Winter Meetings and the Tribe: Much Ado About Nothing
December 8, 2009Cavaliers vs Grizzlies: Open Thread
December 8, 2009
Recall the 24-hour period that followed the loss to the Chicago Bears. Randy Lerner was fuming mad, staring players and coaches like the Undertaker on a Survivor Series Sunday. Lerner then went public with his desire to get a mastermind of sorts to run the operation known as the one-win Cleveland Browns. A “credible leader” that would hopefully be hired sooner than later.
And here we stand.
Rumors of Mike Holmgren circulated quicker than Usain Bolt, but have since subsided. The Seattle Seahawks have now cleared room for the still-Seattle resident to rejoin their franchise. Mike Shannahan has been tapped by the Buffalo Bills. Bill Cowher has several links to the Carolina Panthers.
So where does that leave the Browns?
Well, today’s rumors have former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis back in the news. ProFootballTalk has (once again) linked Weis to the Browns, mostly due to the fact that the Browns offense is inept at best and Weis did a pretty decent job at the NFL level in his offensive coordinator days. But also because of current Browns quarterback Brady Quinn.
The rumors peg Weis in Cleveland – something DP discussed almost a month before Weis’ firing – upon the firing of head coach Eric Mangini, as the two parties reportedly do not get along from their days in New England. When Mangini called out Bill Belechick for “Spygate,” this allegedly only added fuel to the fire. However, firing a head coach and hiring an offensive coordinator?
Obviously, this would also mean the end of Brian Daboll. However, in the same light that is the gaffe of hiring a head coach before a general manager – a position that is still available in Cleveland – what good is hiring an offensive coordinator before hiring either a general manager or a head coach? It definitely isn’t something that a “credible leader” would do.
22 Comments
Ha! Jinx!
[Cleveland Frowns]
I agree with Frowns on this one … strange that it would come on but only upon the firing of Mangini
Why is Learner determined to do things bass akwards?
Learner is a poor student.
Marty for President
I can only assume then that Weis will be able to hand pick the the next head coach? If so I have virtually no coaching experience and would be an excellent empty suit/hoodie. Plus my wife’s adoptive cousin used to date one of Josh McDaniel’s brothers so I’m kind of from the Belichick tree. Call me Charlie!
With the fist pick in the NFL draft, Randy Lerner selects…… Ronaldinho!! wait, what?
Is there any NFL head coach who is of the Belichick tree who is good?
He doesn’t allow his subordinates to have enough experience so they can’t compete with him later.
Why do people insist on having someone from that pedigree?
“Learner is a poor student.”
Give him some credit: after it’s failed twice, he’s finally learned the lesson that hiring a HC before a GM doesn’t work.
So this time he’ll hire the coordinators before the HC before the GM.
Next time, he’ll get really mad and start with the QBs coach, or maybe the DL coach. Maybe the waterboy?
Just for the record, Fred Nance is a “credible leader,” except, the opposite of that. “Incredible” would probably be the term you’d use to describe the way in which he ran Squire Sanders into the ground. The guy is basically the laughing stock of the legal market.
Anyway, it’s time to throw another big WTF up on the scoreboard that is Randy Lerner’s hiring history.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2009/12/cleveland_browns_name_fred_nan.html
I dont believe this rumor. Makes no sense. Hire an OC before a GM and Head Coach? No way. I think Lerner will get his football GM/Pres/Whatever and we will proceed from there. I really do believe Lerner thought Kokinis would serve as a check on Mangini. When that obviously failed I think Lerner realised his mistake in hiring a C before a GM. I dont think he will replicate that mistake again.
“I think Lerner will get his football GM/Pres/Whatever and we will proceed from there.”
I’m sincerely interested in why you think this, considering Lerner’s history. What reason do we have to believe he’s going to hire an exec and get out of the way, when every decision in his past indicates something different?
Many of us were sure he wouldn’t replicate the mistake of hiring a former NE coordinator prior to hiring a GM after he did it with Romeo/Savage, either. Not only did history repeat itself, but he decided to let the HC hand-pick the supposed GM. That’s not progress…
Besides, the Raiders have been hiring coordinators and staff coaches before HCs for years. It wouldn’t be unprecedented, and Randy has firmly entrenched himself in the Mike Brown/Al Davis echelon of owners over the past several years.
When in Rome…
1st RandyOSU terrorizes everyone then vanishes into thin air. Then Isis comes along and terrorizes everyone to the point of insanity and now he’s gone. I think it’s a conspiracy by the government.
Wow i forgot about Isis…that’s crazy.
I’m still sticking to my theory that it’s Denny in disguise.
Observe and Book It (I love that BTW) – has Lerner screwed up previous hires? Obviously. Can he screw up this one? Sure. But here is the thing. I really do believe Lerner doesnt want to be involved in the day to day. The dysfunction of Mangini/Kokinis forced his hand, hence the firing. Lerner made a huge mistake of believing that Mangini and Kokinis could work together as some sort of team/co-equals on personal matters. Clearly a big mistake. If Lerner wanted his GM to serve as a check on his HC he should have clearly given the GM that authority. The reason I am encouraged is that bringing in a football authority will set up that type of hierarchy. And the fact that Lerner has not rushed into selecting his football guy yet makes me encouraged as well. That was a big mistake he made with Mangini.
My biggest concern is that Lerner will try to handcuff the new GM/football authority with Mangini by saying give him another year. Lerner clearly thinks Mangini can coach (he rushed to hire him when no one else was looking to). I don’t know if Mangini should stay or not but I do know a GM/football authority should make that call, not Lerner.
Scotty – I am with you. I think Isis = Denny.
You guys really give me way too much credit. I’m not that smart to be able to write in a character like that all day every day.
Why do lend credibility to these rumors?
Is there any hope in getting Gruden or Shanahan? Please just hire a proven winner for once.
Observe and Book It is Isis; who cares though
“Observe and Book It is Isis; who cares though”
Now that’s funny.
“I really do believe Lerner doesnt want to be involved in the day to day.”
But that’s the source of the problem there. He clearly doesn’t want to be involved in the day-to-day… and I don’t fault him for that one bit. Better that than a meddling owner. But where it falls apart is that while he wants to stay away, he demands everybody report to him. So he’s overseas in London, or at his home in NY, and all the critical functions in the organization are reporting to an absentee owner, who doesn’t want to be involved, but is too arrogant to set up a leadership model to handle the day-to-day (the Browns organization chart has the President [currently Mike Keenan], the GM, and the HC all as co-equal positions reporting directly to Lerner.) Imagine if your company were run that way… the President/CEO/whatever has everybody reporting to him, but isn’t there, and doesn’t have the requisite experience or expertise to manage the operation to start with. That’s the source of much of the dysfunction.
“The dysfunction of Mangini/Kokinis forced his hand, hence the firing.”
Do we know that Lerner fired Kokinis? It still looks to me like that was orchestrated by Mangini to consolidate power within the organization, or perhaps to have a fall guy to save his own job. Even if Mangini didn’t have the contractural power to fire Kokinis himself, he has the juice with Randy–no secret that Mangini’s calling all the shots there, he’s got Randy’s ear, and all indications are Randy and he are sympatico.
“The reason I am encouraged is that bringing in a football authority will set up that type of hierarchy.”
Well, that’s the point I’m trying to make. He hasn’t brought in a football exec, and the only basis for this right now is rumor and conjecture. We all “hope”, but there’s no basis for it. We were told the last hiring process would be modeled after the successful franchises in the NFL too, remember? He was asked about having the HC and GM reporting to him and not a football exec last year, and he smugly said (paraphrasing, not going to take time to search the exact quote here) “I’ve learned a thing or two.”) That was less than a year ago. It’s in this guy’s nature to rush a decision to get himself out of the spotlight as quickly as possible… “hey, I hired the guy, what else do you want me to do” kind of thing.”
Hey, there’s a chance he proves me wrong. But I’ve learned in my short life to watch what people do, not listen to what they say. And this guy has an established pattern.
“I don’t know if Mangini should stay or not but I do know a GM/football authority should make that call, not Lerner.”
Agree 100%.
Hope you don’t mind the quotes/bullet responses, not trying to be argumentative or anything, just easier to respond that way.
Oh, and for Tyler’s Isis accusation… site editors/owners can see the IP addresses for each commenter. I’m sure they’d identify me as such if I were Isis.
[…] czar” sooner than later. This is something that is intriguing not only because we discussed this earlier yesterday, but because this team desperately needs some leadership in place. However, the one comment that […]