A Not So Discreet Secret
November 24, 2008While We’re Waiting…
November 25, 2008I know that this season is over and we can’t get it back. I know our expectations were way high after a 10-win season. I know that the game against Houston feels like a complete rock bottom. I know all this. I am disappointed, dismayed, disgusted and about a million other words that start with dis and un. We all are. Still, as everyone I know tries to find ways to deal with their feelings and their interactions with this football team, I want to try and take a few steps back and find some perspective on this. In times like this, perspective is about all we have to hold on to. So today, I want to give some perspective on Randy Lerner, who is one of many people under fire right now because the Browns stink.
People love to talk in catch-phrases when it comes to Randy Lerner. “He is more interested in soccer.” “He didn’t even want this gig, but was forced into it with the death of his father.” I know that it is popular to say these things, but nobody knows how true it is. Nobody. The question that I can’t answer is what I would have done differently over the last two years if I had been in Randy Lerner’s shoes. Let’s look at this for a second.
Lerner inherits the Browns gig because his father dies. Fast-forward to John Collins hiring Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage finds his way to the GM job. I don’t know if this was a Lerner hire or whether Collins brought in Savage. After the first season Collins and Savage are at odds and Lerner picks Savage to stick around. As far as I can remember, everyone that I talked to was elated that Lerner picked “the football guy” over the “suit.” We had huge expectations for Savage with his scouting record from Baltimore.
So far, is Lerner in the clear? I would say so.
Then the Browns have a bad year with Romeo Crennel and the whole Maurice Carthon debacle. Eventually Carthon is fired and Lerner permits Savage to go out and hire Rob Chudzinski. We aren’t happy that Carthon was able to stick around as long as he did, but I don’t think that Lerner necessarily did anything wrong here. The move of keeping Savage over Collins, which we all loved, turned out to be Savage’s hiring of Rob Chudzinski.
Alright, time to evaluate again. As an owner is Randy Lerner in the clear? I would say so. He could have insisted that Crennel be fired right then and there, but the mantra was consistency and so the Browns went into the season with Romeo and a new offensive coordinator. Crennel and company put up a 10-win season indicating that he might just have turned this collection of players into an actual team even though they barely miss the playoffs. Lerner and Savage go into the offseason trying to get better, but leaving the coaching staff largely intact because they won ten games, which is usually enough to get to the playoffs.
So, how about now? Is Lerner in the clear for that? Can anybody honestly say that they could have justified firing Crennel after the season he put up last year? How stupid would everybody have thought Lerner was if he had shaken up a team that finally came together and put up 10 wins? I have always been a huge Romeo detractor, but even I was kind of impressed by the season the Browns put together after the QB debacle in week one last season.
So that brings us to today where the Browns have (hopefully) hit rock bottom with a loss against Houston that was wrought with mistakes and embarrassment. Now the pressure is on for Lerner to exact wholesale changes this offseason. I think we can all agree on that point now.
But, can you honestly say that given the situations that Lerner has been faced that you would have done things differently? Go through the timeline that I have put out there and tell me where Lerner was too busy running his soccer club to make the right decision. What, exactly, is it that you would have had him do differently?
Don’t get me wrong. Now, the expectations are high for Lerner. He MUST act after this season is finished. Up to this point, though, I have a tough time rewriting it much differently.
28 Comments
That’s what I have been saying as well. Granted, I think you could have fired Romeo after last year, but you really would have had a solid coach in mind before you did that.
All in all I think that the Browns had a fighting chance to compete this year if the players showed up and the coaches had a solid plan. Neither of these things happened and now it’s time to start over.
Learner has little to do with this.
I agree with this. I think the only off season mistake Lerner did was giving Romeo an extension, I would have made him coach 1 more year before he got his extra helping of Thanksgiving ham. Other than that tho, I’m kind of glad Lerner has kept out of the spotlight. I would never want an owner like Al Davis or even Jerry Jones, who go out of their way to take attention from the team and place it on themselves. If he really does like soccer better than football who cares, I think its clear he’s been willing to spend the money to field a descent team, it just hasn’t panned out this year. It could have been a much different season this year had Dante girl played, if JJ didn’t suffer Black Death, Daven Holly go down. None of that is Lerners fault. The blame falls on Romeo for not being able to make what he has work, like every other GOOD coach does when they suffer injuries. As much as I hate them, the Steelers have managed to get by with a total crap O line and having their star RB go down. We lose a corner and all of a sudden everyone can put up 400 yards passing on us? I’m ready for next year.
It’s easy for me to tell you this, but my friends know, I didn’t want RAC back this season. The game plan from the Bungals game last December really bothered me and does to this day. 30+ mpg winds and you don’t run JLew 25+times? Anyway, in my unrealistic world I wanted to send Phat Ro and DA to Parcells Dolphins for the #1 pick. I live in Indy and see daily how a championship team is run. Now I’ve got tix to this Sunday’s game. I’m better today, but yesterday didn’t want any part of those tickets or the impending lethal injection. For the record…I’m not going to kick them while their down…and when I go Sunday, I’ll scream for Cribbs and urge on Brady. But guys, I’m a beaten man and just don’t know how many more times I can get off the mat.
I would never want an owner like Al Davis or even Jerry Jones
Or Art Modell?
good analysis, as always. however, by keeping way too low of a profile and minimizing media appearances, Lerner has enabled himself to be portrayed as aloof, disengaged, and reluctant. He has not connected with the COMMUNITY of Browns fans, which is unfortunate, and which ultimately exacerbates the anger against him. Does anyone have any idea how Lerner feels about the turn of events this season? I suppose he can’t be happy, but I can’t say with any certainty that he burns with the same frustration as the average fan. To know that the owner was incensed would be comforting, but Lerner seems cool, collected, distant, and emotionally detached – very British actually
My key problems with Lerner:
Who leads this organization on a daily basis? I have no problem with Lerner wanting to remain out of the spotlight… but this organization clearly lacks leadership in his absence. The recent spate of PR problems is clear evidence of this–the Browns need somebody in place, be it a president, CEO, or a GM that can put a public face on this organization. Phil Savage has an obvious disdain for the media, and has mishandled pretty much every aspect of the team’s PR ever since he ousted John Collins. Just ask yourself–why is Romeo the one holding press conferences to address Savage’s personnel moves? That’s not Romeo’s domain.
Keeping Romeo after his refusal to make a change with Mo Carthon was a critical mistake. He proved over his first two years here that he lacked the ability to make tough decisions. Some might argue that Randy was letting his hired people (Savage) do their job by deciding whether or not to retain the HC, and there may be some validity to that. But I would argue that the organization chart, as it was presented years ago, calls for the coach and GM to both report to a president… which takes me back to my first point–who is this person? And if it’s Randy, then he does bear responsibility for retaining Romeo beyond year two… (I don’t buy the consistency argument… we were consistently losing, and I fail to see any point in wanting to continue that kind of consistency.) But for the sake of argument, let’s say Randy did leave it up to Savage to retain Romeo, and therefore should be excused. Lerner is then at fault for my third point, following.
Contract extensions should never have been given to Romeo, Savage, or Chud. I’ll never understand or agree with the idea of rewarding losing, and no matter how good last season was, the bottom line is that Randy rewarded all three of these guys (and D.A.) for missing the playoffs.
I agree that it’s hard to believe Randy doesn’t care about his team, or that he cares more about soccer, or any of that. But the fact that so many people do believe that attests to how severely lacking the Browns are when it comes to public relations.
We have a HC that says things like, “We need to help [Quinn] more going down the stretch. If we can do that, we might be able to win a game.” or “I hope the kid doesn’t fall flat on his face.” We have a GM that tells fans “f@#* you” and to root for our opponents. As long as things like this continue to occur–not to mention the crap that we see on the field–then people are going to continue to think poorly of Randy Lerner.
And rightfully so. It’s his organization. He owns it, and he puts the people in place to run it. It’s his responsibility to set the tone and to build an organization of quality people in Berea. Thus far, he has failed miserably.
Lerner is accountable for the Senior Management hires, plain and simple. To say they were “John Collins” hires and/or Phil Savage manuevers misses this essential point. Regardless of who hired Crennel, the question must be asked in terms of why was he hired in the first place to coach this team? (and I am not a Johnny come lately here……from day one I HATED that hire.
Were the following questions asked during the interviews: (if not, why not?)
-Mr. Crennel, if hired, who will you bring in and/or who will be on your short
list of coordinators? (the answer should NOT have been rookie OC/DC’s).
-Mr. Crennel, if hired, what is your offensive and defensive philosophy?
-Mr. Crennel, what role did you have as New England’s DC? (yes, I am and
have always doubted any serious role here other than Belicheck’s position
holder).
-Mr. Crennel, what will you do differently as Head Coach versus your prior
tenure here as defensive coordinator under Palmer? (RED FLAG here-do
you all see the same soft defensive tendencies…??).
-Mr. Crennel, why have you been passed over so many times before as a
HC candidate??
Now…..similar questions should have been asked of Savage being that he
was (and is) similarly unsuited resume-wise for his current role. (I won’t bore anyone with that list, but it would be easy enough to prepare based on the ENTIRE role of a GM in terms of LEADING an organization in all it’s aspects).
The point is…….both hired were absurd from the start given where this team was. If it wasn’t obvious to Lerner at that time that he needed to bring in experienced NFL Leadership at President, Coach, and GM levels than his business accumen is not what any of us would hope.
I hope that Randy Lerner and learned (Lerned?) some painful lessons here in terms of hiring and setting the objectives of such so that he does step forward and rectify this situation. Your last paragraph is dead on-let’s hope we get experienced NFL leadership in place here moving forward.
I agree with everything except the contract extension which was unnecessary. I don’t think there was really a market out there for Romeo’s services. The extension obviously was a “vote of confidence” more than a genuine reflection of a concern for losing Romeo. I don’t see why its necessary in the pro game to make this type of gesture with an extension. Is it going to help recruiting? Is the head coach of an NFL team such a mental midget that he’ll be unable to do his job without a pat on the back? The whole thing is stupid.
As for the future, I like Bill Cowher but I have reservations about him too. The last time I checked, giving a head coach full organizational control doesn’t usually work out too well. Honestly, I know he’s older but Marty might be as good of a hire because he won’t insist on being given the GM role.
Randy Lerner is so overmatched in the NFL, it’s like me trying to cover Andre Johnson. He’s going against accomplished men of business. Maybe he is decent person, I wouldn’t know either way, but he is inept.
When the cat is away, the mouse will play. He’s an absentee landlord of an owner and will only win big if he is extremely lucky.
I wish he’d sell the team but as long as NFL teams go up in value that isn’t happening. Randolph, sell the team you useless piece of crap!
Randy isn’t the problem, name the owners of half the teams in the league. I bet you can’t get over 15. Anyway, He’s made decent decisions the past couple years. I mean ya fire Romeo after 2 years that makes sense, after Palmer, Butch, Robiskie, Campo and on and on and on it would’ve gone. I had heard that Grantham was fired last year b/c Randy was about to replace Romeo with Grantham after the Pitt game, but then we started winning and at the end of the year Romeo wanted a new D coordinator.
Romeo is going to be fired, and I HOPE WE DON’T HIRE COWHER!!! The guy won 1 SB in 15 years and isn’t that great of a coach, he did have Kordell Stewart as his “Great QB” for how many years.
Go Browns!!!
@ Bridgecrosser
This is the epitome of what I was talking about. You start with an exaggeration, follow that up with a cliche about mice and cats, and finish it by calling him a piece of crap.
I am sorry to pick on you, but seriously… Were you joking and I didn’t get it?
As for the contract extensions, I don’t understand those either, but as Pluto has said in the past, don’t worry about them. They won’t be hurdles that the Browns will worry about in order to make a change.
@ Craig – thanks. This was a horrible article. I can’t believe you think he isn’t a problem. Tell me he isn’t overmatched going against top owners?
If you had a billion dollar company – you’re telling me you’d be fine with Randolph Lerner running it in an absentee fashion? SERIOUSLY?
If you had a billion dollar public utility – you’d be fine w/ his management style? SERIOUSLY?
Randolph Lerner has done NOTHING in his life to prove he is capable of running this team. Billion dollar companies rarely run well with absentee CEO’s, so why would the Browns be different? Just because he flies in on his G5 for games doesn’t make him involved.
If he wasn’t born to one of the most savvy American businessmen of the last 50 years, there is no way on earth Randolph Lerner would be sniffing control of a major business. No way.
Craig, keep at it though.
In Craig’s defense, You can look at the opposite end of the spectrum like a Mark Cuban. Although Cuban is probably a fan’s ideal owner because we all admire is enthusiasm for winning. His meddling in the day to day activities of the Mavericks could be as much to blame as Dirk choking come June.
Football isn’t in Lerner’s blood, but he also isn’t the Dolan’s. He has opened his checkbook and allowed Savage to spend money and evaluate talent.
CEO’s can be absent if they put the right management in place. He obviously does not have the right management in place. From the GM to the coach. It has fallen apart around him.
Different from a company, this years poor performance will not put the team out of business or stop the product from being bought. Although my Monday would have been much better if a headline read Romeo’s firing, Lerner doesn’t have to be in a rush now. The season is lost.
If I am Lerner, I am planning for 2009. Rushing into firing coaches and GM’s does nothing but put a giant spot light on his office to replace them as quick as possible. Without a doubt Romeo will continue to add to his own demise and Lerner can sit back and make better decisions about 2009 and beyond.
@Goodman: I admire your calm demeanor, considering you cut this guy a pretty nice check at the beginning of the season!
@MJ: You hit it on the head. Lerner created a systemic problem. Savage was a veteran scout but a rookie GM, overseeing a rookie coach. Lerner reacted to the uproar over Savage’s power struggle with Collins by effectively eliminating the team president position and leaving a rookie GM with even more duties. But Savage shows no ability for those duties or setting a general organizational tone. And there’s no one to teach him to fake nicey-nice with injured players or to tell him, “don’t exchange nasty-grams with fans.” Blame Lerner, not because he is not a blowhard Cuban, or even a Modell who ran around telling the media, “Do you know it was my idea to draft Michael Dean Perry?” Blame him because he gutted the checks and balances that create a competent organization, leaving behind first-timers who were over their heads. A competent owner not only writes the checks, but hires competent people to run the organization or runs it competently himself.
I think Aston Villa has scored more points than the Browns this year.
@ Bridgecrosser
My article raises a timeline and asks questions. Obviously you disagree with me. That’s fine. The fact is that your first comment had no teeth and sounded like a bumper sticker. I called you out on it and you responded with something of substance while insulting me. I am not sure why the debate can’t be had in an intelligent manner without the insults.
Still, you haven’t answered the question. Given the order of events and timeline, what, exactly would you have had him do? He approved the trade of this year’s number 1 draft pick to get Brady Quinn. He approved the deal for Leigh Bodden to leave for Shaun Rogers. So, you are second-guessing what exactly? You think Phil made those moves without running them by Randy Lerner?
The fact that he didn’t fire Romeo after the Carthon season? I can buy that. He rolled the dice and gave Romeo another shot and he won 10 games. Should he have fired Romeo after that? It looked like this team had turned a big corner after last season and then went and upgraded a few positions like defensive line.
Other than insulting me, what is it that you want? And don’t answer a question with a question asking me whether I want him running a billion dollar utility. This is football and I usually want football people handling football teams, Matt Millen and Dwight Clark not included.
This is how an owner operates. He makes what he hopes are good decisions on people and then he watches to see how they perform. When they perform badly, you run them out of town. Last year they delivered 10 wins.
So just start there. What should Lerner have done differently and when should this thing have occurred?
At work, will try to get to this evening… I did see “The Randolph” has come out of hibernation to speak today. Good times!
I know you weren’t addressing me with this comment, Craig, but this has been a burr in my saddle for a long time and I’d like to address it:
“The fact that he didn’t fire Romeo after the Carthon season? I can buy that. He rolled the dice and gave Romeo another shot and he won 10 games. Should he have fired Romeo after that? It looked like this team had turned a big corner after last season and then went and upgraded a few positions like defensive line.”
I said it all last year, this team succeeded in 2007 in spite of Romeo and not because of him. I dont’ think Romeo deserved a shred of credit for last season, and the contract extension was absolutely the wrong move–not in retrospect, but even at the time.
Just a few reasons that stick out in my mind… Romeo flips a coin to choose his starting QB, who is Charlie Frye. Yes, some will say we got DA where we needed him anyway, and RAC shouldn’t be faulted… but I’d argue that this is not how a leader behaves. Would any other team accept their HC deciding lineups based on coinflips? Can you see Belichick, or Parcells, or Cowher doing this? He does not possess the leadership qualities to develop winning team, and he does not have the strength to make the tough decisions (be it starting QBs, or who to hire for OC…) I will give him marks for consistency, though… he does not waiver, and continues to demonstrate the same deficiencies that prove why he was never able to get a HC gig, year after year…
Recall the Oakland game early last year… what was the feedback from the locker room? The team wasn’t prepared for the game… I remember Braylon talking about it in particular. This was a common theme, the team not being properly prepared for their opponents. It reared its head again in the poor gameplanning for Cincinnati late in the season. The HC can’t make his WRs not drop balls, or his QBs not throw INTs, but when everything is clicking on all cylinders like it did for this team last year, the one thing the HC has to do is not handicap his team with deficient planning and preparation and poor on-field decisions.
Aside from the team going 10-6 last year, I can’t recall one thing he did that warranted an extension with two years left on his deal… but there were several glaring examples of his ineptitude, not the least of which was insuring a 12-4 team finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs.
Sorry if this is coming off as ranting… I’m especially irked after hearing reports of Randy’s comments today. Al Lerner would never have allowed the situation to play out this way.
Where was all the Lerner hatred last year? Hindsight is a beautiful thing. Lerner is FAR from this team’s biggest problem.
“Where was all the Lerner hatred last year? Hindsight is a beautiful thing. Lerner is FAR from this team’s biggest problem.”
Yeah… what’s with all these haters who would expect the owner to choose qualified people to run his team! Come on, now… it’s his team. The buck stops at his desk.
I would ask, why is there any reason to support Lerner? Superbowls? Playoff appearances? Creating an organization that is a shining beacon of professionalism for the rest of the NFL to aspire to? What, exactly, has he done to inspire confidence or to earn the support and devotion of anyone?
@Scott: Don’t get me started on PSL’s or the fact I walk down West 3rd towards the stadium and scalpers are selling tickets better than mine for half the price.
I am more in the camp of not laying so much of this at the feet of the owner. I do wish he would seem more active, show more fire, but I don’t think a lot of this is his fault. He stuck by Savage early on because he hired a guy who was respected as a scout and talent evaluator in his previous job. So if it comes down to the guy you hired and some other guy, who would you take? At that point, I think you had to side with Savage.
I said this once before on an earlier post, but race is a part of this. There is no way they would have fired Romeo after two years, everyone would have screamed about not getting a fair shot. And if that is the case then there was no chance in hell he could get fired after winning ten games. Now I believe we won those games despite him and no because of him, but the bottom line is, he won 10 games and we seemed heading in the right direction.
Savage makes some bold moves in the offseason, Lerner signs off on the trades and signings, and many pundits pick the Browns as the sexy playoff contender. So why would we blame Lerner for any of that? So we get injuries, have no depth in key positions, and the team plays with no heart and it appears we are playing the wrong defensive scheme. I don’t think you can step in and fire the coach in the middle of the season without a replacement. The Rams had a former coach as the Coordinator. As did the Niners, even though they didn’t pick him. The Raiders didn’t and have regressed since firing Kiffin. We don’t have anyone like that on our staff.
I think he will make changes this offseason. It has been long enough. I think Romeo is definitely gone and probably Savage too, depending on who you can get as coat. As much as it saddens me to say this, we have to have patience and hope for the best. Although there don’t seem to be many reasons for doing so right now.
And the alternative is an owner who constantly meddles with the franchise…even though he isn’t a “football guy.” No guarantees there.
See: Art Modell post Paul Brown in Cleveland and Jerry Jones post Jimmy Johnson. Could also add Dan Snyder if you like.
Modell didn’t win in B-More until Ozzie took full control by the way.
“And the alternative is an owner who constantly meddles with the franchise…even though he isn’t a “football guy.” No guarantees there.”
How can you suggest it has to be one or the other. There are good owners out there that are superbowl winners and are neither Jerry Jones/Al Davis-type meddlers nor incompetent, head-in-the-sand Randy Lerner-types.
Look at the hated Steelers as an example (sorry, I can’t call them a rival anymore, since we can’t compete with them.) The Rooneys hire good football people that field a competitive team without embarrassing the organization and the city.
Only in Cleveland would so many people rally to support and defend a Randy Lerner. Is that collective loser mentality so deeply ingrained?
What has Randy done to earn any confidence or support? Simply not being Art Modell or Al Davis doesn’t count, for me at least. No other self-respecting city would accept what we’ve been fed, what is wrong with us that we do?
“I don’t think you can step in and fire the coach in the middle of the season without a replacement. ”
Normally, I’d agree… I don’t think midseason firings accomplish much. However, in this case, I think we need to be vetting our young players to see what we have… and I don’t see Romeo playing them.
We don’t need to see more of Willie McGinest out there… we need to see the Beau Bells, the Alex Halls, the Martin Ruckers getting game experience at this point. And we know Romeo doesn’t like to play rookies, and especially now, will be playing his vets in an attempt to save his own fat ass.
mj-
What kind of argument was that? If anything, Lerner thought he was following the Rooney model. He’s a hands-off owner who thought he hired the best available in 2005. He’s always stated that money isn’t an issue when it comes to this franchise.
My point was that I grew up with that c-bag Art Modell running the franchise with a hands on approach and what were the results? The guy lost for decades and his team didn’t win until he got dementia and really didn’t pay too much attention when Ozzie and Billick put the team together.
I’m just being level headed. The guy is likely going to fire Romeo in 6 weeks and possibly Savage as well. What more do you want from the guy at this very moment? Should RL be burned in effigy in Public Square?
All I care is the guy makes the right front office moves on the 2nd try…”football guy” as President-not a business guy…to make life easier for the GM and franchise when he’s out scouting etc., GM, and head coach. It all starts at the top.
Mike-
What do you mean, “what kind of argument was that?” I have no problem with Lerner staying out of the spotlight, and I’ve said as much (if not in this thread, then in others.)
You said the alternative is a meddling owner. I don’t think you have to be either (a) aloof and detached or (b) meddling. I want an intelligent owner who hires the right people. I assume this is what you were calling me out on, but I think substantively we are in agreement here.
Romeo is not a good HC. Savage is a glorified scout, and is not qualified to be GM. This is not news, not a recent discovery… we saw within their first two years exactly what we had here, and that both were in over their heads. My problem with Lerner is that he has refused to address or correct this. He may, after this season, but right now all I have to go on is past performance–he has allowed these two to make a complete and absolute mockery of this franchise–and his comments yesterday that he believes he has the right people in place running the day-to-day operations. And yes, I questioned both hires at the time, too… here is an owner who inherited the team, and wanted to put football people in place to run the show… and he hires a first-time head coach and a scout with almost no communication skills as first-time GM, to go along with a first-time owner…. and rewards their failure with contract extensions. Really, has Lerner exercised good judgment at any time with regards to the Browns?
At the very least, Lerner has a very serious PR problem. Instead of appearing to be hands-off, he comes off looking like he has his head in the sand.
He is Nero, fiddling while Rome is ablaze.
Can you imagine Rooney letting his GM send F-you emails to fans without any public reprimand? Or having a K2 type of embarassment like Savage did? Would Parcells stand for it? Bob Kraft? These may be isolated incidents, but they are indicative of a deep-rooted, systemic problem.
You ask what I want now… No, I don’t want him “burned in effigy in public square.” But I do think if Romeo is going to continue to keep our young players on the bench to play guys like McGinest in an effort to save his own job, then a change should be made sooner. Showing some leadership and doing anything to restore the Browns image is in order–the whole thing is a PR nightmare right now. How about filling the holes in the organization chart (the Browns are structured to have a President, whom both the coach and GM report to. Best I can tell, this position has been empty since John Collins was let go.) Hiring a team president–somebody to deal with the media, so we don’t have Romeo sweating at the podium trying to explain Savage’s dealings to the media? I think we are in agreement on these things… I just don’t believe it helps the Browns for Randy to tell us he’s already got the right people and will re-evaluate in January–he can start working on this now. Things aren’t likely to improve on their own, but they can certainly get much worse…