Oh yeah, that chill you feel is the ex-Vikings head coach making his way towards the Cleveland area—and I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it.
Mary Kay Cabot reports that at this point new Browns offensive coordinator Brad Childress will not be calling the plays next season—which is why he came to town instead of former Green Bay and Texans A&M head coach, Mike Sherman (who, by the way, will probably replace former Browns OC Brian Daboll in Miami). However, Cabot says that nothing is finalized and that "discussions will take place," that could change.
Okay, so Shurmur will still call the plays, but he's going to have someone help him come up with a strategy all week long. Is that going to be a help? Absolutely, positively yes. Shurmur was obviously overwhelmed at all of the jobs he had to do last year, and honestly he was really just left out to dry. I understand that the Browns didn't want to just hire a coordinator just to hire a coordinator last year, but having a rookie head coach be the only coach in the league without an offensive coordinator was seriously irresponsible—if not plain old stupid.
So what credentials does Chilly bring to the table?
Well first off, he worked with Shurmur and Tom Heckert in Philly. Childress was first the quarterbacks coach for the Eagles starting in 1999, then was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2003—at which time Pat Shurmur was promoted to quarterbacks coach. Obviously, this means that Childress was instrumental in the development of Donovan McNabb. Also, in his time with the Eagles, the team went to four consecutive NFC Championship games, and made it to one Super Bowl—the loss to the Patriots.
Of course, you should already know all this. Why? Because it's the same crap on the resumes of both Shurmur and Heckert.
What sets Childress apart from those guys is that he was, I think, a pretty successful head coach with the Minnesota Vikings. He amassed a record of 39-35 in four+ seasons with Minny, as he was fired after going 3-7 in the middle of his fifth season.
Yes, Childress is probably best known for his part in the saga that was Brett Favre—which probably ended up getting him fired—but I think it's important to note that he was the head coach of Favre's arguably best statistical season when he threw for 4,202 yards with 33 touchdowns, just seven interceptions and a career high completion percentage of 68.4.
Just how much Childress had to do with that development is an arguable point, as Childress didn't call the plays for the Vikings in the 2009 season. In fact, the only season Childress has ever called plays was in 2006—his first year as the Vikings head honcho. That's right, he never called plays in his time with the Eagles either—that's always been Andy Reid's job.
Because of that, I suppose it does make sense for Shurmur to keep his play-calling duties, at least for now.
The Browns now have three former NFL head coaches on staff as assistants—obviously Childress, defensive coordinator Dick Jauron (was head coach of the Bears and Bills) and defensive assistant Ray Rhodes (was head coach of the Eagles and Green Bay).
What does all this mean? According to Daryl Ruiter (who, if you haven't noticed by now, I think is a really fantastic source for information), those three former head coaches have a combined record of 136-159. Is that terrible? Yes. But is the experience Shurmur has around him invaluable? I'd say yes to that too.
So hopefully experienced hire will work out like Dick Jauron's hire last year, and the offense will make fantastic strides.
Do I think that'll happen?
For now, let's just say I'll keep my fingers crossed.
~MAS
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