Mike Lombardi seen with Browns documents at NFL Combine
February 24, 2014Browns’ Pettine wanted Bart Scott in Cleveland “badly” per report
February 24, 2014It was only a matter of time before additional news surrounding the recently departed Joe Banner became public, but that’s not to say much of it would be considered a surprise.
CBS Sports’ Will Brinson penned a recent piece (via CBS’ Pat Kirwan) which painted Banner, ousted after one-plus season as the Cleveland Browns CEO, as a “control freak” who had ultimate plans of his would-be new coordinators reporting directly to him rather than the head coach or even the team’s general manager.
Ousted Cleveland CEO Joe Banner — who is transitioning out of his role in Cleveland after being fired along with GM Mike Lombardi — had the new offensive and defensive coordinators reporting directly to him, CBS Sports NFL Insider Pat Kirwan reports.
Kirwan spoke to a league source at the NFL combine in Indianapolis that told him Banner was a bit of a control freak and structured the coaching staff so that the new coordinators would answer directly to him.
That’s atypical of an NFL team to say the least. Generally speaking coordinators answer directly to the head coach, in this case recently hired Mike Pettine.
“To say that the power structure in Cleveland was different would be an understatement,” writes Brinson. It’s a shame that it took Jimmy Haslam, the team’s majority owner, over a year to realize that Banner was doing more harm in his role than good1 Certainly, Joe Banner spearheaded several moves that benefitted the team in the long-run (i.e. additional draft picks for 2014), but it would be his inability to manage human beingsâas had been a reported weakness of his from Day 1âserved as his apparent downfall.
Recall, it was Norv Turner, the team’s offensive coordinator, who reportedly blew up upon the firing of Rob Chudzinski. This also corroborates similar reports regarding Chip Kelly and Ken Whisenhunt, both men taking issue with Banner and the way he depicted the team being run on a going-forward basis, both men taking jobs elsewhereâand being incredibly more successful than the 4-12 Browns of 2013.
Under the Browns’ new, more acceptable structure, general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine will report directly to Haslam, with the coordinators funneling through their own, more-typical chain of command. Novel concept, we know.
- Haslam obviously had his own fair share of distractions. It’s evident that the murky waters cleared up upon the second head coaching search. [↩]
38 Comments
Wait, what? If true, then that is ludicrous and an easy way to undermine the entire coaching staff.
I don’t get why this is so hard:
***GM, President(business guy), HC report to Owner
******Coaches report to HC (maybe 1 more level if HC wants it)
******Marketing, PR, etc. report to President
******Scouts report to GM
Why is this so hard?
Banner kind of reminds me of Phil Savage. They both made some good personnel moves and were a clear cut above past Front Offices in Cleveland, but in the end, the behind the scenes environment cost them their jobs.
People don’t understand Bannermetrics?
Wow, this is really hard to believe. I mean, there must be some exaggeration going on here, right? I mean, this cannot be true exactly as CBS is reporting it, can it? Can it?
People don’t understand Bannermetrics?
Wow, this is really hard to believe. I mean, there must be some exaggeration going on here, right? I mean, this cannot be true exactly as CBS is reporting it, can it? Can it?
this is a pretty embarrassing (damning?) report for the new head coach who accepted that org structure just to get the HC gig.
this is a pretty embarrassing (damning?) report for the new head coach who accepted that org structure just to get the HC gig.
Honestly, Pettine may have felt he wasn’t being looked at enough and took his shot regardless of perceived cost. I don’t fault him for it. I’ll judge him on what he does.
The question it begs though is if Kyle Shanahan is the reason Banner/Lombardi got canned. Did Kyle (after previous coaches too) balk at the structure and Haslam finally had enough and promised to fix the situation? Remember the on-again/off-again nature of the Kyle hire?
I don’t want to say that I don’t believe it, but I want to slow down a second. You mean to tell me that Norv Turner was reporting to Joe Banner and we somehow never found out about it until now? Ray Horton wasn’t responsible to Rob Chudzinski, but to Joe Banner, and somehow this revelation is only coming to light now and not after Chud had been fired?
Something seems funny about this.
i read this to mean the ‘new coordinators’ (ie, those on pettine’s staff) would report to banner.
wonder who the ‘league source’ was? lol.
Well, they were ALL NEW when you consider it in some ways… Sheesh. Thanks for helping me read it your way. I think you’re right.
That might indeed be embarrassing assuming it’s even true. Doesn’t pass the smell test at all though (what sense it would make for them to directly report to Banner for one??). Plus, most importantly, there’s a woman scorned out there putting out smear reports–one who happens to be well connected to the media. Fine, I believe the cries of “he was soooo controlling,” but I don’t buy that garbage about the assistants reporting.
It appears Banner must have brought in some consultants to help him streamline operations in Berea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGS2tKQhdhY
It appears that Banner thought Haslam was going to be too busy running the 6th largest corporation in the US (and largest privately owned US corporation) to run the team and decided to make himself the de facto owner without Haslam knowing. That plan failed as Banner is being phased out and his position obsolete.
Remember the New Math?
Bannermetrics. đ
Banner’s last day in Berea…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6L8NFcMakk
RESPECT the Mob.
FEAR the good ol’ Tennessee boy with a country shotgun. You’ll never see him coming.
Haslam is the one who hired the consultants to streamline. A shame that those software guys (Ray and Norv) had to come in the crossfire, but it happens.
I too read it that way. The newly hired folks would be the ones reporting to Joe.
did Banner think he was working for Lerner?
he’ll be sweet as a glass of his iced tea until you turn your back.
Very good questions about Shanahan. His delayed hire was certainly reason for pause.
Regarding Pettine, I agreeâthis looks very much like a guy who just wanted an NFL head coaching job. It’s pretty damning. That said, there’s a reason why he was the umpteenth guy on the list and the only one to get an offer. The others simply wouldn’t bend over for The Dictator.
“Joe, I’m gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Saturday…”
I’m not following your logic here, who exactly is the “women scorned”?
Joe Banner forgot that he was neither playing a Madden game nor was he John Madden, the person.
– This report, as unbelievable as it sounds, fits my thinking that Banner was all about the consolidation of power after losing that battle in Philly. But can you imagine the hubris in suggesting such a set up? The same “just toss me the keys” atmosphere that Holmgren received from Lerner. Stupid and bound to fail both in execution and in attracting coaching talent, which leads me to …
– Jimmy – really? Can’t imagine the presentation of this idea to the owner, what alleged boogeyman had to be slayed to help Banner pitch it with a straight face. Maybe Norv was rebelling against Banner meddling and using Chud for cover, but gimme a break. This is the first thing that makes me think maybe Jimmy was really out of the loop with the PFJ fraud. Not sure how a smart exec could sign off on a move so transparently designed to accumulate his own power.
– Full accord with Kanick about Pettine. If he likes betting on himself even in these circumstances he has a real gambling problem. Taking a sorry team where you can’t even issue immutable orders to your assistants. That’s like taking the Raiders job 15 years ago, just to get HC on your resume for future paydays elsewhere. Sure, Pettine lucked out after his hire but now I’m just a little scared. If this coach is good watch how he tries to parlay that; this could be interesting.
I suppose it’s embarrassing and damning if you’re looking for someone to embarrass or damn. Without being behind the scenes and involved in the negotiations and discussions, however, I’m not sure this is true at all. Remember, Pettine had multiple interviews. “Reports” were that Haslam was very high on him. None of us – NONE – know what happened between those interviews.
It is possible that Pettine contacted Haslam directly and (or in the process of Haslam contacting Pettine directly) said, “Jimmy, I really want this job, but I’m not sure I can live with your President.” To which, Jimmy may have said, “Don’t worry, Mike. I’ll take care of it.”
What we do know is that Haslam took care of it (and seems to have been very frustrated by the coaching acquisition (and elimination?) process). That’s really the only evidence that we have of anything at all. And it speaks as highly of Pettine (if you want it to) as it embarrasses or damns him (if you want it to).
No smoke. No fire. While it’s fun for comment sections of blogs, it’s all just mere speculation wrapped in clouds of fantasy. Let’s let sleeping bogey men lie (at least until Mary Kay Cabot and Mike Florio awaken them).
I think Pettine may be underlying cause that Labamba got fired (see comment above), but Shanahan may have been the proximate cause.
Lombardi.
Turner.
Chud.
There were a few, but I think he’s talking about Lombardi.
Mike Lombardi.
Ok, so if that’s the case. I was under the impression that Lombo was Banners guy, thick as thieves. It appeared that Banner was quite the guardian angel for Lombo during their reign. Now Lombo is flipping the script and trying to smear Banner cause he’s mad they got KO’d together? Lombo is basically trying to save face by pinning his termination on banner? I just don’t see that. I feel there is some truth to the implications that Banner was reaching outside his span of control and certainly lacked respect from “football guys” around the league. With that being said, My vote is this story comes from inside the Browns org. Specifically from the top, I’m pointing at you Jimmy.
Quite the contrary…Banner figures he works for No Man.
Interesting take. It sure explains why McDaniels and the other candidates with any pedigree/prospects refused the job.
If I were Pettine, who isn’t exactly a big name candidate, I would have grit my teeth and taken the job too. First off, for a guy like him he might never get the chance again. Second, even if he crashes and burns, most will blame the Same Old Browns rather than use it as an indictment of his competency.
You never believe anything anyways so what’s the difference?
OY VEY!
I meant Lombardi. The word is that he and Banner clashed, and supposedly Banner stifled him/his ideas–and after castrating him, he was canned.
Maybe “woman scorned” was a bad analogy, but I suspect most of these negative post-mortem reports (the supposedly “failure” to get Harbargh, this report) are the obvious works of a disgruntled former employee(s). And for that, their veracity is HIGHLY suspect.
Fair enough, I haven’t heard about the clash between the two. I find the Harbaugh story intriguing as well. It doesn’t necessarily paint anyone from Cleveland in a bad light. It shows the fans that they (all of them, Haslam/Banner/Lombardi etc.) were willing to try and get a great head coach. I respect that. Not debating what’s a worthy price if there is one, just saying I like the stones it takes to go after the guy. Whoever it was spearheading it, apparently it was Haslam. I’m hearing this is coming out of SF. The relationship between Harbaugh and front office has been strained for a while now.
Yeah supposedly B&L were best buds at the outset, but as it wore on–not so much.
As for the Harbaugh search, I totally agree with you that it was a good thing to explore (unlike the media/blog neg spin it got). No pride lost in checking it out, espec like you said when Harb’s relationship w mgmt was strained & there was a possibility to swoop in). SF’s owner York said yesterday though that it never got past early “talks” and Harb didn’t even get to veto it/reject CLE (like it was negatively spun).
Offensive and Defensive coordinators always report to the Head Coach and not to the CEO!