Talking Browns With The Cleveland Sports Blog Network

All this week Craig and I have been taking part in a round table discussion about the Browns over at Cleveland.com. We were joined by Don and Aaron from No Logo Needed, Dave Kolonich from Cleveland Reboot and Pete Pattakos from Cleveland Frowns. Thanks to Dan Labbe for setting up the forum.

We covered a different topic each day, starting on Monday with the offense. I felt Don made a solid point about the offense needing to find an identity. He thinks the running game will be the identity, at least in the short term while the Wide Outs and QB develop. Given that, my take on the running backs seems particularly important.

Tuesday was defense day. Most of us agreed that the Browns have at least addressed the glaring holes in the secondary, though they may struggle until Haden and Ward find their way in the pro game. What still concerns us is the front seven and their ability to stop the run. Again, I like what Don had to say-

It is hard to disagree that this defensive philosophy does not generate results. Seven of the 12 playoff teams last season – the Cardinals, Chargers, Cowboys, Jets, Patriots, Ravens and Steelers – employed the 3-4 defense. More specifically, those seven teams have something the Browns do not – game-changing talent at the linebacker position.

The Browns did bring in Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong, but are they really game changing talent? I suppose we shall see.

On Wednesday Criag took over for WFNY and the group discussed the coaching staff, which was Peter’s opportunity to gloat that Eric Mangini wasn’t fired. Pete campaigned hard for Mangini to stay last season, believing him to be steering the team in the right direction. Fortunately for Mangini, Mike Holmgren felt the same way. I thought Dave’s point was on the money here, that it may really be more about the development of the young coordinators and assistants in the coaching staff than Mangini and Holmgren that gets the Browns moving towards respectability.

Yesterday Craig was dead-on with his take on the front office–

While Browns fans were all screaming about Eric Mangini last year, I think it had more to do with his personnel decisions than his actual coaching. The wave of Jets that made their way to Cleveland wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it made Mangini a very easy target. It also put fuel on the fire that Lerner had messed up his off-season hiring yet again by hiring Mangini and then George Kokinis after the fact. Now that the Kokinis charade is over and Mangini is just a coach, the world looks a lot brighter.

As of today the Browns have a president, a general manager, a head coach and scouting and personnel people who all work in departments toward a singular goal. Instead of letting the next Butch Davis come along and usurp the entire organization, the Browns should never let this structure go. If Tom Heckert can’t get the job done, replace him. If Mangini can’t get the job done, replace him. If Mangini and Heckert and their staffs all fail, then it is time to fire Holmgren and bring in a new president who can then decide to keep or replace anyone and everyone. The point is, whether the Browns have all the right guys on staff or not remains to be seen, but at least we can all feel comfortable knowing that there is a reporting structure with some checks and balances.

Today the series wraps up with discussions about the schedule. Ever the optimist, Pete has has a pretty ‘interesting’ scenario unfolding in which the Browns finish 13-1-2. Classic Frowns humor. I do not give any prognostications about the Browns’ record, but do make three observations about the schedule that may have less to do with the team and more to do with the fans’ perception of the team.