, these Browns aren't those old Browns.
Weeden suddenly shook off the rust and led the Browns to a touchdown drive. Then Travis Benjamin lit a spark in the crowd of 73,000 with a long, dazzling punt return touchdown that gave the Browns a sudden 17-10 lead.
Even after Buffalo came storming back to take a 24-17 lead, the Browns didn't quit. Weeden made, arguably, the two best throws of his career on back-to-back plays -- a 47-yard rope to Greg Little and a 37-yard bomb to Gordon that Gordon made a fantastic play on -- to tie the game at 24. Weeden then led the Browns to two more field goals before T.J. Ward sealed the deal with a pick-six off of undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel, who appears to have no business being on an NFL roster, let alone as the backup of the Bills (the Bills agreed, promoting ex-Browns third-stinger Thad Lewis to starter for the foreseeable future with Manuel's timetable to return undetermined).
Cleveland was understandably happy. The bad taste left in their mouths following the Indians' 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay was gone. The Browns had won three straight games and found themselves in sole possession of first place in the AFC North five weeks into the season. This after many believed they were raising the white flag on the season after giving up Trent Richardson for a 2014 first-round pick.
But, when the news hit that Hoyer was out for the rest of the season, suddenly first place didn't matter (at least to some people). That entertaining performance the previous night under the national spotlight was forgotten. The fact that Weeden was the quarterback for 95 percent of that game was apparently forgotten as well.
This is Cleveland, where we dwell on the negative and forget about the positive. Hoyer was done, and apparently, so are the Browns.
Joe Cleveland begs to differ.
Keep in mind that Weeden came into this season as the Browns' starting quarterback. He was a first round pick last season and started 15 of 16 games. If he doesn't injure his thumb in Week 2, Hoyer doesn't even get his chance.
Hoyer couldn't even beat out Campbell for the backup job in preseason, even though, by all accounts, Hoyer outplayed the veteran. And, when Rob Chudzinski announced that Hoyer was going to bypass Campbell and start in Week 3, many of you felt that it was a sure sign that the Browns were in tank mode.
Just two weeks later, many of those same fans believe that Hoyer was the next Kosar or Sipe, and he only played in two full games. Calm down, people!
We may never know if Hoyer would have been the answer or not, which is a shame because he had been playing so well. But Hoyer's debut coincided with the debut of Gordon after a two-game suspension, and if you can't see the difference in the Browns offense with it's only true vertical threat playing, then you're not watching the same game.
Perhaps the Browns would be 0-4 if Weeden hadn't gotten hurt, but we'll never know, will we? The fact is, Hoyer came in, played very well and helped the Browns get into the position that they are. And while Weeden does not have Hoyer's quick release and takes too many sacks, the fact is, when they take the shackles off of him, Weeden can make any throw necessary for his team to win. That was evident on those two tosses to Little and Gordon that turned this game solely on its axis in favor of the Browns.
When Weeden says he was friends with Hoyer, I believe him. And when he says he learned from some of the attributes Hoyer brought to the table, along with the work ethic he brought with him from the Patriots, I believe him too. And, if Weeden can't be motivated to play his absolute best after seeing one his backups play as well as he did with talk still swirling about the Browns still targeting a quarterback in next year's draft, then there's no hope for him.
I believe we'll see the Brandon Weeden that some folks believed he could be after a stellar career at Oklahoma State. Perhaps it took getting injured and coming off the bench to light a fire under his ass. Prior to that, everything was handed to him. The starting job was handed to him after Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert took him with the 22nd overall pick, and he was never challenged by Colt McCoy or Lewis or Seneca Wallace. His GM called the Weeden selection a "panicked disaster" on the NFL Network last season, so he knows the deck is stacked against him.
He very correctly answered that "those things are out of my control," when Rich Eisen asked him about the QB rumors in the postgame show Thursday night. It's true. All he can do is play as well as he can and things will take care of themselves.
This Browns team has a legitimate shot at a postseason berth, something I don't think anybody would have said with a straight face just three weeks ago. The North Division looks very mortal, as the Bengals and Ravens pull Jeckyl and Hyde impressions every other week and the Steelers can't win a single game. The rest of the schedule doesn't look very daunting, as a 3-2 Lions team comes to town this Sunday that was just throttled by the Packers and went a dismal 4-12 last season. Even Green Bay looks beatable this season, as does New England (both on the Browns schedule).
The Browns aren't going to win every single game the rest of the season, and if they happen to lose to Detroit, fans will point out Weeden's 0-3 record as a starter compared to Hoyer's 3-0. But they have the defense to hang with any team in front of them, and the offense has enough playmakers (even without Richardson and Hoyer) to do some damage.
Remember how people were complaining about the kicker position and how the Browns would regret letting Phil Dawson go? You don't hear that very much anymore, do you? Billy Cundiff has only missed two field goals (one was blocked) and most of his kickoffs go through the uprights. Spencer Lanning even made an extra point for good measure and has proven to be the Browns' most reliable punter since the days of Dave Zastudil. And Benjamin has made many people forget about Josh Cribbs, although they do miss Cribbs on kickoff returns.
The Browns are not a finished product, by any means. But can they win this season and make a playoff push? Absolutely.
The Browns may wind up being like the Indians in this regard -- being good enough to qualify for the playoffs, but not quite good enough to make a championship push. And you know what, that's fine.
You don't hear many people complaining about the Indians today because they exceeded everyone's expectations by simply winning 92 games and qualifying for a Wild Card berth. Sure, you would have liked to see them score at least one run against the Rays, especially when they had numerous chances to do so, but the fact that they brought exciting October baseball back to Carnegie and Ontario after five years seemed to have lit a spark under this dormant fan base. Now, everyone's excited about this offseason, and deservedly so. It's been a while since fans have legitimately been anticipating an Indians offseason, and the Tribe has some decisions to make if they want to keep building off of this season.
The Browns are in the same boat. If this team somehow goes 10-6 or 9-7 or even 8-8 and wins the AFC North, you don't think Browns fans aren't going to be excited? Even if that means they're set up for an ass-kicking by the Denver Broncos, so be it. This offseason was already anticipated before the Browns captured our imaginations and won three straight games. Every Browns offseason is anticipated, but you don't think the anticipation would grow 10-fold if this team somehow snuck into the playoffs? NFL playoff football hasn't visited Cleveland since 2002 and only twice since 1994 -- you're damn right we're going to go apeshit, just like everyone did when the Tribe made it after a six-year absence.
Cleveland fans are dying to see what the Indians can do for an encore in 2014 and whether or not the 2013 was an abberation or something that can be built upon. They will be dying to see what the Browns can do for 2014, regardless of whether they make the playoffs or not (but it will be greater if they can be a postseason team). And, Lord only knows about the Cavs in the summer of 2014 when you-know-who decides to become a free agent, regardless of whether they can finally taste the postseason for the first time since that you-know-who took his talents elsewhere in the summer of 2010.
Can we see three playoff teams in the same calender year for the first time in a long time, perhaps EVER? The closest we got was 2007, with the Cavs making the NBA Finals, the Indians making the ALCS and the Browns winning 10 games, but finishing a tiebreaker shy of an NFL playoff berth. Too early to tell.
But don't let Hoyer's season-ending injury spoil your feelings about the Cleveland Browns. Yeah, it's a tough break for the hometown hero. But let's see if Weeden can rise to the challenge and answer the bell. Let's see if this defense continues to play like one of the best units in the NFL. Let's see if the special teams continue to do special things. Let's see if Willis McGahee can get better as he works off his own rust, and let's see if Gordon, Little, Cameron and Davone Bess can continue to give Weeden reliable weapons that he can use to attack NFL defenses and put points on the board.
The Browns are playing their best football in YEARS. Don't let an injury to a guy who began the year as the third-string quarterback spoil that.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Tanks, Trent
Well, Joe Cleveland was in semi-retirement, having been devoted to his normal job of covering high school and minor league sports. He was watching cautiously as the Indians hung around the American League's Wild-Card hunt and was disappointed in the Browns offense after yet another 0-2 start.
Then, the nuclear bomb dropped on the Cleveland sports scene on a Wednesday evening that shook the foundation of every fan, whether you are a die-hard Browns fan, a season ticket holder or just a casual fan.
Trent Richardson, just one year after the Browns traded four picks to move up one spot in the 2012 draft to take him No. 3 overall, was dealt to the Indianapolis Colts for their 2014 first round selection.
So much for Joe Cleveland's semi-retirement.
My first reaction was shock -- Trent Richardson? Traded? Come on! Really, after two weeks? BS! -- then anger at the Browns. As a season ticket holder entering his fourth year with the Browns, I felt betrayed, gypped, lied to.
The Browns told everyone they planned on having a better product on the field for 2013. They spent money in free agency, brought in big-name coordinators to change the offensive and defensive culture and even tried to better the game-day experience at the stadium. After two games, when they deal the perceived top weapon in the offense, it sends the message that they are giving up on this season.
And, as someone who has already plunked down $900 for two tickets in the upper Dawg Pound, and knowing full well that I not only won't get full value for those tickets if I try to sell them, but also may not be able to rely on the usual cast of characters that usually buy one of the tickets off me for random games, I felt ripped off and very, very angry.
I also, against my better judgment, bought his jersey last year. The Browns caught me in a moment of weakness -- they had just beaten the hated Steelers, 20-14, and Richardson had played a key role in that monumental victory. So, in the Team Shop, I plunked down my hard earned money (using my 20 percent season ticket discount) and purchased a Richardson 33 jersey as a reminder of one of the best Browns games I had attended. Now, that jersey is useless because Richardson is gone so quickly.
It never fails. Every time I buy a jersey for a Browns player, they wind up getting traded or released or they retire. Chris Speilman, Tim Couch, Braylon Edwards, Peyton Hillis, Kamerion Wimbley, Josh Cribbs (although the Cribbs jersey is still pretty relevant, considering he played here for 8 seasons) and now Trent Richardson. Hopefully nothing happens to Joe Thomas within the next few seasons. Even when Mrs. Joe Cleveland wins me a signed Grady Sizemore Indians jersey in a silent auction for charity, Sizemore immediately stops playing baseball, so it's not just with the Browns.
And, I'll admit to being a fan of Trent Richardson. I thought he'd be the workhorse running back that we've been aiming for since the days of Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner. All the Browns fans have this notion of "smash-mouth" football as being "Browns football." Unfortunately, those days in the NFL are gone. It's a passing league now, and while it's helpful to have a good running game, running backs just aren't as valuable to the offense anymore.
That's why many questioned the move to trade up for Richardson and then wait until the 22nd pick to take their "franchise quarterback," which was Brandon Weeden. Weeden, who was 28 when he was drafted, is already injured after taking a beating in his first two games this season and may never take a snap again if North Olmsted's Brian Hoyer has any semblance of a good game today against the Vikings.
So, while I was initially very upset about the Richardson trade, cooler head's prevailed. I listened as the national media universally praised the Browns for making this deal, as they felt that getting a first rounder for a running back (a running back with injury problems that only rushed for 3.6-yards per carry) was a steal. They also felt this gives the Browns great ammunition to get the franchise quarterback they have, arguably, never had since Bernie Kosar in the first round of the 2014 Draft -- a draft that looks to be a very quarterback-heavy draft.
Even the local media -- most of whom do not care for Browns general manager Mike Lombardi -- gave the Browns kudos on the move. They quoted players as saying that Richardson was immature, was aloof, wasn't a good teammate, etc. Scott Fujita, as respected a player as they come who was a Browns captain the last two seasons, was not shy about his feelings on Richardson, saying that he needed to do some growing up and that a lot of his teammates were tired of his act. Even though he played through injuries, some felt that he played those injuries up to show how "heroic" he was. Some even questioned his desire to even play for the Browns.
At any rate, it sends a message to the locker room that no one player is above the team and that ANYONE can be shipped out or dropped. Let's just say the message was received.
On a day that began with the news that Hoyer was going to become the 19th starting quarterback since 1999 and that Greg Little lost his starting job to Davone Bess because of his drops and off-the-field problems, those stories were destroyed by the Richardson trade. It was arguably the most polarizing move the Browns have made since they released Kosar in November of 1993.
With one person in common on both of those transactions, Browns' fans vitriol turned to Mike Lombardi. Lombardi was the guy who spliced together a video of Kosar lowlights and mistakes and took it to Art Modell as evidence that he needed to be released. Many fans never forgave him for that, and, knowing how against the trade up for Richardson he was in the first place, believed he did something similar. When Lombardi didn't appear in front of the media to announce the trade -- CEO Joe Banner and head coach Rob Chudzinski spoke about it instead -- it only added to the furor against him.
But, it was later revealed that it was Banner himself who initiated the trade talks with Colts GM Ryan Grigson and owner Jim Irsay. Of course, Lombardi signed off on the deal, as did Chud and offensive coordinator Norv Turner, but the decision was Banner's to make, and he made it.
But the one thing that may have really put fans on board with this decision came from an unlikely source -- former team president Mike Holmgren.
Holmgren was in charge of the front office that made the decision to trade for Richardson and then acquire Weeden at No. 22. Many have felt that it was Holmgren himself that made the call to make the trade up with the Vikings to get Richardson and then overruled his GM at No. 22 to take Weeden.
After the sale to Jimmy Haslam III, Holmgren was on borrowed time. At first, Haslam and Banner allowed Holmgren to simply retire following the 2012 season. However, after a couple of stunts that didn't sit well, such as openly coveting the Cowboys coaching job (and then meeting with Jerry Jones on the field before the game while Haslam watched from his box) and then signing off on a promotion to hand out little white flags before the game against the Steelers (Banner put the kibosh on it after it was lambasted in the local media and by the fans), Holmgren was fired. His hand-picked coach (Pat Shurmur) and GM (Heckert) were shown the door the day after the 2012 season ended.
The day after the trade, Holmgren came on his favorite Seattle sports talk show hosted by a guy named Softy (seriously) and spouted off about how the Richardson trade was awful, how it was a "knee-jerk" reaction by the front office, how, if he was the head coach, he would have asked to be fired almost immediately, and then insinuated that Chud perhaps didn't have the backbone to confront Banner and Lombardi on the trade.
Considering that public perception (fueled by the media) that Holmgren was in Cleveland only to collect $40 million of Randy Lerner's money and had no interest in really putting a winner on the field (his moves speak for themselves, quite frankly), many believed that Holmgren didn't even have the right to speak out about it the move. As Terry Pluto wrote, Holmgren had the chance to be his own head coach on two separate occasions but decided against it both times, probably for ego-driven reasons, so the fact that he would make that "fire me or I quit" statement reeks of irony. Plus, by doing so, it shows how much of a coach you really are, when you factor in that there are 52 other guys in the locker room that count on you to lead them through thick and thin. It's a short-sighted move that shows the incredible ego and self-centeredness of Mike Holmgren.
Banner responded by taking the high road, saying that Holmgren "had his chance to run the Browns and now it's our turn." But, privately, he had to be thanking his lucky stars, because he got unintentional PR gold. Perhaps Holmgren, oblivious to the fact that most of the Cleveland fan base hated him by the time he left, felt that he was only stroking the fires of the Cleveland fan base against the men who ran him out of town. Instead, it only turned the fire back on Holmgren and allowed the fans to look deeper at the trade.
Maybe, just maybe, it was the right move after all.
Unfortunately, now fans have turned their attentions to the 2014 draft and are speculating on quarterbacks such as Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, Clemson's Tajh Boyd, Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel, UCLA's Brett Hundley, Oregon's Marcus Mariota and Alabama's A.J. McCarron and how good they'd look in Brown and Orange next season and for the next 10 seasons. Most fans don't believe the Browns have a shot at winning. It doesn't look good when you're starting your third-string quarterback and a 32-year-old running back who was out of the league in Willis McGahee. But, perhaps this is something the team can rally around.
If Richardson was really the cancer that some have played him up to be, maybe it is addition by subtraction. Maybe the players play harder when they feel their jobs are on the line. Maybe Brian Hoyer turns out to be a decent quarterback capable of running the offense better than Weeden and getting the most out of his players. Maybe McGahee can put up similar numbers, or better, than Richardson did running behind this line. Who really knows.
It definitely puts Banner and Lombardi in the cross-hairs. Fans seemed willing to put up with the process of rebuilding with each regime, but a move like this really puts Banner and Lombardi under pressure to turn it around as soon as possible. They cannot miss on the 2014 draft. With 10 picks, they have the ammunition to get some good playmakers and add to the talent that is already here (and, there are some talented players here). But they cannot afford to draft the next Ryan Leaf or Blaine Gabbert or Tim Couch or David Carr or Christian Ponder or Brady Quinn. They have to find another Andrew Luck or Eli Manning or Cam Newton or Colin Kaepernick -- a true, franchise difference-maker under center. Whether he's a dual threat or a pocket passer, he needs to possess the tools to elevate his game and his team to the next level. Luck has done it in Indianapolis, and Kaepernick took his 49ers to the Super Bowl after only starting half the season. They can't afford to wait on another Weeden, a guy with good tools but with bad tendencies that have hurt his game.
A lot of fans don't have faith in the front office, and why should they? Look at all the wasted draft picks the Browns have had since 1999. The only two first rounders that actually made a difference with this team were Joe Thomas and Joe Haden. Perhaps Phil Taylor can be included, but he's a nose tackle. And it's still too early to say if Barkevious Mingo can be included on that list, although he had a great debut last Sunday against Baltimore.
People remember the Lombardi drafts before the move, drafts that yielded future Hall of Famers such as Tommy Vardell, Craig Powell, Patrick Rowe, Antonio Langham, Derrick Alexander, Eric Zeier, Michael Bankson, etc. Only Eric Turner, Leroy Hoard and Steve Everitt could be said were worthy of their high-round selections by the Browns under Lombardi and Bill Belichick. However, they did have that team in the playoffs in 1994 with an 11-5 record and were 4-3 in 1995 before Modell announced the move, ripping the rug out from under them. So, maybe there is a method to their madness.
What the Browns do with this draft will prove that they made the right move. It's not about how Richardson does in Indianapolis or about how long of a career he has. Sure, those are factors. However, what the Browns turn that asset into will be the deciding factor as to whether the Browns made a great trade or not.
And, while most of us are irritated with the Browns right now, and some of us are seriously considering not renewing their season tickets next season, the fact is, deep down, we're all fans. We all want them to win each Sunday, bottom-line. We have every right to be angry and to be skeptical, just as we've been angry and skeptical about the Indians. But, at the end of the day, we want the Browns to be winners. That's all. Those of you who throw up their hands and decide to root for a different team now are nothing but front-runners anyway. You can decide to do housework and yardwork on your Sunday afternoons now; that's fine. But, deep down, you still care about them.
***
Which brings me to the Indians, who, despite being written off at least six different times this season, have found themselves right in the thick of the Wild Card chase in the American League.
If the season were to have ended Saturday, the Indians would be the second Wild Card team and would be travelling to Tampa to take on the Rays in a one-game playoff to decide who plays in the Division Series. Unfortunately for the Indians, they have seven more games to play, but still.
The majority of Indians fans didn't believe. Joe Cleveland will admit that I didn't, and part of me still doesn't believe that it can be done. But, do I want it to happen? Of course, I live in Cleveland!
Slowly bur surely, more and more fans who stayed away from the ballpark this year for reasons that were entirely valid and of their own accord are starting to get sucked into the playoff chase. Why wouldn't you? There's nothing like meaningful late September baseball, and it's been a long time since the Indians have played meaningful September games.
Some people have brought up the failed playoff chases of 2000 and 2005. During the "Era of Champions" and even during 2007, the Indians wrapped up their division titles by mid-September or by the last week of the season. Very rarely had they ever been in a true pennant race, and in the few times they had, they came up short.
In both 2000 and 2005, the Indians went into the last day of the regular season needing a win (or a win coupled with some losses) to clinch a wild card berth. Both times, they came up short. In 2000, the Indians won but wins by the Mariners and the A's bumped them out of the playoffs. In 2005, a 1-6 final week of the season, capped by a sweep at home by the eventual World Champion Chicago White Sox, put a damper on a 93-win season that saw the Indians play a red-hot second-half to overcome a miserable April, only to choke it away.
While manager Terry Francona deserves the lion's share of the credit to turn this team into the playoff contenders that they are, people remember how Francona's Red Sox tenure ended two seasons ago, where they blew a huge lead in September and lost a playoff spot on the final day of the regular season amid allegations that Francona lost control of a wild clubhouse that loved to eat fried chicken and drink beer on a regular basis.
This team doesn't have a bonafide superstar. They only have one player with 20 or more home runs (Nick Swisher) and do not have a regular batting .300 or better. They've been missing their best pitcher (Justin Masterson) all month and their closer (Chris Perez) has had an off-year in every sense of the word. But, somehow, someway, they've gotten it done.
Starting Tuesday, the Indians, Rays and Rangers will go into a six-game sprint to the finish for two playoff spots, with the suddenly surging Royals still hot on their heels, along with the Orioles. The Indians will host the reeling White Sox (who they've owned all season) and travel to Minnesota to take on a Twins team that has struggled.
For whatever reason, this Indians team has struggled to capture the hearts of the local fanbase, probably because they've been burned so often by the Indians in recent memory. They remember how hot starts in April and May the last two years went up in flames in June, July and August. They remember how the Indians held a 3-1 lead on the Red Sox in the 2007 ALCS only to choke the series away. They remember the 2005 collapse. They remember the tenures of managers Eric Wedge and Manny Acta, and remember Mark Shapiro trading Cy Young Award winners in back-to-back years for not much in return.
While the fans struggle to totally embrace this team, there have been a dedicated bunch that have stuck with this team through trial and tribulation, through Detroit sweep after Detroit sweep, all season long, never losing the faith. For that, Joe Cleveland tips his hat to you. If the Indians do make the Wild Card, even if they lose that game, you deserve to take a bow. Your faith was rewarded.
But, even if the Indians come up short, you can't deny that this was a successful season. The Indians clinched a winning record for the first time since 2007 and just the third time since 2002. They spent some money in the past offseason and could very well be proactive this offseason as well (they need to). They will have some dead money coming off the books that can be used for positive assets, and they do have some pieces (Perez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana) that could be moved for the right price that could help this team improve in other areas.
This season could very well be the cornerstone of something great. It may not happen this year. But they have the manager here that has proven he can do it, some players that can be built around and some assets to play with to make this team better. The Indians can't afford to let their window of opportunity slam in their face. I guarantee, if they have another positive offseason like they had last winter, you will see less green seats and more fans in the stands in 2014 at Progressive Field.
Until next time (whenver that is), remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Then, the nuclear bomb dropped on the Cleveland sports scene on a Wednesday evening that shook the foundation of every fan, whether you are a die-hard Browns fan, a season ticket holder or just a casual fan.
Trent Richardson, just one year after the Browns traded four picks to move up one spot in the 2012 draft to take him No. 3 overall, was dealt to the Indianapolis Colts for their 2014 first round selection.
So much for Joe Cleveland's semi-retirement.
My first reaction was shock -- Trent Richardson? Traded? Come on! Really, after two weeks? BS! -- then anger at the Browns. As a season ticket holder entering his fourth year with the Browns, I felt betrayed, gypped, lied to.
The Browns told everyone they planned on having a better product on the field for 2013. They spent money in free agency, brought in big-name coordinators to change the offensive and defensive culture and even tried to better the game-day experience at the stadium. After two games, when they deal the perceived top weapon in the offense, it sends the message that they are giving up on this season.
And, as someone who has already plunked down $900 for two tickets in the upper Dawg Pound, and knowing full well that I not only won't get full value for those tickets if I try to sell them, but also may not be able to rely on the usual cast of characters that usually buy one of the tickets off me for random games, I felt ripped off and very, very angry.
I also, against my better judgment, bought his jersey last year. The Browns caught me in a moment of weakness -- they had just beaten the hated Steelers, 20-14, and Richardson had played a key role in that monumental victory. So, in the Team Shop, I plunked down my hard earned money (using my 20 percent season ticket discount) and purchased a Richardson 33 jersey as a reminder of one of the best Browns games I had attended. Now, that jersey is useless because Richardson is gone so quickly.
It never fails. Every time I buy a jersey for a Browns player, they wind up getting traded or released or they retire. Chris Speilman, Tim Couch, Braylon Edwards, Peyton Hillis, Kamerion Wimbley, Josh Cribbs (although the Cribbs jersey is still pretty relevant, considering he played here for 8 seasons) and now Trent Richardson. Hopefully nothing happens to Joe Thomas within the next few seasons. Even when Mrs. Joe Cleveland wins me a signed Grady Sizemore Indians jersey in a silent auction for charity, Sizemore immediately stops playing baseball, so it's not just with the Browns.
And, I'll admit to being a fan of Trent Richardson. I thought he'd be the workhorse running back that we've been aiming for since the days of Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner. All the Browns fans have this notion of "smash-mouth" football as being "Browns football." Unfortunately, those days in the NFL are gone. It's a passing league now, and while it's helpful to have a good running game, running backs just aren't as valuable to the offense anymore.
That's why many questioned the move to trade up for Richardson and then wait until the 22nd pick to take their "franchise quarterback," which was Brandon Weeden. Weeden, who was 28 when he was drafted, is already injured after taking a beating in his first two games this season and may never take a snap again if North Olmsted's Brian Hoyer has any semblance of a good game today against the Vikings.
So, while I was initially very upset about the Richardson trade, cooler head's prevailed. I listened as the national media universally praised the Browns for making this deal, as they felt that getting a first rounder for a running back (a running back with injury problems that only rushed for 3.6-yards per carry) was a steal. They also felt this gives the Browns great ammunition to get the franchise quarterback they have, arguably, never had since Bernie Kosar in the first round of the 2014 Draft -- a draft that looks to be a very quarterback-heavy draft.
Even the local media -- most of whom do not care for Browns general manager Mike Lombardi -- gave the Browns kudos on the move. They quoted players as saying that Richardson was immature, was aloof, wasn't a good teammate, etc. Scott Fujita, as respected a player as they come who was a Browns captain the last two seasons, was not shy about his feelings on Richardson, saying that he needed to do some growing up and that a lot of his teammates were tired of his act. Even though he played through injuries, some felt that he played those injuries up to show how "heroic" he was. Some even questioned his desire to even play for the Browns.
At any rate, it sends a message to the locker room that no one player is above the team and that ANYONE can be shipped out or dropped. Let's just say the message was received.
On a day that began with the news that Hoyer was going to become the 19th starting quarterback since 1999 and that Greg Little lost his starting job to Davone Bess because of his drops and off-the-field problems, those stories were destroyed by the Richardson trade. It was arguably the most polarizing move the Browns have made since they released Kosar in November of 1993.
With one person in common on both of those transactions, Browns' fans vitriol turned to Mike Lombardi. Lombardi was the guy who spliced together a video of Kosar lowlights and mistakes and took it to Art Modell as evidence that he needed to be released. Many fans never forgave him for that, and, knowing how against the trade up for Richardson he was in the first place, believed he did something similar. When Lombardi didn't appear in front of the media to announce the trade -- CEO Joe Banner and head coach Rob Chudzinski spoke about it instead -- it only added to the furor against him.
But, it was later revealed that it was Banner himself who initiated the trade talks with Colts GM Ryan Grigson and owner Jim Irsay. Of course, Lombardi signed off on the deal, as did Chud and offensive coordinator Norv Turner, but the decision was Banner's to make, and he made it.
But the one thing that may have really put fans on board with this decision came from an unlikely source -- former team president Mike Holmgren.
Holmgren was in charge of the front office that made the decision to trade for Richardson and then acquire Weeden at No. 22. Many have felt that it was Holmgren himself that made the call to make the trade up with the Vikings to get Richardson and then overruled his GM at No. 22 to take Weeden.
After the sale to Jimmy Haslam III, Holmgren was on borrowed time. At first, Haslam and Banner allowed Holmgren to simply retire following the 2012 season. However, after a couple of stunts that didn't sit well, such as openly coveting the Cowboys coaching job (and then meeting with Jerry Jones on the field before the game while Haslam watched from his box) and then signing off on a promotion to hand out little white flags before the game against the Steelers (Banner put the kibosh on it after it was lambasted in the local media and by the fans), Holmgren was fired. His hand-picked coach (Pat Shurmur) and GM (Heckert) were shown the door the day after the 2012 season ended.
The day after the trade, Holmgren came on his favorite Seattle sports talk show hosted by a guy named Softy (seriously) and spouted off about how the Richardson trade was awful, how it was a "knee-jerk" reaction by the front office, how, if he was the head coach, he would have asked to be fired almost immediately, and then insinuated that Chud perhaps didn't have the backbone to confront Banner and Lombardi on the trade.
Considering that public perception (fueled by the media) that Holmgren was in Cleveland only to collect $40 million of Randy Lerner's money and had no interest in really putting a winner on the field (his moves speak for themselves, quite frankly), many believed that Holmgren didn't even have the right to speak out about it the move. As Terry Pluto wrote, Holmgren had the chance to be his own head coach on two separate occasions but decided against it both times, probably for ego-driven reasons, so the fact that he would make that "fire me or I quit" statement reeks of irony. Plus, by doing so, it shows how much of a coach you really are, when you factor in that there are 52 other guys in the locker room that count on you to lead them through thick and thin. It's a short-sighted move that shows the incredible ego and self-centeredness of Mike Holmgren.
Banner responded by taking the high road, saying that Holmgren "had his chance to run the Browns and now it's our turn." But, privately, he had to be thanking his lucky stars, because he got unintentional PR gold. Perhaps Holmgren, oblivious to the fact that most of the Cleveland fan base hated him by the time he left, felt that he was only stroking the fires of the Cleveland fan base against the men who ran him out of town. Instead, it only turned the fire back on Holmgren and allowed the fans to look deeper at the trade.
Maybe, just maybe, it was the right move after all.
Unfortunately, now fans have turned their attentions to the 2014 draft and are speculating on quarterbacks such as Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, Clemson's Tajh Boyd, Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel, UCLA's Brett Hundley, Oregon's Marcus Mariota and Alabama's A.J. McCarron and how good they'd look in Brown and Orange next season and for the next 10 seasons. Most fans don't believe the Browns have a shot at winning. It doesn't look good when you're starting your third-string quarterback and a 32-year-old running back who was out of the league in Willis McGahee. But, perhaps this is something the team can rally around.
If Richardson was really the cancer that some have played him up to be, maybe it is addition by subtraction. Maybe the players play harder when they feel their jobs are on the line. Maybe Brian Hoyer turns out to be a decent quarterback capable of running the offense better than Weeden and getting the most out of his players. Maybe McGahee can put up similar numbers, or better, than Richardson did running behind this line. Who really knows.
It definitely puts Banner and Lombardi in the cross-hairs. Fans seemed willing to put up with the process of rebuilding with each regime, but a move like this really puts Banner and Lombardi under pressure to turn it around as soon as possible. They cannot miss on the 2014 draft. With 10 picks, they have the ammunition to get some good playmakers and add to the talent that is already here (and, there are some talented players here). But they cannot afford to draft the next Ryan Leaf or Blaine Gabbert or Tim Couch or David Carr or Christian Ponder or Brady Quinn. They have to find another Andrew Luck or Eli Manning or Cam Newton or Colin Kaepernick -- a true, franchise difference-maker under center. Whether he's a dual threat or a pocket passer, he needs to possess the tools to elevate his game and his team to the next level. Luck has done it in Indianapolis, and Kaepernick took his 49ers to the Super Bowl after only starting half the season. They can't afford to wait on another Weeden, a guy with good tools but with bad tendencies that have hurt his game.
A lot of fans don't have faith in the front office, and why should they? Look at all the wasted draft picks the Browns have had since 1999. The only two first rounders that actually made a difference with this team were Joe Thomas and Joe Haden. Perhaps Phil Taylor can be included, but he's a nose tackle. And it's still too early to say if Barkevious Mingo can be included on that list, although he had a great debut last Sunday against Baltimore.
People remember the Lombardi drafts before the move, drafts that yielded future Hall of Famers such as Tommy Vardell, Craig Powell, Patrick Rowe, Antonio Langham, Derrick Alexander, Eric Zeier, Michael Bankson, etc. Only Eric Turner, Leroy Hoard and Steve Everitt could be said were worthy of their high-round selections by the Browns under Lombardi and Bill Belichick. However, they did have that team in the playoffs in 1994 with an 11-5 record and were 4-3 in 1995 before Modell announced the move, ripping the rug out from under them. So, maybe there is a method to their madness.
What the Browns do with this draft will prove that they made the right move. It's not about how Richardson does in Indianapolis or about how long of a career he has. Sure, those are factors. However, what the Browns turn that asset into will be the deciding factor as to whether the Browns made a great trade or not.
And, while most of us are irritated with the Browns right now, and some of us are seriously considering not renewing their season tickets next season, the fact is, deep down, we're all fans. We all want them to win each Sunday, bottom-line. We have every right to be angry and to be skeptical, just as we've been angry and skeptical about the Indians. But, at the end of the day, we want the Browns to be winners. That's all. Those of you who throw up their hands and decide to root for a different team now are nothing but front-runners anyway. You can decide to do housework and yardwork on your Sunday afternoons now; that's fine. But, deep down, you still care about them.
***
Which brings me to the Indians, who, despite being written off at least six different times this season, have found themselves right in the thick of the Wild Card chase in the American League.
If the season were to have ended Saturday, the Indians would be the second Wild Card team and would be travelling to Tampa to take on the Rays in a one-game playoff to decide who plays in the Division Series. Unfortunately for the Indians, they have seven more games to play, but still.
The majority of Indians fans didn't believe. Joe Cleveland will admit that I didn't, and part of me still doesn't believe that it can be done. But, do I want it to happen? Of course, I live in Cleveland!
Slowly bur surely, more and more fans who stayed away from the ballpark this year for reasons that were entirely valid and of their own accord are starting to get sucked into the playoff chase. Why wouldn't you? There's nothing like meaningful late September baseball, and it's been a long time since the Indians have played meaningful September games.
Some people have brought up the failed playoff chases of 2000 and 2005. During the "Era of Champions" and even during 2007, the Indians wrapped up their division titles by mid-September or by the last week of the season. Very rarely had they ever been in a true pennant race, and in the few times they had, they came up short.
In both 2000 and 2005, the Indians went into the last day of the regular season needing a win (or a win coupled with some losses) to clinch a wild card berth. Both times, they came up short. In 2000, the Indians won but wins by the Mariners and the A's bumped them out of the playoffs. In 2005, a 1-6 final week of the season, capped by a sweep at home by the eventual World Champion Chicago White Sox, put a damper on a 93-win season that saw the Indians play a red-hot second-half to overcome a miserable April, only to choke it away.
While manager Terry Francona deserves the lion's share of the credit to turn this team into the playoff contenders that they are, people remember how Francona's Red Sox tenure ended two seasons ago, where they blew a huge lead in September and lost a playoff spot on the final day of the regular season amid allegations that Francona lost control of a wild clubhouse that loved to eat fried chicken and drink beer on a regular basis.
This team doesn't have a bonafide superstar. They only have one player with 20 or more home runs (Nick Swisher) and do not have a regular batting .300 or better. They've been missing their best pitcher (Justin Masterson) all month and their closer (Chris Perez) has had an off-year in every sense of the word. But, somehow, someway, they've gotten it done.
Starting Tuesday, the Indians, Rays and Rangers will go into a six-game sprint to the finish for two playoff spots, with the suddenly surging Royals still hot on their heels, along with the Orioles. The Indians will host the reeling White Sox (who they've owned all season) and travel to Minnesota to take on a Twins team that has struggled.
For whatever reason, this Indians team has struggled to capture the hearts of the local fanbase, probably because they've been burned so often by the Indians in recent memory. They remember how hot starts in April and May the last two years went up in flames in June, July and August. They remember how the Indians held a 3-1 lead on the Red Sox in the 2007 ALCS only to choke the series away. They remember the 2005 collapse. They remember the tenures of managers Eric Wedge and Manny Acta, and remember Mark Shapiro trading Cy Young Award winners in back-to-back years for not much in return.
While the fans struggle to totally embrace this team, there have been a dedicated bunch that have stuck with this team through trial and tribulation, through Detroit sweep after Detroit sweep, all season long, never losing the faith. For that, Joe Cleveland tips his hat to you. If the Indians do make the Wild Card, even if they lose that game, you deserve to take a bow. Your faith was rewarded.
But, even if the Indians come up short, you can't deny that this was a successful season. The Indians clinched a winning record for the first time since 2007 and just the third time since 2002. They spent some money in the past offseason and could very well be proactive this offseason as well (they need to). They will have some dead money coming off the books that can be used for positive assets, and they do have some pieces (Perez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana) that could be moved for the right price that could help this team improve in other areas.
This season could very well be the cornerstone of something great. It may not happen this year. But they have the manager here that has proven he can do it, some players that can be built around and some assets to play with to make this team better. The Indians can't afford to let their window of opportunity slam in their face. I guarantee, if they have another positive offseason like they had last winter, you will see less green seats and more fans in the stands in 2014 at Progressive Field.
Until next time (whenver that is), remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Draft dodging
The Browns' first full NFL Draft in the Jimmy Haslam III-Joe Banner-Mike Lombardi regime began under a cloud of ominousness, thanks to the FBI and IRS raiding Haslam's Pilot/Flying J Tennessee headquarters and charging the business with defrauding customers on rebates the company promised to them.
Haslam's reputation around Cleveland took a hit when this news hit the fan. Browns fans weren't happy with his status as a "crook." They were concerned about the status of the Browns' franchise if Haslam is indicted -- would Haslam be forced to sell, would the NFL take over the operations of the team while a buyer is found, you name it. Things even as far-fetched as the Browns eventually relocating from Cleveland again were brought up from paranoid Cleveland sports fans who have been through the ringer and back many times over the last 50 years.
The NFL Draft, which took place this past Thursday-through-Saturday, was going to be the welcome distraction from those fears and get fans focusing on football again.
With Haslam in the "War Room" all three days, what the Cleveland Browns was interesting, to say the least.
The Browns kept their sixth pick, despite a reported offer from the St. Louis Rams to trade down 10 spots, did not add a second round pick and wound up making three separate trades that allowed to land veteran wide receiver Devone Bess from the Miami Dolphins, a third-round pick in the 2014 draft from the (gasp) Pittsburgh Steelers and a fourth-round pick in the same draft from the Indianapolis Colts. The result of those three trades was no picks at all in rounds four and five, one pick in round six and two picks in round seven that the Browns used to draft some gambles -- either high-profile players who are coming off major injuries (like Notre Dame safety Jamoris Slaughter) or Division II players from small schools that could be projects.
In the end, the Browns only had two picks in the first 174 draft picks, wound up with five draft picks total, did not take a rookie quarterback (which several so-called draft experts were predicting and a few more in the Cleveland media were calling for) and wound up taking a top-notch pass rusher in LSU's Barkevious Mingo with the sixth-overall pick instead of Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner (who fell to the New York Jets at No. 9). They also wound up taking San Diego State cornerback Leon McFadden in the third round, just one pick higher than the Arizona Cardinals took a gamble on LSU's Tyrann "Honey Badger" Mathieu, who missed all of last season due to drug-related suspensions.
So, why does Joe Cleveland give them a passing grade for this when there are many (and I mean MANY) people -- pundits, media members and fans -- taking them to task for what they did?
With the fact that I've been openly against Mike Lombardi as the general manager and would look for any way to bash the heck out of the guy, and am not currently thrilled with the things going on with Haslam, I find myself defending what they did.
I've tried to be angry about it, but I simply cannot. In fact, I find myself defending the Browns more than I take them to task.
Heading into the first round, the Browns had reportedly worked out every high-profile quarterback in this draft -- Geno Smith, E.J. Manuel, Ryan Nassib, Matt Barkley, Mike Glennon -- to the point that everyone discarded what Joe Banner said last month and felt that the Browns would take a quarterback.
Maybe not at No. 6, but maybe so. Maybe they trade down and use that later first round pick or pick in the second to take a QB.
So, I feared that the Browns wound use that sixth pick to take a guy like Geno Smith, who I am very down on. I saw a few of his college games last year, and he just didn't look like a guy you could make a franchise quarterback. It seemed like he was one of those "flavor of the month" QBs because of the "flavor of the month" read-option offense that some NFL coaches are importing from the college ranks. My motto was simply -- "Anybody But Geno."
So, when the Browns took Mingo, I let out a loud cheer, mostly in relief. It wasn't Geno Smith, thank God. In fact, Smith was passed over by everyone in the first round and was chosen into the seventh pick of the second round by the Jets, who already had a logjam at quarterback that only got more muddled, even after they gave God's favorite player Tim Tebow his walking papers.
When Miami moved up to take Dion Jordan (the guy I wanted most) and the Eagles surprisingly took offensive lineman Lane Johnson, I figured the Browns weren't going to trade. The three offensive linemen looked the most promising, and having Lane Johnson fall to six would have prompted several teams to make the Browns an offer.
After Ziggy Ansah was drafted by the Lions, I felt that the Browns would take either Mingo or Milliner, with a fear that it would be Geno Smith. I was pleasantly surprised that it was Mingo.
M-I-N-G-O! And Mingo was his name-oh!
Can't you envision yourself at FirstEnergy Stadium over the next several years chanting "MINNNNNGOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...." every time he makes a big play? I sure can.
After Geno Smith and another other player with QB listed as his position, the player I didn't want the Browns to settle for was Milliner. Earlier, I wanted Milliner because he fit that everyone believed was the Browns' biggest need -- a starting cornerback opposite Joe Haden. However, more reports came out about his five surgeries and his most recent torn labrum surgery, along with reports that, while Milliner was the best cornerback in the draft, that doesn't necessarily make him a "shutdown" cornerback.
In other words, he was really good, but he wasn't quite elite.
Some questioned Mingo because the Browns had spent a lot of money in the offseason on adding pass rushers from the outside linebacker and defensive end spots. Paul Kruger from Baltimore was the high-profile signing, while Quinton Groves from Arizona and Desmond Bryant from Oakland were also additions that bring some blitzing ability that Ray Horton wants from his attacking 3-4 defense.
With former second-round pick Jabaal Sheard making the move from outside end to outside linebacker, many felt that the Browns would take themselves out of the running for one of the three highly-projected pass rushers in the draft -- Jordan, Ansah and Mingo. Instead, they wound up with Mingo.
Mingo is a physical freak -- with good size and speed and tackling ability, with the ability to put pressure on the quarterback. He was held to 4.5 sacks last year, which concerned some. However, LSU coach Les Miles conceded that the defensive scheme they used took away from Mingo's main strength and that he was mostly used to "stay home" and defend the read-option quarterbacks they went up against. Also, Mingo was exclusively a defensive end in college, and he'd be asked to move to linebacker in the NFL.
Mingo will compete with Sheard and Groves with one of the starting spots at outside linebacker.
Some fear that Mingo will end up like Kamieron Wimbley, the former top-draft choice by the Browns who was moved from end to linebacker, sacked the QB 11 times as a rookie but fell to earth and was subsequently traded two years later. Wimbley has since played for three other NFL teams and has carved out a nice career for himself, but he certainly did not become the elite pass rusher Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel envisioned when they traded with the Ravens to get him.
Where Wimbley struggled was because the Browns did not have any other pass-rush threats on their defense besides Wimbley. Teams double-teamed him. He also struggled with pass coverage. When Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert came aboard with visions of switching to a 4-3 defense, they dealt Wimbley to the Raiders for a third-round pick that wound up becoming Colt McCoy.
Mingo comes into a much better situation than Wimbley did. He enters a position of sudden depth thanks to Kruger, Groves and Sheard. He can put his hand down and play end when the Browns employ that 4-3 look (which they plan on). He'll be counted on as a part of the rotation among the front seven that should keep the players fresh and, hopefully, wreak havoc on opposing offenses.
Mingo will be compared not only to Milliner, but also to Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones, who fell all the way to No. 19 and was taken by the Steelers. Jones was red-flagged because of a spinal stenosis condition that could shave years off his career, along with poor workouts at both his pro day and the NFL combine. However, his 28 sacks over the last two years led the nation (compared to 11.5 sacks over that time frame by Mingo). There are some who felt that the Browns should have taken the trade that was reportedly offered by the Rams and moved down to No. 16 and taken Jones or Texas safety Kenny Vaccaro.
Unfortunately, Browns fans can be a fickle bunch. When the Browns traded down three times in the first round in 2009 (passing Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman and Jeremy Maclin) and took center Alex Mack, fans complained. When the Browns traded down from No. 6 to No. 24 with the Falcons and wound up with nose tackle Phil Taylor and defensive end Sheard and receiver Greg Little, fans complained that they passed on receiver Julio Jones. When the Browns traded up last year to snag running back Trent Richardson, they complained they paid too steep a price (which also complaining that they didn't pay an even steeper price to try to draft Robert Griffin III).
Let's face it, you guys will complain about anything. If the Browns would have traded down, you would have complained they moved down too far. So, get over it.
Banner said he includes receiver Josh Gordon in this group, and he should. The Browns used their second-round pick on him in last year's supplemental draft. Had Gordon come out this year, he would have been a high first round pick and the top WR taken (ahead of Tavon Austin, who is too small for my tastes). Gordon's addition lifts the status of this draft, in my opinion, and Heckert should take a bow for it.
While the Honey Badger had flash and big-play ability with LSU, playing next to two former No. 1 draft picks in Patrick Peterson and Morris Claiborne, his off-the-field issues and his 5-8 stature worked against him. I felt the Browns would take a chance on him, but only if he fell to the fourth round. Instead, they took McFadden, a four-year starter in the pass-happy Mountain West Conference who, while also small, showed great coverage ability. I have no problems with that pick.
Honey Badger is the ultimate boom or bust pick. If he gets back to drugs, fails on the field, whatever, it's a pick that would have sealed Lombardi's fate. With the Cardinals, he has his old buddy Peterson in the locker room to try to help keep him in line. It's a better situation for him there to succeed than here, even though they already have one of his old teammates in Mingo here. Plus, with his size, Mathieu is more suited to be a nickel back and cover the inside recievers instead of the outside (early plans with Arizona have him moving to safety, which is odd).
Some folks were hoping the Browns would use their fourth and fifth round picks on the plethora of quarterbacks that dropped like stones in this draft. However, I am glad they did not. Guys like Nassib and Barkley fell for a reason. Then, they turn into yet another third- or fourth-round QB that the Browns take that teases fans for a bit but then fall to earth spectacularly. It's a big reason why this team has had trouble developing a long-term quarterback --they always settle for mid-round talent, give them a season or two, and then start over.
See Charlie Frye (third round), Colt McCoy (third round), Luke McCown (fourth round), Spurgeon Wynn (sixth round) and even Derek Anderson (sixth round with Baltimore) as QBs who teased fans with some solid play but flopped when they became the de-facto starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. As it is, both Barkley and Nassib were drafted in the fourth round before the Browns chose, so it was a moot point. But even a guy like Tyler Wilson of Arkansas, all he does is give fans false hope that they found the heir-apparent for Weeden and clamor for him when (and if) Weeden struggles. I'm about tired of QB drama in this town.
The Browns are giving Weeden at least one more to prove himself, and he deserves it. He was a first-round draft choice who had success in college and had intangibles that many scouts love (good size, a big arm, etc.) He's in an offense tailored to his strengths that Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner are bringing to town. He'll also have a better receiving corps to throw to with the additions of Bess and David Nelson, along with the returns of Gordon, Little, Travis Benjamin, Jordan Norwood and Josh Cooper, along with a (hopefully) healthier Trent Richardson running the ball and an improved offensive line.
If he fails, the Browns suddenly are armed with assets in the 2014 draft to try to make a move to land one of the top quarterbacks in next year's class (Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel, A.J. McCarron, etc.) And that's due to those trades with the Steelers and Colts that everyone complained about.
Some think that the Browns doing what they did in this draft signifies that they are playing for next year already. I don't get that vibe. So, they didn't take a player in the fourth and fifth round. I don't remember a lot of All-Pros coming out of the fourth and fifth round. This is where the Browns typically find players like Owen Marecic, Buster Skrine, James-Michael Johnson, Travis Benjamin, etc. Nice players, but are they going to be studs in the NFL? Doubtful. Most fans are ready to run Marecic and Skrine out of town, as am I? So, they didn't waste a draft pick on a guy that, most likely, wouldn't start on this team and be a training camp body, and they got higher assets in next year's draft for them. Good for them. A solid business move, if you ask me.
I would expect the Browns to become players in the second phase of free agency, that usually heats up after June 1 when players get cut due to contract deadlines. That's where you'll find your depth and special teams help, and, potentially, another starter to go with your existing crew.
I give the draft an early B-, but in reality, how can you legitimately grade a draft two days after it's over when none of these players have gone through training camp or played in a game yet? Last year, there were fans crying that the Browns took Weeden over guard David DeCastro, and then DeCastro suffered a serious injury and missed most of his rookie season with the Steelers. Still crying?
Honestly, what the Browns did in this draft is something most of us aren't used to seeing, which is why some of us are outraged. Would it have helped to add in eight rookie draft picks again? No, it wouldn't have.
I'm willing to give Banner and Co. the benefit of the doubt. I was high on Mingo and was happy they drafted him, and I like the McFadden pick the more I see it. And, let's rejoice for a second that there won't be a quarterback controversy this year.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Haslam's reputation around Cleveland took a hit when this news hit the fan. Browns fans weren't happy with his status as a "crook." They were concerned about the status of the Browns' franchise if Haslam is indicted -- would Haslam be forced to sell, would the NFL take over the operations of the team while a buyer is found, you name it. Things even as far-fetched as the Browns eventually relocating from Cleveland again were brought up from paranoid Cleveland sports fans who have been through the ringer and back many times over the last 50 years.
The NFL Draft, which took place this past Thursday-through-Saturday, was going to be the welcome distraction from those fears and get fans focusing on football again.
With Haslam in the "War Room" all three days, what the Cleveland Browns was interesting, to say the least.
The Browns kept their sixth pick, despite a reported offer from the St. Louis Rams to trade down 10 spots, did not add a second round pick and wound up making three separate trades that allowed to land veteran wide receiver Devone Bess from the Miami Dolphins, a third-round pick in the 2014 draft from the (gasp) Pittsburgh Steelers and a fourth-round pick in the same draft from the Indianapolis Colts. The result of those three trades was no picks at all in rounds four and five, one pick in round six and two picks in round seven that the Browns used to draft some gambles -- either high-profile players who are coming off major injuries (like Notre Dame safety Jamoris Slaughter) or Division II players from small schools that could be projects.
In the end, the Browns only had two picks in the first 174 draft picks, wound up with five draft picks total, did not take a rookie quarterback (which several so-called draft experts were predicting and a few more in the Cleveland media were calling for) and wound up taking a top-notch pass rusher in LSU's Barkevious Mingo with the sixth-overall pick instead of Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner (who fell to the New York Jets at No. 9). They also wound up taking San Diego State cornerback Leon McFadden in the third round, just one pick higher than the Arizona Cardinals took a gamble on LSU's Tyrann "Honey Badger" Mathieu, who missed all of last season due to drug-related suspensions.
So, why does Joe Cleveland give them a passing grade for this when there are many (and I mean MANY) people -- pundits, media members and fans -- taking them to task for what they did?
With the fact that I've been openly against Mike Lombardi as the general manager and would look for any way to bash the heck out of the guy, and am not currently thrilled with the things going on with Haslam, I find myself defending what they did.
I've tried to be angry about it, but I simply cannot. In fact, I find myself defending the Browns more than I take them to task.
Heading into the first round, the Browns had reportedly worked out every high-profile quarterback in this draft -- Geno Smith, E.J. Manuel, Ryan Nassib, Matt Barkley, Mike Glennon -- to the point that everyone discarded what Joe Banner said last month and felt that the Browns would take a quarterback.
Maybe not at No. 6, but maybe so. Maybe they trade down and use that later first round pick or pick in the second to take a QB.
So, I feared that the Browns wound use that sixth pick to take a guy like Geno Smith, who I am very down on. I saw a few of his college games last year, and he just didn't look like a guy you could make a franchise quarterback. It seemed like he was one of those "flavor of the month" QBs because of the "flavor of the month" read-option offense that some NFL coaches are importing from the college ranks. My motto was simply -- "Anybody But Geno."
So, when the Browns took Mingo, I let out a loud cheer, mostly in relief. It wasn't Geno Smith, thank God. In fact, Smith was passed over by everyone in the first round and was chosen into the seventh pick of the second round by the Jets, who already had a logjam at quarterback that only got more muddled, even after they gave God's favorite player Tim Tebow his walking papers.
When Miami moved up to take Dion Jordan (the guy I wanted most) and the Eagles surprisingly took offensive lineman Lane Johnson, I figured the Browns weren't going to trade. The three offensive linemen looked the most promising, and having Lane Johnson fall to six would have prompted several teams to make the Browns an offer.
After Ziggy Ansah was drafted by the Lions, I felt that the Browns would take either Mingo or Milliner, with a fear that it would be Geno Smith. I was pleasantly surprised that it was Mingo.
M-I-N-G-O! And Mingo was his name-oh!
Can't you envision yourself at FirstEnergy Stadium over the next several years chanting "MINNNNNGOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...." every time he makes a big play? I sure can.
After Geno Smith and another other player with QB listed as his position, the player I didn't want the Browns to settle for was Milliner. Earlier, I wanted Milliner because he fit that everyone believed was the Browns' biggest need -- a starting cornerback opposite Joe Haden. However, more reports came out about his five surgeries and his most recent torn labrum surgery, along with reports that, while Milliner was the best cornerback in the draft, that doesn't necessarily make him a "shutdown" cornerback.
In other words, he was really good, but he wasn't quite elite.
Some questioned Mingo because the Browns had spent a lot of money in the offseason on adding pass rushers from the outside linebacker and defensive end spots. Paul Kruger from Baltimore was the high-profile signing, while Quinton Groves from Arizona and Desmond Bryant from Oakland were also additions that bring some blitzing ability that Ray Horton wants from his attacking 3-4 defense.
With former second-round pick Jabaal Sheard making the move from outside end to outside linebacker, many felt that the Browns would take themselves out of the running for one of the three highly-projected pass rushers in the draft -- Jordan, Ansah and Mingo. Instead, they wound up with Mingo.
Mingo is a physical freak -- with good size and speed and tackling ability, with the ability to put pressure on the quarterback. He was held to 4.5 sacks last year, which concerned some. However, LSU coach Les Miles conceded that the defensive scheme they used took away from Mingo's main strength and that he was mostly used to "stay home" and defend the read-option quarterbacks they went up against. Also, Mingo was exclusively a defensive end in college, and he'd be asked to move to linebacker in the NFL.
Mingo will compete with Sheard and Groves with one of the starting spots at outside linebacker.
Some fear that Mingo will end up like Kamieron Wimbley, the former top-draft choice by the Browns who was moved from end to linebacker, sacked the QB 11 times as a rookie but fell to earth and was subsequently traded two years later. Wimbley has since played for three other NFL teams and has carved out a nice career for himself, but he certainly did not become the elite pass rusher Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel envisioned when they traded with the Ravens to get him.
Where Wimbley struggled was because the Browns did not have any other pass-rush threats on their defense besides Wimbley. Teams double-teamed him. He also struggled with pass coverage. When Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert came aboard with visions of switching to a 4-3 defense, they dealt Wimbley to the Raiders for a third-round pick that wound up becoming Colt McCoy.
Mingo comes into a much better situation than Wimbley did. He enters a position of sudden depth thanks to Kruger, Groves and Sheard. He can put his hand down and play end when the Browns employ that 4-3 look (which they plan on). He'll be counted on as a part of the rotation among the front seven that should keep the players fresh and, hopefully, wreak havoc on opposing offenses.
Mingo will be compared not only to Milliner, but also to Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones, who fell all the way to No. 19 and was taken by the Steelers. Jones was red-flagged because of a spinal stenosis condition that could shave years off his career, along with poor workouts at both his pro day and the NFL combine. However, his 28 sacks over the last two years led the nation (compared to 11.5 sacks over that time frame by Mingo). There are some who felt that the Browns should have taken the trade that was reportedly offered by the Rams and moved down to No. 16 and taken Jones or Texas safety Kenny Vaccaro.
Unfortunately, Browns fans can be a fickle bunch. When the Browns traded down three times in the first round in 2009 (passing Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman and Jeremy Maclin) and took center Alex Mack, fans complained. When the Browns traded down from No. 6 to No. 24 with the Falcons and wound up with nose tackle Phil Taylor and defensive end Sheard and receiver Greg Little, fans complained that they passed on receiver Julio Jones. When the Browns traded up last year to snag running back Trent Richardson, they complained they paid too steep a price (which also complaining that they didn't pay an even steeper price to try to draft Robert Griffin III).
Let's face it, you guys will complain about anything. If the Browns would have traded down, you would have complained they moved down too far. So, get over it.
Banner said he includes receiver Josh Gordon in this group, and he should. The Browns used their second-round pick on him in last year's supplemental draft. Had Gordon come out this year, he would have been a high first round pick and the top WR taken (ahead of Tavon Austin, who is too small for my tastes). Gordon's addition lifts the status of this draft, in my opinion, and Heckert should take a bow for it.
While the Honey Badger had flash and big-play ability with LSU, playing next to two former No. 1 draft picks in Patrick Peterson and Morris Claiborne, his off-the-field issues and his 5-8 stature worked against him. I felt the Browns would take a chance on him, but only if he fell to the fourth round. Instead, they took McFadden, a four-year starter in the pass-happy Mountain West Conference who, while also small, showed great coverage ability. I have no problems with that pick.
Honey Badger is the ultimate boom or bust pick. If he gets back to drugs, fails on the field, whatever, it's a pick that would have sealed Lombardi's fate. With the Cardinals, he has his old buddy Peterson in the locker room to try to help keep him in line. It's a better situation for him there to succeed than here, even though they already have one of his old teammates in Mingo here. Plus, with his size, Mathieu is more suited to be a nickel back and cover the inside recievers instead of the outside (early plans with Arizona have him moving to safety, which is odd).
Some folks were hoping the Browns would use their fourth and fifth round picks on the plethora of quarterbacks that dropped like stones in this draft. However, I am glad they did not. Guys like Nassib and Barkley fell for a reason. Then, they turn into yet another third- or fourth-round QB that the Browns take that teases fans for a bit but then fall to earth spectacularly. It's a big reason why this team has had trouble developing a long-term quarterback --they always settle for mid-round talent, give them a season or two, and then start over.
See Charlie Frye (third round), Colt McCoy (third round), Luke McCown (fourth round), Spurgeon Wynn (sixth round) and even Derek Anderson (sixth round with Baltimore) as QBs who teased fans with some solid play but flopped when they became the de-facto starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. As it is, both Barkley and Nassib were drafted in the fourth round before the Browns chose, so it was a moot point. But even a guy like Tyler Wilson of Arkansas, all he does is give fans false hope that they found the heir-apparent for Weeden and clamor for him when (and if) Weeden struggles. I'm about tired of QB drama in this town.
The Browns are giving Weeden at least one more to prove himself, and he deserves it. He was a first-round draft choice who had success in college and had intangibles that many scouts love (good size, a big arm, etc.) He's in an offense tailored to his strengths that Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner are bringing to town. He'll also have a better receiving corps to throw to with the additions of Bess and David Nelson, along with the returns of Gordon, Little, Travis Benjamin, Jordan Norwood and Josh Cooper, along with a (hopefully) healthier Trent Richardson running the ball and an improved offensive line.
If he fails, the Browns suddenly are armed with assets in the 2014 draft to try to make a move to land one of the top quarterbacks in next year's class (Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel, A.J. McCarron, etc.) And that's due to those trades with the Steelers and Colts that everyone complained about.
Some think that the Browns doing what they did in this draft signifies that they are playing for next year already. I don't get that vibe. So, they didn't take a player in the fourth and fifth round. I don't remember a lot of All-Pros coming out of the fourth and fifth round. This is where the Browns typically find players like Owen Marecic, Buster Skrine, James-Michael Johnson, Travis Benjamin, etc. Nice players, but are they going to be studs in the NFL? Doubtful. Most fans are ready to run Marecic and Skrine out of town, as am I? So, they didn't waste a draft pick on a guy that, most likely, wouldn't start on this team and be a training camp body, and they got higher assets in next year's draft for them. Good for them. A solid business move, if you ask me.
I would expect the Browns to become players in the second phase of free agency, that usually heats up after June 1 when players get cut due to contract deadlines. That's where you'll find your depth and special teams help, and, potentially, another starter to go with your existing crew.
I give the draft an early B-, but in reality, how can you legitimately grade a draft two days after it's over when none of these players have gone through training camp or played in a game yet? Last year, there were fans crying that the Browns took Weeden over guard David DeCastro, and then DeCastro suffered a serious injury and missed most of his rookie season with the Steelers. Still crying?
Honestly, what the Browns did in this draft is something most of us aren't used to seeing, which is why some of us are outraged. Would it have helped to add in eight rookie draft picks again? No, it wouldn't have.
I'm willing to give Banner and Co. the benefit of the doubt. I was high on Mingo and was happy they drafted him, and I like the McFadden pick the more I see it. And, let's rejoice for a second that there won't be a quarterback controversy this year.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Friday, March 15, 2013
The forgotten man
Not many people would respond to this job opening:
"NFL team with new ownership group of a formerly storied franchise seeking new general manager/personnel director that will be hired after the head coach and will report directly to the CEO. If you've had a disasterous tenure with this franchise before, so be it. You will likely be blamed when/if things fail and just be considered 'part of the process' when/if things succeed. Please contact Jimmy Haslam III and Joe Banner with your interest at 76 Lou Groza Blvd., Berea, OH."
In fact, only two known candidates did emerge. One wound up being hired to be the assistant general manager -- Ray Farmer. The other got the job -- Mike Lombardi.
Lombardi must have been desperate for any NFL job after five years of exile, being relegated to a talking head on television, serving as an "NFL insider" of sorts.
He must have been desperate to know that that job opening was in Cleveland, where he worked in the early 1990s with Bill Belichick and managed to anger media members and fans so bad, that 17 years after the franchise moved to Baltimore and he was told to not come along for the ride, they still held anger and resentment whenever his name came up or he appeared on the radio or television.
He must have been desperate to go to a team that he did nothing but trash from his perch on TV, questioning the moves to acquire several players that are still on the team and that he'll have to look in the eye at team headquarters -- if he ever appears.
He must have been desperate to know that he'll never get credit for anything that goes right with the Browns, but if things go wrong, Banner would not hesitate to hold his carcass in front of him so it can be riddled with bullets from the media, season ticket holders, fans and his own boss, Haslam.
Lombardi is in such a no-win situation that, even when it gets announced that his job title changes from Vice President of Player Personnel to General Manager, he doesn't get to answer questions about it and only a hastily called conference call by Banner would address it.
Lombardi had to feel good to beat out Farmer for the job, but then had to recoil when Farmer was added to the front office and given the title of his assistant. Looks like the Browns have already lined up his replacement, and he's only been on the job for a few months.
Since his disasterous introductary press conference, where the press came out firing with 17 years of pent up ammunition at him, Banner and Haslam, Lombardi has not made a public appearance with his new team.
When the Browns went to the NFL Combine, the only personnel made available to the media were Banner and new head coach Rob Chudzinski. No Lombardi.
When the Browns made their first free agent signings this week -- Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger, Raiders defensive lineman Desmond Bryant and Cardinals linebacker Quinton Groves -- Banner and Chudzinski sat in front of the press with the players and discussed the signings. The general manager? Nowhere to be found.
This week, the Browns sent out their forms to season ticket holders seeking their renewal. On the first page of the pamphlet was a photo of Haslam and Banner together. Below it were photos of Chudzinski, offensive coordinator Norv Turner and defensive coordinator Ray Horton.
Guess who's photo wasn't included? Guess who's name wasn't even mentioned?
Yep, Lombardi.
Perhaps Haslam and Banner didn't realize the deep resentment attached to Lombardi in this region until they actually hired him. But it seems pretty certain that Haslam and Banner have gone out of their way to deemphsize his role within the organization, even with an upgraded title to GM.
The hiring of Farmer didn't come until AFTER Lombardi's grilling by the press. The only way they could hire him was to give him a "promotion," so they had to give him the title of assistant GM. However, there was no official GM, so Lombardi was given the title. So, it seems they begrudgingly gave Lombardi a title only so Farmer could join their front office.
How's that for a ringing vote of confidence?
Lombardi appears to be on a very short leash. The media is just waiting, like dogs salivating over a piece of steak, for Lombardi to screw up so they can tear him apart.
Perhaps Lombardi was brought on as nothing more than a glorified fall guy for Banner and Chudzinski. Think about it.
Banner's dour personality (some say he resembles the Dr. No character from the James Bond movies) did not sit well with Eagles fans, and it was starting to rub some Browns fans the wrong way. Perhaps Banner needed someone who was reviled even worse to make him look better, the Ugly Duckling Theory, if you will.
Browns fans have also been notoriously unkind to head coaches, especially those who came in without any head coaching experience. The last two head coaches -- Eric Mangini and Pat Shurmur -- each barely last two seasons in Cleveland, with the buzzards circling their carcasses even before that second year began.
The only coach to take the Browns to the playoffs during the expansion era -- Butch Davis -- didn't even last four full seasons, resigning with five games left in 2004 due to "panic attacks." Terry Robiskie only won his final game as the interim head coach that year and was so lightly regarded around the NFL, he took a demotion to wide receivers coach when Romeo Crennel was hired.
Crennel lasted four full seasons, but always seemed to be dodging bullets. Only an out-of-nowhere 10-6 2007 season bought him an extension, but when his team slumped to 4-12 the following year and the general manager who hired him, Phil Savage, became an embarassment, he was shown the door.
Some Browns fans were ready to jump on Chudzinski when he was hired, especially when Haslam and Banner talked a lot about seeking a "dynamic leader" to be the head coach. This, despite Chudzinski being a native Ohioan who not only grew up a diehard Browns fan, but was moderately successful in his two previous stints as a Browns assistant coach.
With a figure so reviled like Lombardi in the building, suddenly fan sentiment has softened on Chud. Sure, his hiring of proven commodoties like Turner and Horton to run his offense and defense didn't hurt one bit. But, with the human shield in the building, Chud may not take as many bullets. If his team doesn't get off to a great start, unlike Mangini, Shurmur and every other head coach that preceeded them, Chud won't have to be the fall guy or the target.
I have a feeling that, win or lose, Lombardi won't last very long with the Browns organization. As someone with a large ego, I'm sure it has to bother him to be used as somewhat of a foil in this organization. Even if the Browns do very well this season, Lombardi could leave with his reputation somewhat intact and say that he was only here "to help this regime get off the ground" and go back to the comforts of TV or to another team that will let him be the dominant voice of the organization.
Sure, even though most fans and media know that Banner is the lead voice in the football organization, you don't think they'll pass up the opportunity to rip Lombardi a new one if any of the free agent signings fail to pan out or they have a bad draft? There are some members of the media (one rhymes with Bony Schmossi) who would take personal delight in running Lombardi out of town for the second time, even knowingly overlooking the Banner factor.
This is the hell that is Lombardi's second tenure as the Browns' general manager/director of personnel. He asked for it, and he's going to get it. And, Joe Cleveland certainly doesn't feel sorry for him.
This is what you get when you compile a video list of lowlights and embarassing plays on company time just so you can run a beloved quarterback and ambassador to the town out of it. Joe Cleveland ddn't forget, and neither did a lot of Browns fans and media, apparently.
Happy hunting!
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
"NFL team with new ownership group of a formerly storied franchise seeking new general manager/personnel director that will be hired after the head coach and will report directly to the CEO. If you've had a disasterous tenure with this franchise before, so be it. You will likely be blamed when/if things fail and just be considered 'part of the process' when/if things succeed. Please contact Jimmy Haslam III and Joe Banner with your interest at 76 Lou Groza Blvd., Berea, OH."
In fact, only two known candidates did emerge. One wound up being hired to be the assistant general manager -- Ray Farmer. The other got the job -- Mike Lombardi.
Lombardi must have been desperate for any NFL job after five years of exile, being relegated to a talking head on television, serving as an "NFL insider" of sorts.
He must have been desperate to know that that job opening was in Cleveland, where he worked in the early 1990s with Bill Belichick and managed to anger media members and fans so bad, that 17 years after the franchise moved to Baltimore and he was told to not come along for the ride, they still held anger and resentment whenever his name came up or he appeared on the radio or television.
He must have been desperate to go to a team that he did nothing but trash from his perch on TV, questioning the moves to acquire several players that are still on the team and that he'll have to look in the eye at team headquarters -- if he ever appears.
He must have been desperate to know that he'll never get credit for anything that goes right with the Browns, but if things go wrong, Banner would not hesitate to hold his carcass in front of him so it can be riddled with bullets from the media, season ticket holders, fans and his own boss, Haslam.
Lombardi is in such a no-win situation that, even when it gets announced that his job title changes from Vice President of Player Personnel to General Manager, he doesn't get to answer questions about it and only a hastily called conference call by Banner would address it.
Lombardi had to feel good to beat out Farmer for the job, but then had to recoil when Farmer was added to the front office and given the title of his assistant. Looks like the Browns have already lined up his replacement, and he's only been on the job for a few months.
Since his disasterous introductary press conference, where the press came out firing with 17 years of pent up ammunition at him, Banner and Haslam, Lombardi has not made a public appearance with his new team.
When the Browns went to the NFL Combine, the only personnel made available to the media were Banner and new head coach Rob Chudzinski. No Lombardi.
When the Browns made their first free agent signings this week -- Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger, Raiders defensive lineman Desmond Bryant and Cardinals linebacker Quinton Groves -- Banner and Chudzinski sat in front of the press with the players and discussed the signings. The general manager? Nowhere to be found.
This week, the Browns sent out their forms to season ticket holders seeking their renewal. On the first page of the pamphlet was a photo of Haslam and Banner together. Below it were photos of Chudzinski, offensive coordinator Norv Turner and defensive coordinator Ray Horton.
Guess who's photo wasn't included? Guess who's name wasn't even mentioned?
Yep, Lombardi.
Perhaps Haslam and Banner didn't realize the deep resentment attached to Lombardi in this region until they actually hired him. But it seems pretty certain that Haslam and Banner have gone out of their way to deemphsize his role within the organization, even with an upgraded title to GM.
The hiring of Farmer didn't come until AFTER Lombardi's grilling by the press. The only way they could hire him was to give him a "promotion," so they had to give him the title of assistant GM. However, there was no official GM, so Lombardi was given the title. So, it seems they begrudgingly gave Lombardi a title only so Farmer could join their front office.
How's that for a ringing vote of confidence?
Lombardi appears to be on a very short leash. The media is just waiting, like dogs salivating over a piece of steak, for Lombardi to screw up so they can tear him apart.
Perhaps Lombardi was brought on as nothing more than a glorified fall guy for Banner and Chudzinski. Think about it.
Banner's dour personality (some say he resembles the Dr. No character from the James Bond movies) did not sit well with Eagles fans, and it was starting to rub some Browns fans the wrong way. Perhaps Banner needed someone who was reviled even worse to make him look better, the Ugly Duckling Theory, if you will.
Browns fans have also been notoriously unkind to head coaches, especially those who came in without any head coaching experience. The last two head coaches -- Eric Mangini and Pat Shurmur -- each barely last two seasons in Cleveland, with the buzzards circling their carcasses even before that second year began.
The only coach to take the Browns to the playoffs during the expansion era -- Butch Davis -- didn't even last four full seasons, resigning with five games left in 2004 due to "panic attacks." Terry Robiskie only won his final game as the interim head coach that year and was so lightly regarded around the NFL, he took a demotion to wide receivers coach when Romeo Crennel was hired.
Crennel lasted four full seasons, but always seemed to be dodging bullets. Only an out-of-nowhere 10-6 2007 season bought him an extension, but when his team slumped to 4-12 the following year and the general manager who hired him, Phil Savage, became an embarassment, he was shown the door.
Some Browns fans were ready to jump on Chudzinski when he was hired, especially when Haslam and Banner talked a lot about seeking a "dynamic leader" to be the head coach. This, despite Chudzinski being a native Ohioan who not only grew up a diehard Browns fan, but was moderately successful in his two previous stints as a Browns assistant coach.
With a figure so reviled like Lombardi in the building, suddenly fan sentiment has softened on Chud. Sure, his hiring of proven commodoties like Turner and Horton to run his offense and defense didn't hurt one bit. But, with the human shield in the building, Chud may not take as many bullets. If his team doesn't get off to a great start, unlike Mangini, Shurmur and every other head coach that preceeded them, Chud won't have to be the fall guy or the target.
I have a feeling that, win or lose, Lombardi won't last very long with the Browns organization. As someone with a large ego, I'm sure it has to bother him to be used as somewhat of a foil in this organization. Even if the Browns do very well this season, Lombardi could leave with his reputation somewhat intact and say that he was only here "to help this regime get off the ground" and go back to the comforts of TV or to another team that will let him be the dominant voice of the organization.
Sure, even though most fans and media know that Banner is the lead voice in the football organization, you don't think they'll pass up the opportunity to rip Lombardi a new one if any of the free agent signings fail to pan out or they have a bad draft? There are some members of the media (one rhymes with Bony Schmossi) who would take personal delight in running Lombardi out of town for the second time, even knowingly overlooking the Banner factor.
This is the hell that is Lombardi's second tenure as the Browns' general manager/director of personnel. He asked for it, and he's going to get it. And, Joe Cleveland certainly doesn't feel sorry for him.
This is what you get when you compile a video list of lowlights and embarassing plays on company time just so you can run a beloved quarterback and ambassador to the town out of it. Joe Cleveland ddn't forget, and neither did a lot of Browns fans and media, apparently.
Happy hunting!
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Clean slate, but a short leash
There's no secret as to Joe Cleveland's feelings about Michael Lombardi, who came back to Cleveland a few days ago as Jimmy Haslam's and Joe Banner's choice as Vice President of Player Personnel.
In case you need a refresher course, here's the blog I wrote about Lombardi just a month ago, when he was heavily rumored to be the de-facto replacement for general manager Tom Heckert:
http://joeclevelandblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/no-trophy-for-this-lombardi.html
Joe Cleveland woke up Thursday to the news that Lombardi was introduced as the new GM and wished that he was still having a nightmare. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case.
It was funny to see the images contrast between the press conferences announcing Rob Chudzinski's hiring to the hiring of Lombardi. Just a week ago, Banner and Haslam were all smiles flanking Chud. One week later, Haslam and Banner wore dour grins flanking Lombardi as the Cleveland media raked all three over the coals.
Lombardi began his press conference begging for a "clean slate" and for people to be "fair." Banner, who said that he "went out on an extreme limb" to land Lombardi, also echoed those "fair" statements. Essentially, they are trying to paint the media with a brush, so that if they (and rightly so) lambaste Lombardi's first questionable move, it will show that the media just isn't giving him a chance.
Oh, they may give him a chance. Browns fans who have almost universally ripped this move a new one, may give him a chance.
But it won't come with a long leash, that's for sure.
Just when it seemed that Browns fans were accepting Chud's hiring (especially in light of some of the other NFL coaching hires in his wake, including Chip Kelly's wishy-washy flip-flop maneuver to take over the Eagles), especially considering the hiring of Norv Turner as his offensive coordinator and Ray Horton, who interviewed for the Browns head coaching job before Chud, as his defensive coordinator, that Brown and Orange balloon loudly burst with a pinprick named Lombardi.
CBS play-by-play voice Jim Nantz came on a Cleveland radio station the day of Lombardi's hiring defending it, while also ripping several members of the Cleveland media for having "personal vendettas" against him. Tony Grossi, who has been accused of personal vendettas many times during his long career covering the Browns here, and Bud Shaw were the two main culprits.
Nantz is also a friend of both Lombardi and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (and wasn't shy about admitting that fact several times during the interview), so his take can be skewered as well.
While Banner admits to going out on a limb, Haslam proclaims that he talked to numerous NFL owners who told him, "if you have the chance to hire Lombardi, don't hesitate to pounce." I can only imagine those guys were holding back snickers and guffawing after hanging up the phone with Haslam if that was the case.
If all those owners were really sold on Lombardi, than why was he a TV network shill for the last five years? Why didn't all of those other owners bring him in if he was such a "slam-dunk personnel hire?"
If he and Belichick were so closely connected at the hip, why did Belichick never hire Lombardi officially with New England? He certainly had several chances to do so, and if he did, the Boston media and fans that still call him a "genius" for winning three Super Bowls in four years (albeit with the help of some illegal videotaping, but so be it) would have accepted it.
Bill Belichick could take a dump in the middle of Downtown Boston, and it would be lauded as a great thing.
But yet, Belichick kept Lombardi at arms length during his lengthy coaching career in New England, only using him as an unofficial consultant. He did hire his son, Mick, in his scouting department, but that's not the same as hiring the man himself.
Everywhere Lombardi has gone where he's stayed for a while has been a failure. Especially his time in Cleveland during the early 1990s.
I don't need to rehash all the gory details.
Perhaps Banner, realizing that the Cleveland media and fanbase were turning on him, decided to deflect some of that criticism by bringing in the main pariah, Lombardi, to take some of the heat on him. Sure, he'll still be zinged as the guy who ultimately made the call to hire Lombardi (no one believes Haslam hired him). However, if things go south, Lombardi is the ready-made fall guy.
Perhaps they brought him in knowing that they need to win and win now. Banner proclaimed there was no such thing as a "five-year plan" under him, and with this hire, that is certainly the case. Anything less than a 7-9 season will definitely turn up the heat on Banner and Lombardi.
Perhaps Lombardi gives Chud a free pass. Suddenly, folks aren't complaining that much about Chud and his "inexperience." Now, if Chud struggles, the media and fans will blame Lombardi's personnel decisions.
Lombardi is the Hyde to Chud's Jeckyl. That may be how Haslam wants it.
In the past, the coach (Pat Shurmur) got lambasted while the GM (Heckert) was lauded. In the beginning, Phil Savage was lauded while Romeo Crennel was lambasted (that quickly turned into both being lambasted on their way out the door). In Haslam and Banner's mind, why not bring in the GM that the media and fans already dislike to take the heat off their hand-picked young rising star of a coach?
Unfortunately for Belichick, it didn't work that way during his time in Cleveland. The fans and media turned on him when it became apparent that he influenced the Dead Judas to squeeze Ernie Accorsi out the door and give Lombardi more front office responsibilities, essentially taking Accorsi's job. When it came out that Lombardi was the impetus behind Bernie Kosar's benching and subsequent release, the media and fans ripped him apart. Both men were pariahs during that final 1995 season as the team slumped from 11-5 while the franchise was in an upheaval to Baltimore.
Lombardi needs to strike gold with EVERYTHING that he does in order to keep the sharks at bay. Never has a person been hired to Cleveland who is under immense pressure to succeed from Day 1 as Lombardi is, and most of it is self-imposed.
Lombardi wasn't shy in ripping the Browns organization from his media perch after his departure. Recently, he shredded Heckert's draft, saying the drafting of Brandon Weeden was a "panicked disaster," saying that Mitchell Schwartz and John Hughes were "substantial reaches," saying that they gave up too much to move up to get Trent Richardson and then ripping them for "throwing away" a second round pick on Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft.
Now, Lombardi takes over a team where his starting quarterback is the panicked disaster, the "reaches" are his starting right tackle and key defensive line depth, his starting tailback is the guy they should have never moved up to get and his best wide receiver is the guy they "threw away" a pick on. Gordon Tweeted out, "Uh-oh, am I in trouble?" upon hearing Lombardi was hired, which shows these guys watched the NFL Network and read up on this guy.
Good luck with that, Mike.
It amazes me that an ownership group that oozed positive PR upon their debut has done such an opposite thing, especially since the media and fans were not shy about letting their feelings on Lombardi be known when it was rumored back in October that he'd be coming in. Cleveland fans have long memories.
Who knows, perhaps there is a method to their madness.
If you think about it, most every regime change was lauded by the media and fanbase. Butch Davis? Fans loved it. Phil Savage? Fans loved it. Eric Mangini? Fans (at first) loved it. Mike Holmgren? Fans loved it. All of those hires failed.
Maybe the fans hate is a good thing. Maybe the opposite reaction will get the desired action. Who knows.
Lombardi has quickly taken Chris Antonetti and Mark Sharpiro's role away as most hated Cleveland sports executive, and he hasn't even made an official move yet. That's saying something.
The Browns put themselves square in the bulls-eye with this hiring. The honeymoon is over for Jimmy Haslam. Fans are threatening to cancel their season ticket orders as a result. They are now under pressure to win and to do well. Anything less, and the short leash will be snapped back on Lombardi.
As a lifelong Browns fan who is optimistic that they will reach (and win) a Super Bowl or two during my lifetime, I can only hope they know what they are doing. As a fanbase, we can only trust Haslam and Banner that they are not the same-old, same-old when it comes to Cleveland sports owners and there is a method to their madness.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
In case you need a refresher course, here's the blog I wrote about Lombardi just a month ago, when he was heavily rumored to be the de-facto replacement for general manager Tom Heckert:
http://joeclevelandblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/no-trophy-for-this-lombardi.html
Joe Cleveland woke up Thursday to the news that Lombardi was introduced as the new GM and wished that he was still having a nightmare. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case.
It was funny to see the images contrast between the press conferences announcing Rob Chudzinski's hiring to the hiring of Lombardi. Just a week ago, Banner and Haslam were all smiles flanking Chud. One week later, Haslam and Banner wore dour grins flanking Lombardi as the Cleveland media raked all three over the coals.
Lombardi began his press conference begging for a "clean slate" and for people to be "fair." Banner, who said that he "went out on an extreme limb" to land Lombardi, also echoed those "fair" statements. Essentially, they are trying to paint the media with a brush, so that if they (and rightly so) lambaste Lombardi's first questionable move, it will show that the media just isn't giving him a chance.
Oh, they may give him a chance. Browns fans who have almost universally ripped this move a new one, may give him a chance.
But it won't come with a long leash, that's for sure.
Just when it seemed that Browns fans were accepting Chud's hiring (especially in light of some of the other NFL coaching hires in his wake, including Chip Kelly's wishy-washy flip-flop maneuver to take over the Eagles), especially considering the hiring of Norv Turner as his offensive coordinator and Ray Horton, who interviewed for the Browns head coaching job before Chud, as his defensive coordinator, that Brown and Orange balloon loudly burst with a pinprick named Lombardi.
CBS play-by-play voice Jim Nantz came on a Cleveland radio station the day of Lombardi's hiring defending it, while also ripping several members of the Cleveland media for having "personal vendettas" against him. Tony Grossi, who has been accused of personal vendettas many times during his long career covering the Browns here, and Bud Shaw were the two main culprits.
Nantz is also a friend of both Lombardi and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (and wasn't shy about admitting that fact several times during the interview), so his take can be skewered as well.
While Banner admits to going out on a limb, Haslam proclaims that he talked to numerous NFL owners who told him, "if you have the chance to hire Lombardi, don't hesitate to pounce." I can only imagine those guys were holding back snickers and guffawing after hanging up the phone with Haslam if that was the case.
If all those owners were really sold on Lombardi, than why was he a TV network shill for the last five years? Why didn't all of those other owners bring him in if he was such a "slam-dunk personnel hire?"
If he and Belichick were so closely connected at the hip, why did Belichick never hire Lombardi officially with New England? He certainly had several chances to do so, and if he did, the Boston media and fans that still call him a "genius" for winning three Super Bowls in four years (albeit with the help of some illegal videotaping, but so be it) would have accepted it.
Bill Belichick could take a dump in the middle of Downtown Boston, and it would be lauded as a great thing.
But yet, Belichick kept Lombardi at arms length during his lengthy coaching career in New England, only using him as an unofficial consultant. He did hire his son, Mick, in his scouting department, but that's not the same as hiring the man himself.
Everywhere Lombardi has gone where he's stayed for a while has been a failure. Especially his time in Cleveland during the early 1990s.
I don't need to rehash all the gory details.
Perhaps Banner, realizing that the Cleveland media and fanbase were turning on him, decided to deflect some of that criticism by bringing in the main pariah, Lombardi, to take some of the heat on him. Sure, he'll still be zinged as the guy who ultimately made the call to hire Lombardi (no one believes Haslam hired him). However, if things go south, Lombardi is the ready-made fall guy.
Perhaps they brought him in knowing that they need to win and win now. Banner proclaimed there was no such thing as a "five-year plan" under him, and with this hire, that is certainly the case. Anything less than a 7-9 season will definitely turn up the heat on Banner and Lombardi.
Perhaps Lombardi gives Chud a free pass. Suddenly, folks aren't complaining that much about Chud and his "inexperience." Now, if Chud struggles, the media and fans will blame Lombardi's personnel decisions.
Lombardi is the Hyde to Chud's Jeckyl. That may be how Haslam wants it.
In the past, the coach (Pat Shurmur) got lambasted while the GM (Heckert) was lauded. In the beginning, Phil Savage was lauded while Romeo Crennel was lambasted (that quickly turned into both being lambasted on their way out the door). In Haslam and Banner's mind, why not bring in the GM that the media and fans already dislike to take the heat off their hand-picked young rising star of a coach?
Unfortunately for Belichick, it didn't work that way during his time in Cleveland. The fans and media turned on him when it became apparent that he influenced the Dead Judas to squeeze Ernie Accorsi out the door and give Lombardi more front office responsibilities, essentially taking Accorsi's job. When it came out that Lombardi was the impetus behind Bernie Kosar's benching and subsequent release, the media and fans ripped him apart. Both men were pariahs during that final 1995 season as the team slumped from 11-5 while the franchise was in an upheaval to Baltimore.
Lombardi needs to strike gold with EVERYTHING that he does in order to keep the sharks at bay. Never has a person been hired to Cleveland who is under immense pressure to succeed from Day 1 as Lombardi is, and most of it is self-imposed.
Lombardi wasn't shy in ripping the Browns organization from his media perch after his departure. Recently, he shredded Heckert's draft, saying the drafting of Brandon Weeden was a "panicked disaster," saying that Mitchell Schwartz and John Hughes were "substantial reaches," saying that they gave up too much to move up to get Trent Richardson and then ripping them for "throwing away" a second round pick on Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft.
Now, Lombardi takes over a team where his starting quarterback is the panicked disaster, the "reaches" are his starting right tackle and key defensive line depth, his starting tailback is the guy they should have never moved up to get and his best wide receiver is the guy they "threw away" a pick on. Gordon Tweeted out, "Uh-oh, am I in trouble?" upon hearing Lombardi was hired, which shows these guys watched the NFL Network and read up on this guy.
Good luck with that, Mike.
It amazes me that an ownership group that oozed positive PR upon their debut has done such an opposite thing, especially since the media and fans were not shy about letting their feelings on Lombardi be known when it was rumored back in October that he'd be coming in. Cleveland fans have long memories.
Who knows, perhaps there is a method to their madness.
If you think about it, most every regime change was lauded by the media and fanbase. Butch Davis? Fans loved it. Phil Savage? Fans loved it. Eric Mangini? Fans (at first) loved it. Mike Holmgren? Fans loved it. All of those hires failed.
Maybe the fans hate is a good thing. Maybe the opposite reaction will get the desired action. Who knows.
Lombardi has quickly taken Chris Antonetti and Mark Sharpiro's role away as most hated Cleveland sports executive, and he hasn't even made an official move yet. That's saying something.
The Browns put themselves square in the bulls-eye with this hiring. The honeymoon is over for Jimmy Haslam. Fans are threatening to cancel their season ticket orders as a result. They are now under pressure to win and to do well. Anything less, and the short leash will be snapped back on Lombardi.
As a lifelong Browns fan who is optimistic that they will reach (and win) a Super Bowl or two during my lifetime, I can only hope they know what they are doing. As a fanbase, we can only trust Haslam and Banner that they are not the same-old, same-old when it comes to Cleveland sports owners and there is a method to their madness.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Chip shot
Joe Cleveland is relieved that the Chip Kelly infatuation is over and done without him being named the 16th full-time head coach in Cleveland Browns history.
I never understood the infatuation with the guy, other than his college teams tend to score a lot of points.
This was Kelly's second flirtation with the NFL in as many years. Last season, he appeared to have a deal in place with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but walked away. They wound up hiring Greg Schiano from Rutgers.
This season, the Browns, Eagles and Bills all staked out Arizona to try to interview the University of Oregon coach after his Ducks finished beating the tar out of Collin Klein and Kansas State, 35-17. In the meantime, all three interviewed some candidates that were affiliated with the Arizona Cardinals (Ray Horton and ex-head coach Ken Whisenhunt) along with former Saints offensive coordinator and Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone while they waited for Kelly's game to finish.
Jimmy Haslam III and Joe Banner were up first on Friday, and they wined and dined Kelly for about seven hours. It was to the point that many media members were saying that Kelly to the Browns was essentially a "done deal." However, Kelly walked away from that meeting without a contract, expressing a desire to meet with the Bills and Eagles.
On Saturday, the Eagles wined and dined Kelly for over eight hours. It caused Kelly to cancel his follow-up meeting with Haslam and Banner that evening.
By Sunday, Haslam and Banner decided that it wasn't worth the trouble and flew back to Ohio. Kelly wound up spurning the Eagles overtures as well, getting a hefty pay raise to stay put at Oregon when it seemed all but a virtual certainty that he was going to leave for the NFL.
The Browns fan base seemed divided about Kelly, although most of them weren't sold on the so-called offensive "genius" taking his gimmicky zone-read offense to the NFL. For every one who thought that Kelly's playcalling would revolutionize Browns football, there were at least three who feared the worst.
This is what happens when a college coach who has never been affiliated with NFL in any fashion -- as a player, front office person or an assistant coach -- gets talked to. Kelly would have been the ultimate boom-or-bust choice to be the head coach of the Browns.
Haslam and Banner ultimately walked away because they didn't believe he was fully committed to being an NFL head coach. They were right. Better to find that out now than this time next season, when Kelly pulls a Bobby Petrino and leaves midway through his first season to go back to the college ranks.
The NFL is a different animal than Division I college football. There's no Southwest Louisana States on your schedule in the NFL. Sure, there's usually a handful of teams that suck in the NFL (like the Browns, sad to say), but the beauty of the NFL is that any team can win on any Sunday.
You don't have that assurance in college football. Thanks to recruiting, there is a big disparity between the haves and the have-nots in Division I football. Teams aren't as focused on building a defense in college and seem to be more focused on putting up gaudy offensive numbers instead.
That's Chip Kelly in a heartbeat, and that's what the Browns almost got.
To be honest, I don't see the appeal of a Chip Kelly. It's not like his hands are lined with BCS National Championship rings or anything.
Kelly was an assistant coach at such football hotspots like Columbia, Johns Hopkins and New Hampshire before becoming Oregon's offensive coordinator in 2007. In his two years as the offensive coordinator, the Ducks led the PAC-10 in both scoring and total offense each year. When Mike Bellotti was promoted to athletic director, Kelly ascended to the head coaching job.
Kelly's first game as a head coach, which was a 19-8 loss to Boise State, was marred by running back LaGarrette Blount's punch to a Bronco player's face following the game. Kelly kicked Blount off the team.
Kelly wound up winning PAC-10 Coach of the Year honors and won Oregon's first PAC-10 championship since 1995. He became the first rookie head coach to win the PAC-10 outright title in his first season. His Ducks wound up losing to Jim Tressel, Terrelle Pryor and the Ohio State Buckeyes, 26-17, in the Rose Bowl to finish 10-2.
The next season, the Ducks went a perfect 12-0 in the regular season and finished as the No. 2 team in the BCS standings, earning a berth in the National Championship Game. Against Heisman Trophy-winner Cam Newton and Auburn, the Ducks trailed 19-11 before a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 2:33 remaining tied the score. However, a failure to tackle Michael Dyer on what wound up being a 37-yard run highlighted a game-winning 73-yard drive by the Tigers, and Wes Bynum's chip-shot field goal with no time remaining handed Kelly's Ducks a 22-19 loss.
Kelly's Ducks won the PAC-12 each of the last two seasons and qualified for BCS bowls each year. They defeated a Russell Wilson-led Wisconsin team, 45-38, in the 2012 Rose Bowl, then beat K-State in the Fiesta Bowl a few days ago.
His teams were 46-7 overall over the last four years and were known for their flashy uniform combinations and overall team speed and offensive prowess.
Kelly's methods achieved some legitimacy within the NFL when Bill Belichick, the NFL's so-called "genius" coach of the New England Patriots, summoned him to talk two seasons ago and share some of his offensive secrets. While the Patriots don't run a zone-read option offense, they have utilized his spread tendencies, the break-neck speed of offensive plays and the simple playcalling terminology to make that happen. New England has had one of the best offenses in the NFL the last several seasons.
Because "Don Belichick" seemed to give his seal of approval to Kelly's methods, many NFL teams were willing to risk their franchises for this unproven commodity. The Browns, included.
While the Browns waited for Kelly, Marrone (who was believed to be their second choice) accepted the Bills head coaching position. Also, Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien, Belichick's former offensive coordinator, interviewed with the Browns and Eagles but decided to stick around (especially after PSU gave him a nice pay raise).
Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose Crimson Tide are playing Notre Dame in tonight's BCS National Championship Game, was believed to be Haslam's first choice. However, both publicly and privately, Saban has said he's not leaving Tuscaloosa. We'll see if that's still the case 24 hours from now, but it appears he's out of the running.
So, where does that leave the Browns?
Of course, that Baltimore-shilling AFC North blogger for ESPN was trying to say that not landing Kelly made Haslam and Banner look bad. That same person couldn't stop typing sonnets dedicated to that accessory-to-murdering linebacker on the Ravens who decided he was ready to retire this week, so you see where his objectivity plays in.
Here's a few people to keep your eyes on this week:
1. Whisenhunt -- Haslam was reportedly impressed with the former Browns special teams coordinator (1999), Steelers offensive assistant (2001-06) and Cardinals head coach (2007-12). Under Whisenhunt, the Steelers reached their first Super Bowl since 1995 in 2004, where they won, 21-10, over Mike Holmgren's Seahawks. The defining play of that Super Bowl was Whisenhunt's decision to call a flea-flicker wide receiver pass from former college quarterback Antwaan Randle-El to Hines Ward that went for the game-clinching touchdown. Two seasons later, Whisenhunt was passed over by the Steelers to replace Bill Cowher for Mike Tomlin, and he took several Steeler offensive assistants with him to Arizona. Two seasons later, he took the Cardinals to their first-ever Super Bowl against (coincidentally) the Steelers. His 9-7, AFC West champion Cards led Pittsburgh, 23-20, following 16 unanswered fourth-quarter points with 35 seconds left before Santonio Holmes made the play of his life for a fantastic, six-yard touchdown reception, which gave the Steelers a 27-23 victory. The Cardinals have struggled since Kurt Warner retired following the 10-6 2009 season and haven't found a capable replacement, going through Matt Leinart, Derek Anderson, Max Hall, Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Ryan Lindley and Brian Hoyer. All four started this past season, which the Cards squandered their first 4-0 start since 1974 and finished 5-11. His ties to the North Division, and his ability to turn around a moribund franchise, makes him appealing to the Browns.
2. Lovie Smith -- Smith is reportedly going to be interviewed by the Browns this week. Smith had been the head coach of the Chicago Bears since 2004, where he compiled an 81-63 regular season record. Like Whisenhunt, Smith took a team to the Super Bowl (the 2006 Bears), where they lost, 29-17, to the Indianapolis Colts. Prior to the Bears job, he was the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams from 2001-03. The 2001 Rams reached the Super Bowl, but were stunned, 20-17, by the heavy-underdog Patriots. Smith led the Bears to the playoffs three times over his 9-year career, but was let go after the final game of this season despite a 10-6 overall record. The Bears squandered a 7-1 start and wound up missing the playoffs when the Vikings knocked off the Packers in one of the season's final regular season games. Smith has a defensive background, which may not appeal to Haslam and Banner. However, Smith's teams have won, and he does have a Super Bowl to his resume. In fact, his resume is arguably more appealing than Whisenhunt's is because of his win-loss record and more recent success.
3. Bruce Arians -- Arians guided the Colts to a 9-3 record as their interim head coach while Chuck Pagano was sidelined due to leiukemia. Arians helped rookie first-round choice Andrew Luck blossom in his first professional year while lending some stability to an otherwise rocky coaching situation. However, the 60-year-old Arians is currently hospitalized in Baltimore with an undisclosed illness. The illness prevented Arians from fulfilling his duties as the team's offensive coordinator in yesterday's 23-9 playoff loss to the Ravens, and may be a red-flag to some prospective suitors. The Chargers, Cardinals and Eagles have also sought permission to interview the long-time assistant, and it looks like he'll parlay that successful interim stint into a head-coaching gig. Arians does have links to the Browns -- he served as the offensive coordinator under Butch Davis from 2001-03 before becoming a Steelers offensive assistant from 2004-11. He was their offensive coordinator from 07-11, helping Ben Roethlisberger reach two Super Bowls during that span and winning one. He was the offensive playcaller for the the 2002 Browns team that reached the playoffs with a 9-7 record -- still the only team in the expansion era to reach the postseason -- and helped turn a non-descript backup journeyman quarterback in Kelly Holcomb into a decent starting quarterback. He was forced out by the Steeler brass before last season because they felt he was "too close" with Roethlisberger, and the offense struggled with Todd Haley calling the plays this season. Haslam was a minority owner of the Steelers while Arians was the team's offensive coordinator.
4. Marc Trestman -- Trestman's name has suddenly popped up on the NFL radar ever since the Bears sought to interview him for their vacant head coaching gig. Trestman has been the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League since 2008, and his team reached three straight Grey Cups in his first three seasons, winning the last two in a row (2009-10). He is 59-31 in five seasons as a head CFL coach and is a respected offensive coach. In fact, he has deep ties with Browns legend Bernie Kosar. He served as Kosar's offensive coordinator at the University of Miami from 1981-84 (including that 1983 National Championship year), then joined the Browns' coaching staff in 1988 as Kosar's quarterbacks coach. He served as the offensive coordinator in 1989 under Bud Carson, which was the last year the Browns reached the AFC Championship Game, before he resigned under pressure after some up-and-down play calls. He stayed in the NFL from 1990-04 with the Vikings, 49ers, Lions, Cardinals, Raiders and Dolphins as an offensive assistant, varying from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. Prior to joining the CFL, Trestman was the offensive coordinator at North Carolina State from 2005-06. He is actually a licensed Florida attorney after graduating from Miami Law School in 1983. Browns fans old enough to remember yelling for Trestman's head during 1989 (like me) may not be comfortable with the idea of him being the head coach. However, the 56-year-old Trestman has become a respected offensive mind at the professional ranks. The Browns are set to interview him this week.
5. Mike McCoy -- The 40-year-old McCoy was one of the candidates reportedly interviewed by Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert two years ago when they ultimately decided to hire Pat Shurmur. McCoy has been the Broncos' offensive coordinator since 2009, when he stayed with John Fox after Fox left the Carolina Panthers to take the Broncos' job. McCoy had been an offensive assistant with the Panthers since 2000 after a two-year quarterbacking career in the CFL and a successful collegiate career at the University of Utah. McCoy has helped three different starting quarterbacks with the Broncos have successful seasons. Kyle Orton set career-highs in virtually every passing category in 2009, and Orton finished fourth in passing yards in 2010. In 2011, McCoy adopted a new offensive scheme on the fly to accomodate new starting quarterback Tim Tebow, and the team not only led the NFL in rushing using an option scheme, but also reached the playoffs and won their first-round game with Tebow under center. This season, McCoy switching things up with Peyton Manning under center, and Manning is enjoying an MVP-esque season for the Broncos. The Bears, Cardinals and Eagles have also requested to interview McCoy, and the Browns may have to wait until after the Super Bowl if they believe he is their guy. McCoy's versatility and ability to get the very best out of his offensive personnel, along with his age, make him a very appealing head coaching candidate.
I would expect the Browns' next head coach to come from that group of five names, unless Saban suddenly has a change of heart in the next 48 hours or Haslam is able to pull Jon Gruden out of thin air.
None of those five are as "sexy" as Chip Kelly. However, they all may be more stable hires in both the short and long-term for a franchise that is desperately trying to become a perennnial winner that has a lot of young building blocks already in place.
One other good thing to come out of this -- Kelly, Marrone, O'Brien and Saban were all head coaching candidates being built up by NFL "insider" Michael Lombardi, who has been linked to a Browns front office job since midseason. It appears that Lombardi was unable to deliver on any of these candidates, which I'm sure doesn't help his future job prospects here in town.
Losing out on Chip Kelly is not the worst thing ever, Browns fans. In reality, the Browns probably avoided hiring the next Steve Spurrier, Bobby Petrino, Butch Davis, Howard Schellenberger, Lou Holtz and Dennis Erickson, among other college coaches that became NFL washouts. I can only imagine how much the Ravens and Steelers would have licked their chops trying to stop that gimmicky Kelly offense in December.
Hiring Kelly would have prompted another change at quarterback. Supposedly, Kelly told Haslam and Banner that none of the Browns' current quarterbacks could run the type of offense he wanted to run. What's disturbing is that Haslam and Banner were still interested in hiring the guy. Weeden was already linked to being possibily traded to the Kansas City Chiefs (where Tom Heckert could wind up being Andy Reid's hand-picked GM) before the Browns decided the risk outweighed the reward on Kelly.
Who knows, perhaps any one of these new hires will prompt a change at quarterback again. Weeden's rookie season was certainly an up-and-down one, but perhaps a change in schemes -- away from the basic West Coast offense Shurmur was trying to install to a more vertical-based, run-oriented attack -- would help him develop more as a second-year quarterback.
Joe Cleveland, for one, was ecstatic that the rumors (by the way, nice job, media, for blowing every little rumor out of proportion and virtually assuring everyone that Kelly was the new head coach) were unfounded and Kelly will keep his gimmicky-ass in Eugene, Ore. Now, let's bring in a proven commodity and turn this Brown and Orange ship around.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
I never understood the infatuation with the guy, other than his college teams tend to score a lot of points.
This was Kelly's second flirtation with the NFL in as many years. Last season, he appeared to have a deal in place with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but walked away. They wound up hiring Greg Schiano from Rutgers.
This season, the Browns, Eagles and Bills all staked out Arizona to try to interview the University of Oregon coach after his Ducks finished beating the tar out of Collin Klein and Kansas State, 35-17. In the meantime, all three interviewed some candidates that were affiliated with the Arizona Cardinals (Ray Horton and ex-head coach Ken Whisenhunt) along with former Saints offensive coordinator and Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone while they waited for Kelly's game to finish.
Jimmy Haslam III and Joe Banner were up first on Friday, and they wined and dined Kelly for about seven hours. It was to the point that many media members were saying that Kelly to the Browns was essentially a "done deal." However, Kelly walked away from that meeting without a contract, expressing a desire to meet with the Bills and Eagles.
On Saturday, the Eagles wined and dined Kelly for over eight hours. It caused Kelly to cancel his follow-up meeting with Haslam and Banner that evening.
By Sunday, Haslam and Banner decided that it wasn't worth the trouble and flew back to Ohio. Kelly wound up spurning the Eagles overtures as well, getting a hefty pay raise to stay put at Oregon when it seemed all but a virtual certainty that he was going to leave for the NFL.
The Browns fan base seemed divided about Kelly, although most of them weren't sold on the so-called offensive "genius" taking his gimmicky zone-read offense to the NFL. For every one who thought that Kelly's playcalling would revolutionize Browns football, there were at least three who feared the worst.
This is what happens when a college coach who has never been affiliated with NFL in any fashion -- as a player, front office person or an assistant coach -- gets talked to. Kelly would have been the ultimate boom-or-bust choice to be the head coach of the Browns.
Haslam and Banner ultimately walked away because they didn't believe he was fully committed to being an NFL head coach. They were right. Better to find that out now than this time next season, when Kelly pulls a Bobby Petrino and leaves midway through his first season to go back to the college ranks.
The NFL is a different animal than Division I college football. There's no Southwest Louisana States on your schedule in the NFL. Sure, there's usually a handful of teams that suck in the NFL (like the Browns, sad to say), but the beauty of the NFL is that any team can win on any Sunday.
You don't have that assurance in college football. Thanks to recruiting, there is a big disparity between the haves and the have-nots in Division I football. Teams aren't as focused on building a defense in college and seem to be more focused on putting up gaudy offensive numbers instead.
That's Chip Kelly in a heartbeat, and that's what the Browns almost got.
To be honest, I don't see the appeal of a Chip Kelly. It's not like his hands are lined with BCS National Championship rings or anything.
Kelly was an assistant coach at such football hotspots like Columbia, Johns Hopkins and New Hampshire before becoming Oregon's offensive coordinator in 2007. In his two years as the offensive coordinator, the Ducks led the PAC-10 in both scoring and total offense each year. When Mike Bellotti was promoted to athletic director, Kelly ascended to the head coaching job.
Kelly's first game as a head coach, which was a 19-8 loss to Boise State, was marred by running back LaGarrette Blount's punch to a Bronco player's face following the game. Kelly kicked Blount off the team.
Kelly wound up winning PAC-10 Coach of the Year honors and won Oregon's first PAC-10 championship since 1995. He became the first rookie head coach to win the PAC-10 outright title in his first season. His Ducks wound up losing to Jim Tressel, Terrelle Pryor and the Ohio State Buckeyes, 26-17, in the Rose Bowl to finish 10-2.
The next season, the Ducks went a perfect 12-0 in the regular season and finished as the No. 2 team in the BCS standings, earning a berth in the National Championship Game. Against Heisman Trophy-winner Cam Newton and Auburn, the Ducks trailed 19-11 before a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 2:33 remaining tied the score. However, a failure to tackle Michael Dyer on what wound up being a 37-yard run highlighted a game-winning 73-yard drive by the Tigers, and Wes Bynum's chip-shot field goal with no time remaining handed Kelly's Ducks a 22-19 loss.
Kelly's Ducks won the PAC-12 each of the last two seasons and qualified for BCS bowls each year. They defeated a Russell Wilson-led Wisconsin team, 45-38, in the 2012 Rose Bowl, then beat K-State in the Fiesta Bowl a few days ago.
His teams were 46-7 overall over the last four years and were known for their flashy uniform combinations and overall team speed and offensive prowess.
Kelly's methods achieved some legitimacy within the NFL when Bill Belichick, the NFL's so-called "genius" coach of the New England Patriots, summoned him to talk two seasons ago and share some of his offensive secrets. While the Patriots don't run a zone-read option offense, they have utilized his spread tendencies, the break-neck speed of offensive plays and the simple playcalling terminology to make that happen. New England has had one of the best offenses in the NFL the last several seasons.
Because "Don Belichick" seemed to give his seal of approval to Kelly's methods, many NFL teams were willing to risk their franchises for this unproven commodity. The Browns, included.
While the Browns waited for Kelly, Marrone (who was believed to be their second choice) accepted the Bills head coaching position. Also, Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien, Belichick's former offensive coordinator, interviewed with the Browns and Eagles but decided to stick around (especially after PSU gave him a nice pay raise).
Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose Crimson Tide are playing Notre Dame in tonight's BCS National Championship Game, was believed to be Haslam's first choice. However, both publicly and privately, Saban has said he's not leaving Tuscaloosa. We'll see if that's still the case 24 hours from now, but it appears he's out of the running.
So, where does that leave the Browns?
Of course, that Baltimore-shilling AFC North blogger for ESPN was trying to say that not landing Kelly made Haslam and Banner look bad. That same person couldn't stop typing sonnets dedicated to that accessory-to-murdering linebacker on the Ravens who decided he was ready to retire this week, so you see where his objectivity plays in.
Here's a few people to keep your eyes on this week:
1. Whisenhunt -- Haslam was reportedly impressed with the former Browns special teams coordinator (1999), Steelers offensive assistant (2001-06) and Cardinals head coach (2007-12). Under Whisenhunt, the Steelers reached their first Super Bowl since 1995 in 2004, where they won, 21-10, over Mike Holmgren's Seahawks. The defining play of that Super Bowl was Whisenhunt's decision to call a flea-flicker wide receiver pass from former college quarterback Antwaan Randle-El to Hines Ward that went for the game-clinching touchdown. Two seasons later, Whisenhunt was passed over by the Steelers to replace Bill Cowher for Mike Tomlin, and he took several Steeler offensive assistants with him to Arizona. Two seasons later, he took the Cardinals to their first-ever Super Bowl against (coincidentally) the Steelers. His 9-7, AFC West champion Cards led Pittsburgh, 23-20, following 16 unanswered fourth-quarter points with 35 seconds left before Santonio Holmes made the play of his life for a fantastic, six-yard touchdown reception, which gave the Steelers a 27-23 victory. The Cardinals have struggled since Kurt Warner retired following the 10-6 2009 season and haven't found a capable replacement, going through Matt Leinart, Derek Anderson, Max Hall, Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Ryan Lindley and Brian Hoyer. All four started this past season, which the Cards squandered their first 4-0 start since 1974 and finished 5-11. His ties to the North Division, and his ability to turn around a moribund franchise, makes him appealing to the Browns.
2. Lovie Smith -- Smith is reportedly going to be interviewed by the Browns this week. Smith had been the head coach of the Chicago Bears since 2004, where he compiled an 81-63 regular season record. Like Whisenhunt, Smith took a team to the Super Bowl (the 2006 Bears), where they lost, 29-17, to the Indianapolis Colts. Prior to the Bears job, he was the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams from 2001-03. The 2001 Rams reached the Super Bowl, but were stunned, 20-17, by the heavy-underdog Patriots. Smith led the Bears to the playoffs three times over his 9-year career, but was let go after the final game of this season despite a 10-6 overall record. The Bears squandered a 7-1 start and wound up missing the playoffs when the Vikings knocked off the Packers in one of the season's final regular season games. Smith has a defensive background, which may not appeal to Haslam and Banner. However, Smith's teams have won, and he does have a Super Bowl to his resume. In fact, his resume is arguably more appealing than Whisenhunt's is because of his win-loss record and more recent success.
3. Bruce Arians -- Arians guided the Colts to a 9-3 record as their interim head coach while Chuck Pagano was sidelined due to leiukemia. Arians helped rookie first-round choice Andrew Luck blossom in his first professional year while lending some stability to an otherwise rocky coaching situation. However, the 60-year-old Arians is currently hospitalized in Baltimore with an undisclosed illness. The illness prevented Arians from fulfilling his duties as the team's offensive coordinator in yesterday's 23-9 playoff loss to the Ravens, and may be a red-flag to some prospective suitors. The Chargers, Cardinals and Eagles have also sought permission to interview the long-time assistant, and it looks like he'll parlay that successful interim stint into a head-coaching gig. Arians does have links to the Browns -- he served as the offensive coordinator under Butch Davis from 2001-03 before becoming a Steelers offensive assistant from 2004-11. He was their offensive coordinator from 07-11, helping Ben Roethlisberger reach two Super Bowls during that span and winning one. He was the offensive playcaller for the the 2002 Browns team that reached the playoffs with a 9-7 record -- still the only team in the expansion era to reach the postseason -- and helped turn a non-descript backup journeyman quarterback in Kelly Holcomb into a decent starting quarterback. He was forced out by the Steeler brass before last season because they felt he was "too close" with Roethlisberger, and the offense struggled with Todd Haley calling the plays this season. Haslam was a minority owner of the Steelers while Arians was the team's offensive coordinator.
4. Marc Trestman -- Trestman's name has suddenly popped up on the NFL radar ever since the Bears sought to interview him for their vacant head coaching gig. Trestman has been the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League since 2008, and his team reached three straight Grey Cups in his first three seasons, winning the last two in a row (2009-10). He is 59-31 in five seasons as a head CFL coach and is a respected offensive coach. In fact, he has deep ties with Browns legend Bernie Kosar. He served as Kosar's offensive coordinator at the University of Miami from 1981-84 (including that 1983 National Championship year), then joined the Browns' coaching staff in 1988 as Kosar's quarterbacks coach. He served as the offensive coordinator in 1989 under Bud Carson, which was the last year the Browns reached the AFC Championship Game, before he resigned under pressure after some up-and-down play calls. He stayed in the NFL from 1990-04 with the Vikings, 49ers, Lions, Cardinals, Raiders and Dolphins as an offensive assistant, varying from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. Prior to joining the CFL, Trestman was the offensive coordinator at North Carolina State from 2005-06. He is actually a licensed Florida attorney after graduating from Miami Law School in 1983. Browns fans old enough to remember yelling for Trestman's head during 1989 (like me) may not be comfortable with the idea of him being the head coach. However, the 56-year-old Trestman has become a respected offensive mind at the professional ranks. The Browns are set to interview him this week.
5. Mike McCoy -- The 40-year-old McCoy was one of the candidates reportedly interviewed by Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert two years ago when they ultimately decided to hire Pat Shurmur. McCoy has been the Broncos' offensive coordinator since 2009, when he stayed with John Fox after Fox left the Carolina Panthers to take the Broncos' job. McCoy had been an offensive assistant with the Panthers since 2000 after a two-year quarterbacking career in the CFL and a successful collegiate career at the University of Utah. McCoy has helped three different starting quarterbacks with the Broncos have successful seasons. Kyle Orton set career-highs in virtually every passing category in 2009, and Orton finished fourth in passing yards in 2010. In 2011, McCoy adopted a new offensive scheme on the fly to accomodate new starting quarterback Tim Tebow, and the team not only led the NFL in rushing using an option scheme, but also reached the playoffs and won their first-round game with Tebow under center. This season, McCoy switching things up with Peyton Manning under center, and Manning is enjoying an MVP-esque season for the Broncos. The Bears, Cardinals and Eagles have also requested to interview McCoy, and the Browns may have to wait until after the Super Bowl if they believe he is their guy. McCoy's versatility and ability to get the very best out of his offensive personnel, along with his age, make him a very appealing head coaching candidate.
I would expect the Browns' next head coach to come from that group of five names, unless Saban suddenly has a change of heart in the next 48 hours or Haslam is able to pull Jon Gruden out of thin air.
None of those five are as "sexy" as Chip Kelly. However, they all may be more stable hires in both the short and long-term for a franchise that is desperately trying to become a perennnial winner that has a lot of young building blocks already in place.
One other good thing to come out of this -- Kelly, Marrone, O'Brien and Saban were all head coaching candidates being built up by NFL "insider" Michael Lombardi, who has been linked to a Browns front office job since midseason. It appears that Lombardi was unable to deliver on any of these candidates, which I'm sure doesn't help his future job prospects here in town.
Losing out on Chip Kelly is not the worst thing ever, Browns fans. In reality, the Browns probably avoided hiring the next Steve Spurrier, Bobby Petrino, Butch Davis, Howard Schellenberger, Lou Holtz and Dennis Erickson, among other college coaches that became NFL washouts. I can only imagine how much the Ravens and Steelers would have licked their chops trying to stop that gimmicky Kelly offense in December.
Hiring Kelly would have prompted another change at quarterback. Supposedly, Kelly told Haslam and Banner that none of the Browns' current quarterbacks could run the type of offense he wanted to run. What's disturbing is that Haslam and Banner were still interested in hiring the guy. Weeden was already linked to being possibily traded to the Kansas City Chiefs (where Tom Heckert could wind up being Andy Reid's hand-picked GM) before the Browns decided the risk outweighed the reward on Kelly.
Who knows, perhaps any one of these new hires will prompt a change at quarterback again. Weeden's rookie season was certainly an up-and-down one, but perhaps a change in schemes -- away from the basic West Coast offense Shurmur was trying to install to a more vertical-based, run-oriented attack -- would help him develop more as a second-year quarterback.
Joe Cleveland, for one, was ecstatic that the rumors (by the way, nice job, media, for blowing every little rumor out of proportion and virtually assuring everyone that Kelly was the new head coach) were unfounded and Kelly will keep his gimmicky-ass in Eugene, Ore. Now, let's bring in a proven commodity and turn this Brown and Orange ship around.
Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)