Romeo AND Phil To Get The Axe Next Week?

[swerb]

Pro Football Talk is a rumor mongering website that has gotten alot of things wrong over the years, but this is interesting nonetheless.

Also, on WKNR today, their NFL Insider Mike Brown said that a very reliable source told him that Randy will commit genocide, and whack Romeo and Phil after the conclusion of the season next week.

I don't doubt this one bit. Who knows if he will leave, but I fully expect the Browns to make a hard play for Tressel if this is indeed true.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

POSTED 4:43 p.m. EST, December 28, 2006

SAVAGE GETTING CANNED NEXT WEEK?

Last year at this time, former Browns president John Collins was in the process of pushing G.M. Phil Savage out the door. Coach Romeo Crennel and owner Randy Lerner intervened, and Savage stayed.

Not long thereafter, Collins was out.

This time around, there are rumors that Savage could get the shoe next week from Lerner.

Peter King reports on HBO's Inside the NFL that Savage and Lerner will meet after the regular season ends to discuss the future of Crennel. King says he has a gut feeling that Crennel will be let go.

Our sources tell us that both Crennel and Savage are vulnerable.

And that would make sense. It was Savage, after all, who hired Crennel. Why should the G.M. be any less accountable than the head coach? We realize that, traditionally, the G.M. gets at least one mulligan (or, in the case of Matt Millen, two). But both guys should be in the same boat, in our not-so-humble opinion.

Another possibility is that Savage will transition into a scouting-only role, and that a G.M. will be hired to handle the bigger picture. There were reports along these lines earlier in the year, and such an outcome has worked well in New York, where former G.M. Terry Bradway took a step down in connection with the promotion of Mike Tannenbaum.

[pup]

I don't know how I feel about Opie getting canned. His free agents have not been very good, but his drafts have been acceptable, other than his negligence of the o-line, which I am pretty sure will be addressed with the #3 pick, at least as a start. Can he really be blamed for Bentley and Baxter blowing patella tendons? McGinest has not been that bad, Fat Ted really came down to being the best available.

As far as Romeo...see ya. Another season of listless play. Is there really another reason than a poor HC for a team to come out of the locker room so unprepared? Do we even attempt to make adjutments at halftime?

Why wait until week 16 to discipline Braylon? It just makes you look terrible. Why defend Carthon to the hills for a season and a half, then fire him in the middle of a week? On both accounts I would say it is because he has no cajones and only made those moves after a ton of scrutiny came his way.

I really believe, if The Ohio State University beats Florida, Tressel is going to take a long look at the Browns. The "out clause" in his contract just makes it all the more feasible. What else can the guy do at the college level? 5-1 vs TSUN. 2 National Championships, one as a huge underdog, the other as a big favorite. 4-0 in BCS bowls. 21-7 vs Top 25 teams (beofre this year). 9-2 against top 10 schools. 3 wins against the number 2 team in the country in one year.

I don't know what he will do. Imagine this though, and the thought has to be in his head, if he was to turn the Browns into winners, could anyone match his resume? 4 NC in D1AA in 15 years. 2 NC in D1 in 6 years. Throw a Super Bowl win on top of that and he gets to be in the conversation with his idol, Mr. Paul Brown.

All I can say is it is going to get very interesting around here in the next week or so....

[johnnyo]

My gut says they will both get a one-year reprieve, then the Clowns will make a move for Cowher, if he retires (and the feeling around the 'Burgh is just that).

He will have been out of the game for a year, and will probably be fed up with his wife and kids by then.

[Guest]

I can't see Tressel taking the job to coach the Clowns
Why?
To be a loser every year?
He has the perfect job now and can become a coaching legend with a few more titles.
I just don't see it happening and I sure as hell don't want it to.

[pup]

I might be one of the few, but I am a Browns fan first when it comes to football. I think the suitable replacements for OSU exist to where they will still compete nationally without him.

I also think Tressel can coach in the NFL. He is not a "rah-rah" guy. He is a game plan and execution guy. That translates very well. And if they draft Troy Smith he will have his guy to lead on the field, which is what differentiates Smith from the "other" QB's.

[dpdad]

As much as I would like to see Romeo replaced, I think that Lerner will give him one more year. The only way I see a change at HC is if the corporate dollars going to the Browns in the way of club suites and advertising take a serious nosedive. I have heard there are some cancellations, but I don't know if it is enough to make an impact.

If RAC is fired, I expect the Browns will make a serious run at Tressel. But I hope Tressel stays in Columbus. I don't want to risk screwing up my favorite college team with another John Cooper-like hiring. Tressel has a great thing going with the Buckeyes. The Ohio high school recruiting pipeline to the Bucks has never been better. If JT stays in Columbus, in 20 years they'll be putting up a statue of him at the horseshoe.

[furls]

I also think Tressel can coach in the NFL. He is not a "rah-rah" guy

He is the definition of a rah rah guy. I am not saying that he could not coach in the NFL, but he is very much a "rah rah" guy. Example: one of the first things he did when he took over as the HC was to start the tradition that has the Buckeyes players stay on the field after every game and sing Carmen Ohio. It does not get much more "rah rah" than that.

[pup]

That is part of the college football scene. It's not like they win because they sing Carmen Ohio. I doubt he will have the Browns singing Who Let The Dogs Out after every game, unless he thought it would help them win a Super Bowl

[British_Pharaoh]

set the team back even further

[consigliere]

I don't know how I feel about Opie getting canned. His free agents have not been very good, but his drafts have been acceptable, other than his negligence of the o-line, which I am pretty sure will be addressed with the #3 pick, at least as a start. Can he really be blamed for Bentley and Baxter blowing patella tendons? McGinest has not been that bad, Fat Ted really came down to being the best available.

You know, I feel the failures of Savage have been greatly glossed over.

Seriously.

I mean, is this team any better than the team he inherited two years ago? I'm not sure. The players that have emerged as good players like Sean Jones, Kellen Winslow, etc were already here as a part of the previous regime.

Also, Savage's first draft from 2005 looks awful:

1 3(3) Braylon Edwards WR Michigan
2 2(34) Brodney Pool S Oklahoma
3 3(67) Charlie Frye QB Akron
4 2(103) Antonio Perkins CB Oklahoma
5 3(139) David McMillan DE Kansas
6 2(176) Nick Speegle OLB New Mexico
6 29(203) Andrew Hoffman DT Virginia
7 3(217) Jon Dunn OT Virginia Tech

Now, 2006 to date looks a ton better......but so far he is 1 for 2 in drafts. Also, he is 0 for 2 in free agency as he has been unable to bring in the right players or identify the right guys to go after. Not going after Brees was a big mistake, and I can say that since I was on here pimping for the Browns to sign Brees.

Anyway, Savage has hardly been impressive. He has hardly lived up to all the hype of him being able to scout talent and find diamonds in the rough.

That said, I still give him another year.....but wouldn't shed a tear if he were axed too. I think a big problem with this team is how unconnected our GM and owner are to the team and fans. The owner and GM are NEVER AROUND! No wonder this franchise is in chaos.

[furls]

As the team is configured right now, the Browns need either a serious bloodletting, widespread dumping of some players, or a CREDIBLE VETERAN HARD ASS HEAD COACH! A guy like Gruden or Schottenheimer comes to mind. I am not sure that this situation would even be decent for Jim Tressel. THis is a young team with a huge attitude problem, that spells disaster for a "rookie" head coach.

So if the browns are serious about tressel, they would need to unload Braylon and the retards or hire a guy with credibility in the league as a head coach. I like Gruden for the job or Mora, I think they both could do well here. Particularly Gruden. I think his in your face style and hard edged tell it like it is personality would connect nicely with the fan base here. Furthermore, it would be a refreshing change from the RC, "well, we played good for 2.5 quarters," or "we didnt lose to the steelers by a lot like last year," bullshit.

I say this not as a Buckeyes fan, but as a Browns fan, I think Tressel is not good for the job. If he gets it will make yet another rebuild more bearable because he is a guy that the city could and would get excited about, but I think the smarter money is placed on an established coach so that we would not have to purge the roster.

In an interesting aside, I wonder if the next coach will dump the 3-4 that Crennel has tried to bring in? Wouldnt that be something. All that effort to build a mediocre 3-4 only to have a guy come in and reinstall a 4-3. I prefer a 4-3 personally unless you already have the necessary pieces to run a 3-4 (the browns do not).

[pup]

I give all the malcontents a season under Tressel. If they can't play for him, then they can't play.

I understand the "established" head coaching thinking, but I don't think that Gruden/Marty/Mora/Vermiel would hold any more weight in the locker room thanTressel.

[consigliere]

Absolutely no way Tressel comes here. None.

Sure, there will be rumors....and yes, Lerner may make a big offer and give Tressel a blank check.....but all Tressel will do is at most use the Browns situation as leverage with the Buckeyes to get them to extend his deal or tear it up and give him a new lucrative one.

Just to go off in a tangent though......what about Bob Stoops? Doesn't he have some ties to the area? No? Adrian Peterson could be our first pick.....just sayin.

[swerb]

I think the Browns may look at Stoops. They had strong interest in him before they settled on Butch.

Ultimately though, the ghosts of Butchmas Past may be the biggest thing stopping the team from hiring Stoops.

Outside of Tressel, I don't know if they could sell another college coach with no pro coaching experience to the fan base.

And they need to sell this fan base.

[pup]

Tressel will do is at most use the Browns situation as leverage with the Buckeyes to get them to extend his deal or tear it up and give him a new lucrative one.

He does not need to do that...all he needs to do is beat Florida tog et that done.

Just to go off in a tangent though......what about Bob Stoops? Doesn't he have some ties to the area?

Maybe he will replace Tressel in Columbus

[consigliere]

I'd personally rather hire Stoops for the Browns and leave Tressel in C-Bus. Stoops, to me, is more an NFL coach than Tressel. Tressel's schtick just won't work in the NFL...the whole hunky dory and every team I play it great and never say a bad word about any team or player thing just won't work.

Stoops reminds me a lot of Gruden. I like his fire, and would love him here. But, like Tressel, would be a pipedream.

[wmurphyhh]

Wonderful...another rebuilding effort. Can't wait to get the bill in April for next season's tickets.

I really need to start looking for a new team for my two year old son. It's not fair to him to raise a Browns fan. He shouldn't have to be miserable like us. Don't they say you want your children to have it better than you do ?

[pup]

Would you rather Romeo stayed?

[yogi]

My feelings on this differ with practically all of you.

Stay the course for another year with both Phil and RAC. Get a President for the Browns. STABILITY!

Have Phil and RAC make coaching upgrades.

2 years is not a fair amount of time. I believe we'll see much progress in year 3.

If Lerner has a plan to "upgrade" by bringing in someone like Tressel, I won't argue.

But if he fires to shake up, burn down, whatever....It'd be disappointing. We won't attract talent and get ready for many more Cleveland jokes.

My perspective and opinion coming from Jersey...

[furls]

2 years is not a fair amount of time. I believe we'll see much progress in year 3.

I would agree with you about the 2 years thing if RC had not completely lost control of this team to second and third year players. As for the statement about progress in year 3, I have seen nothing in this team that lends any optimism toward progress next year, but it sure would be hard to not move up, they are already at the bottom with teams like Arizona and Detroit.

Think about it, have any of you Brown's fans ever in your life thought it was OK for the Browns to be compared with either of these two horrific franchises? Seriously, the Browns are now in their league and they were not there when Crennel started two years ago.

[yargs7]

Forget about Tressel and Stoops. If Stoops, a Youngstown native, didn't want to leave Norman for Columbus, he isn't going to go to Cleveland.

Tressel passed on the Miami job to stay at Y-S-freaking-U! Why??? Because he knew one day he would get his dream job in COLUMBUS.

You want a Youngstown guy to coach the Browns? Give Bernie a call. He's in the market.

[pup]

Only one thing has to happen. How about Tressel saying "I would not leave Columbus for any job"? Then all this goes away. Until then, all I can asume is that there is a serious interest in at least listening to what Lerner has to say in the next 10 days.

[yargs7]

Only one thing has to happen. How about Tressel saying "I would not leave Columbus for any job"? Then all this goes away. Until then, all I can asume is that there is a serious interest in at least listening to what Lerner has to say in the next 10 days.

Do you really believe that? Or is that just wishful thinking? Come on guys. Tressel is a college guy through and through. He considers himself more of a teacher of life lessons than a football coach. If he leaves for the NFL his job becomes all about X's and O's. That's not what makes Tress tick. He loves the "family" atmoshpere, all the tradition, and mostly the development of young men. He doesn't have the ego of a Spurrier or Saban so the "challenge" of the NFL won't be enough to lure him away from Ohio State. I think he would rather have his name etched in history next to the likes of Hayes, Paterno, and Bryant than Lombardi and Parcells. I shouldn't even have to justify this to people who follow Ohio State football. If you think Tressel would bail on Ohio State for ANY NFL job, then you must not believe Tressel to be the guy he appears to be.

[consigliere]

Jim Tressel is not an egomaniac. He is a smart man. That is why he will not go to the NFL.....

Anyone who thinks Tressell is the savior for the Browns, I'd love some of what you are smoking.