Coaches Are Made, Not Hired
January 13, 2011New Browns Head Coach: So Who, Exactly, Is Pat Shurmur?
January 13, 2011
Well, after about three days of discussing what was said to be the inevitable, the Cleveland Browns have officially hired Pat Shurmur as their replacement for the recently-fired Eric Mangini
Shurmur will be introduced to the media at 11am on Friday and will fill the office as the 13th full-time head coach in franchise history.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to join an organization with such a rich history and tradition as the Cleveland Browns,” Shumur said in his official statement. “I have the utmost respect for Coach Holmgren and Tom Heckert, and I am impressed with the direction in which they have this franchise going.”
Shurmur is largely credited with shaping rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, the top pick in the 2010 draft, as he set NFL rookie records for completions (354) and attempts (590), while his 3,512 passing yards were the second-most by a rookie in league history, trailing only Peyton Manning’s 3,739 in 1998. Bradford’s 18 touchdown passes tied for fifth-most among rookies in NFL history. During a midseason stretch, he set an NFL rookie record with 174 consecutive attempts without an interception.
Mike Holmgren stated that he is “extremely excited” to be bringing Shumur aboard.
“Pat is a bright, young man who grew up in football and around the coaching profession,” said Holmgren. “I feel as though he possesses the necessary qualities which make him the right man to lead our football team.”
Shurmur brings 23 years of coaching experience, 12 of which has been in the NFL. He has been a part of five division titles as well as one Super Bowl appearance.
Have at it, kids.
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Image concocted by Scott Sargent/WFNY
31 Comments
yaaaaay
Let’s get it done. He’s part of a great tradition, part of a well structured front office, and part of Cleveland. Do it Shurminator!!!
:depressing tuba sound:
This time around I’m not sweating the head coach pick as much. We have a President and a GM already in place who actually know what they are doing. I’m more anxious to see who he gets for coordinators.
It’s a very consistent organization now. That’s good. I think it also means Holmgren will be more involved and I don’t think that’s bad. It’s H&H&S now.
Fox would have been a great choice. But when you really look at how this is being built, the smaller the name the better.
And Tony Grossi may have been right all along – he shares the same agent as Heckert and Holmgren.
@ OmegaKing — I really want to avoid the idea in my head that this was little more than 75% agent hiring and 25% Holmgren hiring…but wow it is tempting.
Super Bowl!
Me too oribiasi, but you can’t overlook this fact. It has no bearing on whether he’ll be a good coach, but, you can’t overlook it.
LaMonte represents half of the coaches in the league. It’s hard not to find a connection to him.
Not the name hire most of us wanted and in reviewing the performance of the Rams offense in 2010 I have my concerns about the hire. I’m crossing my fingers and trusting Holmgren on this one. If he’s surrounded with an experienced coaching staff with solid credentials I’ll feel a whole lot better about it. Along with that is my hope that the CBA will get squared away and there won’t be any delay in implementing the changes to the teams offseason planning and implementation of the new offensive and defensive schemes.
Best of luck to Coach Shurmur and welcome to Cleveland. All we ask is that you win a Super Bowl. No pressure.
@3:
http://www.sadtrombone.com/
The fact that I don’t like this hire is a good sign. I am usually way off on these things.
The only thing I know about Coach Shurmur is that he sweats a lot.
BOOM Roasted!
Anyone know how old he is?
@6 – Nothing to see here… move along…
Thought: If not for the Rooney Rule and the fact that the Browns contacted Mularkey before the Broncos did, our extensiv search for a head coach may have been one person.
But whatever… you got your men H… just win.
I’m glad that Holmgren and Heckert were able to pick someone who fits with their system. I trust their judgment more than anonymous Internet posters, average-at-best football fans, and ESPN hacks.
I’m on board. Go Browns!
Can’t wait for the day when someone joining the Browns refers to his excitement about joining “a great, winning organization” rather than the “rich history and tradition.” Let’s hope this guy is the last to give that tired old concession speech.
Now, it’s on to the coordinators. There are some quality coaches out there looking for employment that would make good offensive and defensive coordinators.
Lerner’s got the money to hire the best available. Now, it’s time to make it happen.
I’m excited about the upcoming Browns season…so long as it actually happens. Man I wish the Tribe and Cavs didn’t suck so bad! This is gonna be a long Winter/Spring/Summer.
I’m a Michigan fan and strangely this hiring feels the same as the Brady Hoke hiring… don’t hate it, but don’t necessarily love it either. Time will only tell I suppose.
@DK, and as a fellow UM fan taking it one step further, it feels like all the other candidates were window dressing.
[…] Last week, I spent some time writing about Mike Mularkey as a candidate for the Browns’ head coaching job. Mularkey’s interview did not seem to solidify his candidacy, and now the job belongs to one Pat Shurmer. […]
Wow. Holmgren said that his search for a head coach would be like really thorough. He talked to about 5 dudes, then hired the first one he talked to. Good luck Big Shurm… I’ll be prepared to watch another season that gives me high blood pressure.
I want to complain. I mean the Rams O was 26th in the league last season. But I fully trust Holmgren to make the right choice. There must have been something about this guy that made him stand out. Hell Sean Peyton and Mike Tomlin were two hires that the fan bases for those teams didn’t like at first. Who knows what Shurmur can turn out to be.
Yes, my friends. Kool aid.
If the Shurminator can bring her to Cleveland as well then consider me sold.
http://americanpie.ugo.com/images/american-pie-2/Cast/shannon-elizabeth.jpg
@24, I thought the Rams offense was pretty competent considering they had a rookie QB and their best receiver was Mark Clayton, before he went down early in the season with an injury. Then you had a rookie QB throwing to guys like Danny Amendola and other names who wouldn’t be the 3rd receiver on most teams. I also think Steven Jackson is way overrated and the St Louis offensive line lacked quality. I have a little hope that Shurmur will be able to do even more with a decent, but not great, Browns offense.
Also, let’s be thankful that the title of this article wasn’t “It’s Official: Browns name Marty Mornhinweg as New Head Coach”
I think I would have had to think long and hard about quitting the Browns if I had read that.
46
the Shurmurnator….AWESOME
So now our offense can get all the way up to 26th. Would you marvel at how he can develop a QB if he had to work with DA?
He’s a sophisticated sex (football) robot sent back through time to change the future of one lucky lady (franchise).