"Strong Leadership"

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam wants "strong leadership" in
his next head coach, and that's a good thing.

As we all know, yesterday was was a very Black Monday around the NFL with seven head coaches and five general managers losing their jobs—Pat Shurmur and Tom Heckert among them.

This, of course, was no surprise, including to at least Heckert himself. I'm not going to re-hash everything that's gone on with the Mike Holmgren-Heckert-Shurmur triangle, because in the end it doesn't matter. When Jimmy Haslam decided to spend a billion dollars to buy the Browns in August, those three never had a real chance to keep their jobs.

And it makes sense. I'm sure I've said this before—and I'll probably say it again—but when you spend a billion dollars to buy something, you get to do whatever you want with it. And I've never been that big of a fan of Shurmur anyway, so to me he's no big loss.

What's important now is to find the right man to lead the Browns on the field. And that's what leads me to to title of this post: Strong leadership.

When asked the qualities he's looking for in a head coach, Haslam gave that two-word answer. That's after being a part of Steelers ownership the past few years, and then watching Shurmur throughout the season. And it's also after doing a lot of research with CEO Joe Banner over the past few months.

So what might "strong leadership" mean a little more specifically?

Well, in my opinion, it certainly doesn't mean Shurmur. I know Holmgren basically set up Shurmur to fail—a first time head coach with no offseason and no offensive coordinator was a horrendous strategy—but if you just look at the guy and compare him with coaches that have won recent Super Bowls, Shurmur just doesn't stack up.

I'm talking about coaches like Tom Coughlin, Mike Tomlin, Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, Tony Dungey, Bill Cowher, Bill Bellichick, and Jon Gruden—those are the coaches who have won Super Bowls in the past 10 years. There aren't necessarily tangible reasons for this, but you can say that all of those men are strong leaders. Each one of them passes the "eyeball test" for that. They're all accountable for decisions they make—whether good or bad—and they're not surly or condescending to the media (...well, with the exception of Bellichick for that one). But they certainly don't look like they're cluelessly sleep walking through the game on the sideline.

Because Super Bowls have only been won by these types of men in the last 10 years, I think it makes sense that Haslam and Banner want to find a coach first and then go after a GM or Director of Player Personnel. Yes, finding players is important, but coaching up those players and creating schemes that put those players in positions to win is arguably even more vital to success.

What I don't think, though, is that "strong leader" is code for "Nick Saban" or "Chip Kelly." Sure, those men have had good success at Alabama and Oregon, respectively, but I feel Haslam is talking more about an "it" factor than anything else. Whatever "it" happens to be, it's the same factor that has led all the aforementioned coaches to winning the Super Bowl.

So far, reports have surfaced that Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone and Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton will interview for the Browns job. And, of course, everybody thinks Chip Kelly and Nick Saban are on the short list. I agree with Terry Pluto, though, in that I'd like Colts offensive coordinator/interim head coach Bruce Arians to at least get an interview, and I also wouldn't mind seeing Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien get a look.

But in the end, I just want Haslam and Banner to get it right. It's not about pleasing me or any other fan. As Haslam said yesterday, "If we win, [the coach will] be embraced."

He couldn't be more right.

Start Me Up: 2012 Cleveland Browns Season

If you ask me, the Browns season hopes are tied
to how well this guy can run the ball.

The return of Start Me Up posts can only mean one thing...

The Browns are back, baby!

This 2012 season is obviously going to be a big one for four men: Jimmy Haslam, Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert, and Pat Shurmur.

As someone who just bought a franchise for a billion dollas, Haslam has earned the right to do whatever he wants with the Browns. And based on everything I've learned about him in the last month or so, I think he's going to do what it takes to win football games here in Cleveland. Not only is he an extreme lover of football, he's a shrewd businessman. The Browns will be a hobby for him. It's not that owning an NFL franchise won't make him richer, but it also won't be his only source of income.

That's the way I want an owner to operate.

Still, though, this season could—and probably should—be defining for Holmgren, Heckert, and Shurmur's careers in Cleveland. Holmgren is already expected to be packing his bags for Seattle as former Philadelphia Eagles President Joe Banner is presumably going to fill that same role in Cleveland once the sale is finally approved in October.

But for Heckert and Shurmur, things could be different. If the team plays well and shows that what they've begun building over the last few years is making tangible progress, I believe there's a very good chance that both could stay. I can't give a number for wins on that, but if they go 6-10, I think there's more than a reasonable argument that progress has been made.

If they go 1-15 as some "experts" have been predicting...well, let's not even go down that road.

When you think about it, though, the keys to the season pretty much rest in the hands of the supremely young Browns offense.

Obviously the Browns hope Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden can become stable backfield fixtures in Cleveland for the foreseeable future, but if the season goes south only one of those guys realistically has a chance to be here when a new regime takes over. And his name isn't Brandon Weeden.

To me, if Richardson is healthy and productive, the Browns will have a realistic shot at winning each and every game they play. Yes, I know the NFL has little by little shifted into a passing league, but a running back with speed, power, and agility still has a place in the league—just ask the Texans. I'm not going to pretend it's all about the running back—since I firmly believe Houston lost to the Ravens in the divisional round last year because they were playing their third quarterback in TJ Yates—but if you have a top-notch running game and can control the ball and the clock, you will have a chance to win.

Plus, now opposing defenses have at least one guy that they must gameplan to stop. You literally could not say that about one Browns offensive player last year. As weeks go on, we might even prove to have two or three guys like that—Greg Little has reportedly made some strides, and Josh Gordon is just a supreme physical talent. Hell, maybe even Weeden will progress enough to scare some defenses as well.

For now, we all have to hope that Holmgren's bold prediction that the team will take a "big jump" this year holds true. Will it? I'm not sure. There are just so many unknowns on this team. The lack of depth at the linebacker position scares me—and it should scare you too. At some point, Joe Haden might be out for four games, and that would be terrible. And losing Phil Taylor for half the season at one of the DT spots certainly isn't that good either...

But when it comes down to it, who cares? It's football season yet again, and as of this writing the Browns are undefeated!

And because this is a Start Me Up post, of course we have some predictions to make...

The Season Prediction: 5-11, Fourth Place, AFC North.

I just don't see how the Browns are going to win more than five games with their schedule. I want to be wrong—meaning I want them to win more games—but there are just too many question marks. Like I said, if Richardson is healthy and productive, the Browns will have the ability to be in every game. It's just going to be a matter of making sure those games turn into Ws, and I'm just not sure they have the ability to do it.

And now for today...

The Prediction: Eagles 28 - Browns 17

Okay, here's a bold prediction—the Browns will come out and score a touchdown on their first drive of the season. Trent Richardson will surprise us all and come out looking like a man on a mission, allowing the Browns to run the ball down Philly's throat while Weeden comes up with some big time throws. And then the Eagles will remember that they're playing a worthy opponent, and all the wind will be sucked out of the Browns sails. But I really don't think it's going to be as bad as it looked like it could be in that preseason game just a couple of weeks ago.

For all of you loyal blog followers out there, unfortunately there won't be any halftime blurb today as I've got too many meetings to go to, so I probably won't even see most of the game. But at some point, I'll do what I can to see what I can and there will be a Final Word. So all three of you, don't you worry about a thing.

Enjoy the day, Browns fans!
~MAS

Welcome to Cleveland, Jimmy Haslam

For those of you who read this blog often, you know that I'm a huge football fan.

And right now, my beloved Cleveland Browns are going through a period of transition and I couldn't be happier about it.

Maybe I'm being an impressionable and naïve fan, but from everything I've seen, read, and heard from Jimmy Haslam III, I think we're about to usher in a fantastic new era of football in Cleveland, Ohio.

Once the sale becomes official—either in October or a at a special NFL commissioned meeting—Haslam will become the fifth owner in Browns history. The first, obviously, was Paul Brown, followed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Al Lerner was awarded the expansion franchise that began playing in 1999, and once he passed away his son Randy took over.

And I've heard some people talk about this, but the way Randy Lerner just didn't seem to love owning a football team is somewhat baffling. I mean really, can you imagine owning anything better than a football team?

To me, that's one of the best things about Jimmy Haslam. He came out to practice today dressed in Browns t-shirt and shorts to see his team practice. And throughout the morning session, he talked with both President Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert, asking questions about the way things are run on and off the field.

Isn't it a beautiful thing to see the owner actually taking an interest in the franchise?

And that's not to speak too ill of Randy Lerner, but everybody knows he was the epitome of an absentee owner. Mike Holmgren had been attending the NFL Owners Meetings for him for the past couple of years, so what does that tell you?

I will say this for Lerner, though—he was never afraid to spend money. He threw tens of millions of dollars at people so that they would just go away—Romeo Crenel, Eric Mangini, Carmen Policy, Phil Savage, the list goes on and on and on.

But now, the Haslam family from Tennessee is coming in and I believe we're going to see a new period of stability. If Holmgren is right and the team does take "A pretty big jump" this year, I don't see Haslam cleaning house as some have reported he will.

Seriously, if this team wins six games and looks good doing it, why in the world would you blow it up?

This team finally seems to have a direction. It finally seems to have a purpose. It has an offensive and defensive philosophy. We have a premier running back—seriously, if you haven't seen Trent Richardson in person in Berea, just wait until next Friday's first preseason game. The new quarterback might be older, but he looks like a winner as well.

Now you add an owner to this equation who is passionate, driven, and committed to making this team successful here in Cleveland—what's not to like?

I may have drank that Brown and Orange kool-aid too quickly, but man is Jimmy Haslam an impressive man.

And I'd be shocked if he didn't bring winning back to Cleveland.

Here we go Brownies, here we go!
~MAS

Making a Splash in Round One

Trent Richardson. Could be the best Browns
RB in a very, very long time.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Why hello there old man!
Brandon Weeden, new Browns QB
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

I've gotta say, this is not what I was expecting out of the Browns today.

Did I want Trent Richardson? Hell yes. Did I think they'd trade up to #3 to get him? Absolutely not. Am I happy they did? 1000% yes. (And that's not a typo.)

Now, Brandon Weeden. With all the WRs still on the board after the end of the first round—including Stephen Hill—this might have been a much better pick than I might have initially thought.


I certainly wasn't expecting Weeden to be taken at #22—I don't think anyone was. (Well, maybe aside from Tom Heckert, Pat Shurmur and Mike Holmgren) But I'll say this, tonight the Browns have gone after exactly who they wanted.

Clearly, the attempt to trade for RGIII wasn't a smokescreen—the Browns have determined Colt McCoy is not a franchise quarterback. I can't blame them for that, especially based on Colt's size and lack of arm strength.

The Plain Dealer's Dennis Manoloff has been campaigning for Weeden to come to Cleveland for a long time now, and this video from ESPN's Sports Science series is a big reason why.




So yeah, Weeden can take out clay pigeons, but what does that have to do with what he does on the field?

Well, for one thing, Weeden beat Andrew Luck, RGIII, and Ryan Tannehill last season. I don't think that's insignificant.

I also don't think it's insignificant that we're replacing a guy who's 6 ft. with a more prototypical quarterback type—6 ft. 4 in. 220 lbs. and a lazer rocket arm.

What's not to like?

I'll be honest—I was totally prepared to go into this season with Colt McCoy as the quarterback with better weapons around him, and then pick a franchise quarterback in the 2013 Draft. Weeden's age (29, when the season opens) means that he must come in and start right away. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he'll prove to be the best quarterback in the "common era" (since 1999).

I certainly hope he ends up being able to be mentioned in the same conversation with Bernie Kosar.

~MAS

Draft Day 2012 - Just Get It Right, Browns

Oh the NFL Draft...What will you bring us tonight?
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

So maybe I never got around to posting that season preview for the Tribe, but when hasn't this here blog been more focused on football?

I'm sure you're all dying to know who I'd like the Browns to pick and who I think the Browns will pick.

But to be honest with you, I'm not going to go over the whole first round or to pick #37, where most have been on any number of websites.

Obviously, I'm no scout. I'm no draft prognosticator. But I am a Browns fan, and I'm a football fan—I watch a whole lot of it. So when it comes to who I'd like the Browns to draft tonight, I'll leave it at this:

I'd love for them to draft Trent Richardson, but if we draft Justin Blackmon I won't be too upset.

If you remember, Blackmon had an absolutely stellar night in January when he and Brandon Weeden faced off against (future) #1 pick Andrew Luck and Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl. That night, Blackmon caught eight passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. That night, I sat watching the game with my mom and we both were like, "Get that guy in a Browns uniform." And there were plenty of others on my Twitter timeline who were saying the same thing.

Is Blackmon a Calvin Johnson or AJ Green? Again, I'm not a scout, but I just don't think he is (and, for the record, the draft people don't seem to think so either). But they are comparing Blackmon to Terrell Owens, and that's a comparison I can totally see.

Does that make him worth the #4 pick? I'm not entirely sure that it does. T.O. was the key to the Eagles advancing to the Super Bowl in the 2004 season, even playing with a broken leg in that Super Bowl in Philly's losing effort. But because he's not the elite game changer, I'd go with Richardson.

I'll admit it, I was hardcore on the Blackmon bandwagon and prepared to draft him until a report came out that Richardson had knocked over Browns running backs coach, Gary Brown, at his Alabama Pro Day.

Take a look over on the right. Is that not the kind of guy you want running the ball late in the season against the Bengals, Ravens, and Steelers? Is that not someone you want Colt McCoy to be able to turn around and hand the ball off to 20-25 times a game? Is that not the kind of guy you want in pass protection? And is that not the kind of guy you want catching passes in the flat?

I think I've made my point.

Yes, you can get a running back lower in the draft. But I don't know that we'll be able to get someone who embodies the history of Cleveland Browns football any better than Richardson—even if Jim Brown called him "ordinary" today (I think that's total garbage).

ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi has been saying that if the Browns don't pick Richardson, it's going to be "Jump off the 480 Bridge time." I wouldn't go that far, but I do hope they won't trade down. We have 13 draft picks this year. It's time to stop all the stockpiling of picks and just pick some players that will have an impact.

So do I care who they draft? Of course I do. I'd really prefer it if we didn't take a defensive player with the #4 pick. But the most important thing is that they just get it right because damn it, I'm tired of 10+ loss seasons.

I'll probably have something for you all later tonight after the Browns second pick, so stay tuned.
~MAS

It's getting Chilly in Berea—Browns hire Brad Childress as Offensive Coordinator

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

Final Word - 2011 Browns Report Card

I wanted to wait until I saw President Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert's press conference to give my assessment of the Browns season, and now that it's over I think I'm ready to have my say.

Obviously, a 4-12 record is not good enough by anyone's standards—and that's something Holmgren said today. The "Big Show" also talked about how he saw progress in many aspects of the team, including the fact that he thinks we started closing the gap between us and the rest of the AFC North teams. In his defense, Holmgren knew that he would be criticized for saying that, but in my humble opinion he should be. The NFL is all about results and "what have you done for me lately." No wins in the division and records of 4-12, 5-11, 5-11 and finally 4-12 in the last four seasons really isn't good enough either.

So that brings me to today's topics, the report card and some awards. I don't think there needs to be much more introduction to a report card than to say I'll be giving different groups of the Browns grades. ...Duh.

Let's just get to it, huh?

Offense
Well, this was a group that had a tough bad awful downright pathetic year. If you haven't heard, this team scored just 218 points the entire season. How bad is that? Well, the 1999 Cleveland Browns—yes, the expansion team!—scored 217, and the 2000 Browns scored 161. I'm glad I don't really remember those teams, but honestly there is no reason whatsoever for this team to be on par with the first two years of the "modern era." That's inexcusable. Not that there is some kind of comparison between the Browns and a team that actually plays offense in the NFL, but the Packers scored 560 points this season. The Saints scored 547. Even the 3-13 Vikings scored 340!

Like I said, downright pathetic.

Some other things to think about—the Browns scored 20+ points just twice this year. The first time was against Indy when they won 27-19, the second was when they played at the half-empty Paul Brown Stadium and lost 23-20 to the Bengals.

In five games, the Browns didn't even score a touchdown. That helps to explain the 218 points...

It took the Browns 12 games to finally score a touchdown in the first quarter.

It took until game 14(!!!) for the Browns to score a touchdown in the third quarter. Talk about inexcusable—that means Shurmur just couldn't make good halftime adjustments.

Yes, injuries ravaged the running backs and offensive line (please be healthy next year, Eric Steinbach), but there's no reason the Browns only had four rushing touchdowns and averaged just 3.7 yards per carry. Those ranked dead last and next to last, respectively. Boo!

All told, the Browns ranked 30th in points, and 29th in total offensive yards. Can you guess what grade I'm going to give this unit?

Grade: F

Defense
Okay, obviously the defense had a much better year than O, and I think that's in no small part thanks to coordinator Dick Jauron. I wrote in this post about a year ago when the Browns hired Pat Shurmur that it could take three to five years for the defense to fully convert from the 3-4 back to the 4-3. I will gladly eat some crow on that one—even though we don't exactly have what I would consider an All-Star caliber pass-rush, and our run defense is still awful, the defense was definitely the best unit on this team.

Looking at the numbers, you could really make an argument that despite ranking 30th running defense, the Browns actually had a top 10 all around D.

Stop laughing, I'm serious.

The Browns ranked 2nd in passing D—which could be explained by people running all over us, but hey, ranking 2nd is ranking 2nd. I'll take it.

In terms of yards, the Browns were also in the top 10 as they ranked 10th total defense. Also good.

But what I put the most stock in is the fact that the Browns ranked 5th in points allowed on the season. Yes, just fifth! They gave up just 19.2 points per game, which I think is excellent. (As an aside, two of the top four defenses were Baltimore and Pittsburgh...That's bad news bears.)

Did the Browns get all kinds of turnovers? Well not really interceptions as they only had nine, but they did get 11 fumbles.

But you know what, getting the fundamentals down is a lot of the time the hardest part. If we can make this kind of progress in just one year, I'd expect the defense to get that much better with a couple more pieces. And imagine if they actually had a mediocre offense so that they could get off the field sometimes?

Even though I think the defense did very well, that 30th ranking against the run leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So that's the justification for this...

Grade: B

Special Teams
Honestly, I don't know how in the wide, wide world of sports special teams coach Chris Tabor has not been fired already. Two long snappers, three punters (albeit because of injuries), at least two blocked field goals (one against St. Louis wasn't actually considered a block), and a punt returned for a touchdown. All that, and Josh Cribbs went from one of the best return men to one of the worst, as he ranked 25th in return yards this season.

All that after the Browns routinely ranked in the top five of special teams categories int he past couple of years.

If not for Phil Dawson—who hit seven field goals of 50+ yards, and with all the stupid blocks really only missed one field goal this season—and Brad Maynard—who was excellent punting and had just one touchback on the year, which came in the final game against the Steelers—the special teams unit would surely be getting an F. Instead they get...

Grade: C+

Coaching
By 'coaching' I mean head coach, offensive coordinator (which we don't have...), defensive coordinator and special teams coach. I've said it plenty of times, but I think Shurmur was completely overmatched this season by being both the offensive coordinator and the head coach. There's a reason why 31/32 NFL teams had offensive coordinators this season, even if they didn't call the plays... Just sayin'.

Based on the previous comments on the defense, I honestly don't think we could've had a better defensive coordinator this year. Despite the fact that the run defense was no good, Dick Jauron took a defense in shambles and made it respectable.

You already know how I feel about special teams coach, Tabor, so let's just say that along with Shurmur, he's bringing down the grade here.

Grade: C

Front Office
Now this grade is sort of interesting to me, because it's all about Holmgren and Heckert. Did those two do enough in the offseason to put the Browns in a position to win? Well, on defense the argument can definitely be made for a yes. They drafted Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard—two players who will be part of the core of the Browns defensive line for hopefully the next decade. They also locked up key players like Chris Gocong, Athyba Rubin and Joe Thomas with longterm deals. Those things are good.

But they definitely failed to give Colt McCoy any kind of help at the wide receiver position, as I'm still not sure why in the world the Browns refused to sign a veteran wide receiver. The whole PR debacle of Concussion-Gate was also something that really left a bad taste in my mouth for Holmgren—especially the ludicrous, "Don't come to me asking for extra playoff tickets," line.

I'll let Jim Mora handle this one.


Grade: B-

Overall
Well, to be honest, a 4-12 record pretty much speaks for itself, doesn't it? Honestly, 0-6 in the division to boot? I know we're not supposed to be holding the sins of former regimes against Holmgren, Heckert and Shurmur, but you know what? We were supposed to see real, tangible progress in the form of Ws this year—that was the whole idea behind firing Mangini in the first place! But the thing is, I sincerely believe that if Mangini had been the coach of the 2011 Browns, there's no way in the world we would've been 4-12. But that's what we are, and that seriously has to change if Holmgren and Heckert want to justify keeping Shurmur as the head coach of this team for 2013. (...that is, if the world doesn't end before then!)

Grade: D-

So there you have it. I thought about doing some awards for this post, but I thought that might make things run a little too long (thanks for sticking it out this far!), so I'll just give you a little bit more from me to read in the next few days.

That's right guys and gals, keep an eye out for the first ever Myley Awards.

See you then!
~MAS

Hiring Dick Jauron, A Negative Nancy and Losing Brad Seely

It've got a trifecta of topics burning on my mind today, so let's get right to it with...

Hiring Dick Jauron
As I wrote in this post, I think Dick Jauron is the best man for the Browns defensive coordinator job, and thus I'm pretty happy that the braintrust of Holmgren, Heckert and Shurmur picked him up. The coaching pedigree that he has along with coming from the Andy Reid family of coaches (albeit he was only there for  the 2010 season as the defensive backs coach and senior assistant) I'm sure made him the front runner all along.

Jauron is going to have the probably somewhat unpleasant task of transforming a...well... competent 3-4 defense into a staunch 4-3 defense. The old adage "Defense Wins Championships" has never been more true than this year, when we have all four teams competing in conference championship weekend with defenses in the top 10. Combine that with a division where you play Pittsburgh and Baltimore two times a year - both of them with defenses that routinely rank in the top ten - and I think Jauron is sort of in a tough position as a coach.

I know that implementing the west coast offense has been a big focus of this offseason, as evidenced by the hiring of Pat Shurmur, but if the Browns want to be competitive in the AFC North, they're going to have to be at least above average on D - at that might not even cut it unless we have a top tier offense. We'll have to wait and see how that's going to turn out.

A Negative Nancy
I don't really publicize this all that much, but between the two Browns beat writers for the Plain Dealer / Cleveand.com/sports, I vastly prefer Mary Kay Cabot over Tony Grossi. The main reason is that Grossi is so obviously a jaded Cleveland sports fan, and he lets that carry over into his writing all the time. Last year he was probably the harshest Mangini critic, and that was largely true for this season as well. But what bothered me yesterday as I read stories online was the headline "Browns Lose Dave Wannstedt to Bills." I clicked on the story, and promptly read "[Dick] Jauron has been the Browns top choice all along." So my question is, if the Browns had their guy in mind, and ended up hiring him, how in the wide world of sports does that constitute losing Wannstedt?

That's exactly what I mean by the jaded sports mentality. If you get what you want, then you're inherently not losing. You're winning. Why Grossi had to frame the story in such a negative way, I have no ide other than that's just the type of writer he is. Negative.

Losing Brad Seely
Now this is actually a really big deal. Brad Seely is widely regarded as one of the best - if not the best - special teams coaches in the league, and the Browns have let him go to join Jim Harbaugh's staff in San Francisco. Now, the Browns could have blocked him from leaving (which I think would have been a good idea) but I'm assuming that Holmgren didn't want to make him work in a place where he didn't want to.

You know what? I think when you have someone who is the best at their position, you do whatever you have to to keep them. Coaches like Seely don't just come along every day. If you have contractual control over the guy, I say you exercise that and keep him. It's like putting the franchise tag on a player - sure he might be unhappy, but if he wants a job elsewhere when his contract is up he better keep performing at a high level.

I don't mean to be a negative Nancy myself, but when your special teams have been as good as the Browns have been the last few years, I think it's easy to see why I might have a problem with letting Seely go. I'm not entirely sure that this is true, but I believe the Browns haven't given up a touchdown on a kick or punt return in at least two years - the time that Seely has been with the team. Replacing him is going to be one heck of a task.

*Update* Seely actually had a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave the Browns if Eric Mangini was fired. And that explains a lot...

Well that's all I've got for today, Browns fans. Enjoy the weekend!

~MAS

A Look At... Mike Mularkey

This weekend and the next few coming up are some of my favorite of the year because of the NFL Playoffs. Of course, there has only been one year that I remember that the Browns have been there, but it's still fun to watch the elite teams go head to head and see who comes out on top in each conference for a Super Bowl birth.

Of course, here in Cleveland we're still searching for out next head coach so that hopefully we can compete in these playoff weeks for years to come.

Today, Browns President, Mike Holmgren, and general manager, Tom Heckert, were scheduled to fly down to Atlanta to meet with current Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, so let's take (ugh) a look at his credentials.

I actually didn't know this before researching him for this piece, but Mularkey is a former tight end who spent six seasons with the Vikings, from 1983-1988, and then the following three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers to finish off his career. He wasn't really an impact receiver, never catching more than 20 passes, except for two seasons late in his career, but I do believe NFL playing experience if definitely helpful when it comes to relating to players.

In terms of coaching experience, Mularkey is, not surprisingly, a tight ends coach by trade. He started out as the tight ends coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in '94 and '95, went to Pittsburgh in '96 and worked under Bill Cowher until 2003, first as the tight ends coach and then got promoted to offensive coordinator in 2001. He was hired as the Buffalo Bills head coach in 2004, and did a really nice job in his first season, leading the team to a 9-7 record - the last time the Bills had a winning record. The 2005 campaign didn't go nearly as well, as the Bills slipped to a 5-11 record. Mularkey resigned his position following that season because of differences he had with the front office. I guess it was a good idea for him to get out of he big B when he did.

Mularkey spent the next couple of years in Miami, but that was back before Bill Parcells came and made them better, so it's really not even worth mentioning. He was hired as the Falcons offensive coordinator before the 2008 season, and since then he has helped guide Matt Ryan to becoming one of the premiere quarterbacks in the NFL.

This past season, Atlanta was in the middle of the pack in yards at 16th in the league - 15th in passing, and 12th in running. That being said, they were 5th in the league in total points scored, which means to me that they were both opportunistic and the defense created a lot of turnovers. But I think the real testament to how well Mularkey has done in Atlanta is the improvement of Matt Ryan in
all three of his NFL seasons. In his rookie season, Ryan threw for 3440 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, the next season it was 2916 yards, 22 touchdowns and 14 interceptions (in 14 games), and this season it was 3705 yards, 28 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. Those sound like a good endorsement of Mularkey to me.

However, Mularkey does not come from the Bill Walsh/Mike Holmgren school of coaching, making it that much more unlikely that he'll be the next head coach of the Browns. He does seem to be interested in the position, though, as he canceled his interview with the Broncos to "focus on playoff preparation" but he kept his interview with the Browns. But after hearing how well Pat Shurmur's interview with Holmgren and Heckert went yesterday, I'd find it hard to believe that they would go outside of the tree in which they feel most comfortable.

Enjoy the playoff games this weekend, Browns fans. I know I will.

~MAS

p.s. A shout out must go to Adrienne who was kind enough to let me use her MacBook to write this post while it was still relevant.

A Look At... Pat Shurmur

In the third "A Look At" post of the week, I'm...well, taking a look at someone the Browns are bringing in to interview today, current offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams, Pat Shurmur.

Shurmur, 45, has spent only one season (nope, I was wrong about that) two seasons as the OC of the Rams, but before that he spent nine years with the Philadelphia Eagles, seven as the quarterbacks coach. It's widely known that the Eagles run the west coast offense with Andy Reid, which is obviously a plus in Holmgren's eyes. It would be nice to have a head coach with not only a specialty in that offensive system, but also with quarterbacks to help the development of Colt McCoy. Shurmur obviously knows his fair share about both topics as he coached Donovan McNabb to three Pro Bowl selections in his time as the QB coach.

He was brought on to the Rams staff last year and clearly helped speed along the development of the first overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, Sam Bradford. Keeping in mind that he was a rookie this year, Bradford was 20th in the league in completion percentage (60%), 12th in passing yards (3512), 18th in touchdowns (18), 9th in interceptions (15) and 25th in QB rating (76.5). Those are pretty solid numbers for a rookie. By comparison, Peyton Manning completed 56% of his passes, threw for 3739 yards, 26 touchdowns and led the league with 28 interceptions.

The rest of Shurmur's offense was definitely not as impressive this year, as the Rams ranked 21st or below for each yardage category (26th overall, 21st passing, 25th rushing). They also ranked 22nd in first downs with 292, and were tied with Arizona for 26th in the league in points per game with 18.1. I don't know about you, but those numbers really don't get me excited.

So why are the Browns interviewing this guy? Well, he's got the connection with Tom Heckert from their time spent together in the Eagles organization, he runs the west coast offense, and he's a quarterback specialist. Plus he comes with a high recommendation from Eagles head coach Andy Reid, someone Holmgren knows well and respects a great deal.

Because of all that, unfortunately I think Shurmur has a decent chance at becoming the next Browns head coach. If it comes down to him being our top candidate because everyone else turns us down, I'd hope that Holmgren would just decide to coach the team himself.

More to come!
~MAS

A Look At... Perry Fewell

As I said in my previous post, I'll be taking a look at some of the head coaching candidates for the Browns and letting you know just how qualified I think they are for the job. As Browns President Mike Holmgren said on Monday, this is an extensive search with a lot of early candidates, so I may not get to all of them, but I'll try.

The coaches I'm talking about today is defensive coordinator of the Giants Perry Fewell. He has received permission from the Giants to interview with the Browns, but as far as I know, he doesn't have a strong connection to the Bill Walsh coaching tree that Holmgren himself is a part of.

Fewell is a defensive backs coach by trade, and has spent the last five seasons as a coordinator, 2006-09 with the Buffalo Bills and then this past season with the New York Giants. He also served as the Bills' interm head coach for the last seven games of the '09 season, where the team went 3-4 beating the Dolphins, Cheifs and Colts. The Colts game deserves an asterisk as it was week 17 and they were resting their starters for their eventual Super Bowl run, but they only lost one game by more than 7 points - a 31-3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in week 16. I think that's fairly impressive for a team that's a perennial basement dweller in the AFC East.

For the past year, Fewell's Giants were in the top 10 in each of the yardage categories as they were 7th in total yards, 9th against the pass, and 8th against the run. However, they were 17th in points allowed, as they gave up 21.7 per game. I feel like the Giants offensive turnover problems had a lot to do with that, though, since they had the league leader in interceptions at quarterback, Eli Manning.

Depends on the way you think about it, but the Giants could be considered 5th in sacks with 46, but since there are three teams ahead of them tied with 47, I'll consider them 3rd. They were also first by far in forced fumbles with 48, 10 more than the second place New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers. They also were first in recovering fumbles, with 23. All those are good numbers, but the Giants are usually at the top of those categories every year, so I think they might have more to do with Tom Coughlin than Fewell.

A lot of people are saying that Fewell is just being interviewed for a lot of these jobs because he satisfies the Rooney Rule, but I think Fewell could be a pretty good coach for any team based on the record he had as interm head coach of the Bills. That being said, I don't think he'll be the next coach of the Cleveland Browns because he has no previous connection to Holmgren and probably wouldn't run the West Coast offense. And even though Holmgren has said that it's not a necessity, it's clearly preferable as it's a system he and GM Tom Heckert are familiar with, and Colt McCoy would run it well.

So no, I don't think Perry Fewell will be the 16th head coach of the Cleveland Browns, but I always like to hear of African-American coach getting opportunities. The more interviews he gets, the more his name gets out there, and he could end up as the next Leslie Frazier, who just had the "interm" tag removed from his title as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings after receiving numerous interviews for positions last year.

I'll be back soon with more on the coaching search. Go Browns!
~MAS

Trades, Injuries and Colt McCoy?

There's a lot going on with the Browns this week, so I figured I'd do a little self-indulging with a midweek blog post.

First off, the Browns traded their former starting running back Jerome Harrison to the Philadelphia Eagles today for another running back, Mike Bell. I was a little surprised when I first read about it but after getting over the initial shock the trade seems to make a lot of sense from the Browns perspective. I've written about it and I've seen Terry Pluto write about it for the Plain Dealer - it just seemed like Harrison was not at all the same running back that put up 286 yards rushing against the Chiefs, and led the Browns offense to winning their last four games last season. It was widely reported that Harrison was unhappy about his role on the team now that Peyton Hillis has taken the bull by the horns in his role as starting running back, and, to me, that was clear by his play on the field. Hopefully there aren't too many hard feelings from Harrison as he parts ways from the Browns organization - though I will say that on some levels it seems like the Browns organization never truly appreciated his talent.

Now Mike Bell comes over from the Eagles where he was probably deemed expendable because of the emergence of their second year running back LeSean McCoy. Bell rejoins linebacker Scott Fujita on the Browns as they were both a part of the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints last season. He's in his fifth season in the NFL after making the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2006. His most productive seasons were his rookie season and then also last season, where he started three games and had over between 650-700 yards in both seasons. I think it's pretty clear that he's coming here because Browns General Manager Tom Heckert thinks highly of him and it was probably easy to make the deal with Heckert's former team.

There are also a few issues with quarterbacks and their sprained ankles on the Browns this week. According the Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer, Eric Mangini is now leaning towards starting Colt McCoy this week versus the Pittsburgh Steelers because of the high ankle sprains to both Jake Delhomme and Senece Wallace. Needless to say, this is not what Mike Holmgren envisioned for McCoy's first game in the NFL, but it looks like it's going to have to happen. I was really pleased with the way Holmgren came out right after McCoy was drafted to say that the plan for this year was for him to sit, watch and learn, but it really looks like the only smart thing to do is to play the kid at this point.

Look at it this way, McCoy has got some kind of competitive drive. He is the most winning quarterback in college football history, threw for 112 touchdowns, and had a completion percentage of 70.2 in his four years at Texas. He's been in the system, learning, getting reps since training camp and even though he's a rookie, I think he gives the Browns a better chance to win this week than Brett Ratliff. I also don't think it's a good idea to play Seneca Wallace when he's hurt, based on the fact that he needs his mobility and we also saw what happened to Delhomme when he was playing hurt last week.

I (sort of reluctantly) have to say that it's time to play Colt McCoy. Best case scenario? We've got the quarterback we thought we drafted. Worst case? Well...let's not even think about that. Until Sunday, Go Browns!

~MAS