More Pryor, Coming Right Up
September 16, 2008Tribe Continues Shopping at Pacific Rim
September 17, 2008
It shouldn’t have been much of a surprise when the power flickered on and off eleven different times on Sunday at five minutes to Browns kickoff against the Steelers. After the previous night of “football” against the USC Trojans on Saturday night, I probably should have seen the power outage as an omen that I really shouldn’t watch what was about to come next. Still, I am a glutton for punishment. What Cleveland sports fan isn’t a glutton for punishment, right? So, like a good little abuse victim, I trudged out to my car to head to my mom’s house where the electricity was still working so I could take my beating. Go ahead and insert your own joke about the lack of electricity in the Browns’ locker room. The good news is that one of my favorite pastimes, bashing Romeo Crennel, is finally back in season.
Last season with the hiring of Rob Chudzinski and the trading of Charlie Frye, the Browns came out on top 10 out of 16 times, and my bandwagon lost a lot of steam. People actually thought that Romeo might have even been one of the keys to not letting this team quit after an opening loss to Pittsburgh. Maybe for a brief moment in time Romeo was able to stop sucking for 37 seconds in between the first and second game. But trust me when I tell you I never closed the bandwagon even though a lot of people had jumped off. In fact, last year, I started the calls for Romeo to be fired before the season began on August 27th, 2007 as a preemptive strike.
See, I couldn’t possibly forget the Mo Carthon debacle. We had heard whispers of Carthon running pass blocking schemes on running plays and run blocking schemes on pass plays. We had heard about the lack of trust that everyone in the offense had for Carthon. Yet it took some Phil Savage strong-arm tactics to finally push the worst offensive coordinator in Cleveland Browns history out on his butt. It was then that I knew that Romeo Crennel wasn’t the right man to be a head coach in the NFL.
If that hadn’t been enough, the in-game “management” should have been the other clue. Whether we are talking about horrendous percentages on coaches challenges, or clock mis-management, it was plain to see. Romeo never came out from halftime with a team all fired up. He never had any mid-game adjustments that we could really notice. And this is when the bandwagon started to grow.
So, now just in case didn’t know where I stood on the Romeo Crennel situation, I am giving it to you straight. And yes, I have a plan to finish out the year. Wait until the Browns are eliminated from playoff contention. If the Browns lose the next two games, or collect enough division losses where the playoff picture looks completely statistically impossible, give Romeo his pink slip. For the rest of the season, make Chud your interim head coach and see if he has what it takes to manage a team with the in-game decisions like punting, field goals, timeouts, coach’s challenges and going for it on fourth down.
If Chud doesn’t work out, go out and throw a bunch of money at either Bill Cowher or Marty Schottenheimer. Both would be good choices to energize the fanbase and the team. Both have proven that they can win. Plus if it is Schottenheimer, he would have an opportunity to come full circle in his career and finally get over the playoff hump back in Cleveland. First things first, though. We need to see how this plays out and get rid of Romeo. And even if the Browns somehow turn it around, make it to the playoffs and win the Super Bowl, without some kind of miracle, I will STILL be calling for Romeo Crennel to be fired after this season. No matter how well the Browns play at times when he is coaching, I have enough proof in my head against Romeo that I will always think the Browns could be even better with a good head coach.
32 Comments
I myself can’t stand Romeo – I think he simply lacks the basic competence to be a head coach, and I think the team remains weak in season 4 of his tenure in his supposed area of specialty. I also agree he should have been fired before last year and that the team’s success last year had little to do with Crennel – and much more to do with Chud and DA during the middle part of the season.
All of that said, it’s going to be tough to can him in the middle of the season, even though a firing would be more than justified if this team starts 0-4. Chud has never been a head coach, and quite frankly, his play calling the first two games has been less than stellar (can you say Jamal Lewis up the middle 2 times on the last 3 offensive plays?). Keeping Chud as offensive coordinator is where he belongs – you put him down on the field and he’s not going to be able to focus on offense, and will have to worry about all the little stuff that a head coach is supposed to deal with. I think regardless of how this season turns out, Romeo should be out on his (large) ass at the end of the season. The Browns then need to bring in an ESTABLISHED winner. I’d actually support Marty coming back, as long as Phil keeps control of personnel decisions – Marty coaches a lot better than he scouts. Chud would stay as Marty’s o-coordinator since the two worked together in San Diego, and Tucker will likely go to the wayside.
Way to widen his face just a little more with that pictre. I was on the fence before seeing this man’s face in even fatter form – now he’s gotta go.
How can a position paid several MILLION dollars not understand basic game logic? Of course, fire Romeo. Mike Holmgrem once said “if there’s 20 guys in a bar and they all see the play as a fumble, it’s almost certainly a fumble.” Well, if a million fans think kicking a FG while down 7 is stupid and shows you suck as a coach, well…..
@ Craig – it’s “pastimes”, not pass-times.
@ bridgecrosser… what are you talking about? I had it right from the beginning. đ
@ Ron Burgundy something about the way the software publishes the pics distorts them. I honestly didn’t do that to the pic.
I think someone needs to make Romeo play out five season of Madden in coach’s mode and tell him when and when not to do things in terms of clock management.
“Now you see Romeo, with about three minutes left, you want to try and stop them first. Then if the clock is running toward the two minute warning and you have them at third and long, then you can use a timeout to try and stop them one more time and still possibly conserve as many as two minutes to drive and win the game. The goal is to use your time outs in conjunction with the two minute warning in hopes of saving that last timeout for an emergency. Got it? Good.”
Some guys are just brilliant coordinators and crappy coaches. Some of them happen to get lucky and have Tom Brady fall into their laps.
Except Brady doesn’t play LB or CB
Mike Holmgren
But seriously, Holmgren or Cowher would demand coach/GM responsibilities and I still think Savage is doing a good job. We will never pay Garrett more money or put him in a better situation than Jerry Jones will offer…so take him off the table.
The two dominant trends for hiring a HC have always been a QB developer or a defensive specialist. I personally like hiring a OL guy as they tend to understand the entire offense if you want to go on that side of the ball. Also note that we have the players to make a switch to a 4-3 if necessary (since our LB suck anyway and most of our DL have been in 4-3 before).
Here are my top picks
QB developer: Mike Holmgren, Tom Moore (Indy), Rick Dennison (Broncos)
OL guy: Mike Munchak (Titans), Rick Dennison (Broncos), Andy Heck (Jaguars)
Defensive Specialist: Rex Ryan, Jim Johnson, Gregg Williams (redskins), Steve Spagnuolo (giants)
My top picks would by Ryan and Williams, but really any of the defensive guys would be fine by me and they might even keep Chud around if our offense picks up. But, whoever is coaching our OL needs to go (steve marshall) as they have not looked good at all so far and they definitely have the talent.
If we go offensive guy, then I would go with Mike Munchak. I like Dennison a lot and he’s given credit for coaching up Cutler, but the problem is that we would need an entirely different style of OL to work with his scheme. We already have the guys in place for Munchak.
Anyone notice Cowher isn’t doing the CBS pregame this year? Maybe he’s waiting for a phone call. I’m just sayin’ …..
What about Russ Grimm? He’d make a great coach (if he’s available).
Chris – Cowher is doing the CBS pregame… I saw him on Sunday.
mgbode – while your post is very well thought out, isn’t it time that we bring in someone who is an established winner at the NFL level as a head coach? I think the Browns are positioned at this point to win now, we shouldn’t have to keep giving “up and comers” their first shot at the HC job.
Craig – I’ve had the same thought about Romeo and playing Madden. Hopefully he’s working on that this week…
Agree with AMC. It seems to be the Cleveland thing, give jobs to coaches w/ no experience. The worst thing that could’ve happened was last year’s success. That fooled the front office into thinking Romeo was good. Same with the Cavs in the Finals. That bought Mike Brown more time than he deserves.
Get us a coach with head coaching experience. Not sure Marty is the way to go. If and when he does get us into the playoffs, imagine what we’ll be saying when he’s playing not to lose instead of to win.
Get rid of the ass, get the chin…
We need to call Cowher now and lay down the framework for bringing him home to Cleveland. Now we may be able to get away with keeping Savage, make it where Cowher has a great deal of input and can have veto power on any possible move. Now if we can’t snag Cowher, there is another possibility, though I am loath to say it.
There is a coach who has won in the NFL, everywhere he’s gone, and knows the temperament of Cleveland maybe better then any other coach out there. If we don’t get Cowher, is it time we brought Marty home?
Greg Williams is with the Jaguars now, and won’t be a good Head Coach, he’s ridden that train. One of the Ryan boys I’d be all for, that’s some good genetics right there.
I’m with you, Craig. Even if the Browns win a bunch in a row, he doesn’t have the skill set and if he didn’t obtain those skills after 3 years on the job and all those years as an assistant, it ain’t gonna happen now. I want a coach with NFL head coaching experience. Love the orderliness, general discipline and sense of football priorities Marty always seems to instill when he gets to a new place. Anyone old enough to remember his first speech after taking over for Rutigliano in the ’80s? (“To me, football is a simple game. Block your man, tackle your man, beat the man opposite you,” or something like that). But what will everyone say when the Browns are holding a two point lead late in a big game, the offensive is working, and he orders Chud to go into the classic Marty shell/play not to lose? We will lose because he stopped attacking offensively or defensively. He’s not going to change either at this stage of his career.
I want Cowher. He’s proven, still young enough, something about him is “cleveland” and the players consistently play hard for him. I think you ride this season out with Romeo, barring some awful in-house upheaval which leaves you no choice but to name an interim, so that an established coaching candidate won’t be turned off by what looks like an organization with an itchy trigger finger.
Getting Cowher will probably mean we lose Chud, who will then see his career path blocked here. But who says Chud will be as good a head coach as an OC? Let’s get an established, competent head coach already. No more on the job training.
What would Butch do?
I’m confused, everyone is saying bring in Cowher. Question? What makes everyone think he’d want to coach Cleveland after 15 yrs of being the head coach of our biggest rival team? I have a hard time thinking he would graciously come to Cleveland and make sure we beat the Sqeelers who he coached so hard to beat us. Ya i’m not seeing that happening.
@ Cathy – Cowher played for the Browns and had no problem coaching against them with the Squeelers.
cower was also a special teams coach for the browns under marty schotteheimer.
@ Cathy: Cowher didn’t have to coach very hard to beat us.
Money can convince people to switch loyalties.
i’ve been on your bandwagon since preseason week 1, for the record… and i agree with the overall sentiment of your article, but seriously?
Marty “the playoff strangler” Schottenheimer? I know you were probably only six or seven, but have you forgotten the entire 1980s? Marty-ball? The massive 2-4 playoff record?
Cowher, sure. He’s proven he can coach and win the big game. If Marty comes back, I’m a Cowboys fan.
Marty recently has had success in the playoffs, but has gotten unlucky or was just beaten by better teams. He doesn’t choke under pressure like he had in the past.
I’m not sure I want Cowher. Not that he isn’t a great coach, but…he was the Steelers head coach. I know he used to coach for Cleveland but…I can’t get over the fact that he was an extremely successful coach for the Steelers
I like Chud, but no coordinator or assistant coach is so good that would make me want to keep Romeo in charge. I think Marty would keep him, but maybe not. Chud is nice and all, but finding a good offensive coordinator is way easier than finding a good coach
Obv you didn’t follow the Chargers playoff runs of the last couple years.
I like Marty, but he completely blew game management in both the Jets game in 05 and the Patriots game in 07.
They need personnel upgrades far more than they need a new head coach. It’s the same way everyone called for Mike Brown’s head when he was forced to deal with a horrible backcourt.
They can fire Crennel if they want, but that’s not the source of the problem. We don’t have much talent on this team, and certainly not any depth.
Here’s the thing though folks, Marty at least got them TO the playoffs. Sadly only Butch Davis has done that for us since the Browns returned.
Now Cowher wanted to coach the Browns, but Dead on Sight Modell hired Bellicheat instead. Cowher played and coached for the Browns, you know he’d be motivated to prove Modell wrong and do something that no one else has done with the Browns, to us to and win a Super Bowl.
@ Jason, they need personnel upgrades too, but they can change a coach without worrying about salary caps, roster sizes, drafts and all that other stuff. I am not saying once they switch coaches they will be writing their own tickets to the Super Bowl. What I am saying is that this team is unnecessarily harmed by the bad coaching. Of course you want to continue to get personnel in here, but does that mean until you do, you allow an talentless hack of a coach to continue to bungle decisions? I say not.
Theyre saying Cowher just bought a house in Strongsville, whatever that means.
The #1 aspect in hiring a coach is size. Romeo is obese, yes – but we can do better. Mark Mangino can look even more obese on the sidelines…..
Me. Want. Marty.
The simple fact is that the man just isn’t cut out to be a coach in Cleveland. Look at his responses to recent questions from the media:
1. Before the Steelers Game:
Q: Is this a must – win game Romeo?
R: “We’d like to win the game”
Like to win the game?!!! What a weak-ass response! It was the Steelers game you fat ass moron – if you as the head coach say that we’d like to win the game, you’re basically saying that you don’t hold your players accountable!
2. Leading up to the Ravens game
R: “The players practiced with a lot of energy this week, we’re going to go down there and play good” What the hell – play good? If what we saw today was a result of “high-energy” practices, what do we have left to look forward to for the rest of the season
This man has no sense of urgency in any game situation. His defense is horrible, and he can’t manage time in a game – HE SUCKS!!!!!
Time to face the facts – until RAC is gone, we’ll continue to suck!!!!
I’m a browns fan first but a Romeo hater second. I started my website last year after he did the stupid coin flip to pick a starting QB in the preseason – that’s how mad I was.
Anyways, the city of Cleveland deserves more. We want someone with intensity, someone who will get the players to play for him. Right now, I’d settle for someone with basic football knowledge. The late field goals in weeks 1 and 2 were ridiculous. The clock management issues are embarassing – anyone that plays Madden could work the clock better than RAC. It’s a shame because the Browns have some decent talent and its going to waste with RAC. Last year they won in spite of him. This year with the tough schedule they need some actual coaching and unfortunately it ain’t gonna happen while RAC is around.
romeomustgo.com
By the way, I second your votes for Cowher or Marty in that order. Either would be great.
romeomustgo.com
(for the site administrator – I’ll be happy to post a link to this story if you’d like. I’m here as a fan, not just a site pimper so since I listed my URL I figured I should be fair and offer to link to this post)
This is a great post. I came across your site during a Google search. I am very much in support of bringing Bill Cowher to Cleveland. The intensity he could bring to the Browns would be incredible. I think Romeo has a lot of problems with decision making and player management.