GREAT Column

[swerb]

Relly such a sad sequence of events with this coaching staff since the season ended, starting with the assinine decision to keep the clueless Crennel.

It cannot be said any better than this.

http://www.swerbsblurbs.com/article_detail.php?id=1280

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Agree completely. As I said in my article, it's hard to get quality coaches around your HC when your HC is essentially a lame duck and no one is guaranteed a job beyond next season.

A new head coach would at least have two years and likely three to put things together.

I have no confidence going forward that we'll see improvement. We may only be sticking with Crennel to take a shot at Cowher, though, so we may get rewarded with another high draft pick AND Bill Cowher.

[GreatGoo]

Agree completely. As I said in my article, it's hard to get quality coaches around your HC when your HC is essentially a lame duck and no one is guaranteed a job beyond next season.

A new head coach would at least have two years and likely three to put things together.

I have no confidence going forward that we'll see improvement. We may only be sticking with Crennel to take a shot at Cowher, though, so we may get rewarded with another high draft pick AND Bill Cowher.

I 100% agree. Savage is pretty much announcing that this is Romeos last year.

[consigliere]

Yeah, that was an excellent article.

I don't see how anyone can defend keeping Crennel, because Lucas pretty much lays it out well that there is no continuity when pretty much the entire offensive coaching staff is changed over.....and with arguably less talented coaches.

I don't think RAC is the only one over his head.....Savage might be over his head too...

[leadpipe]

Savage is not in over his head. He is the only one in that organization that will have an equal job or higher the minute he walks out the door.

[consigliere]

Savage is not in over his head. He is the only one in that organization that will have an equal job or higher the minute he walks out the door.

The only job equal or higher to GM, is getting another GM job or moving into the business side of the org as a President or whatever. There is no higher position on the football side of things than GM.

If Savage is fired, he'll get a job the next day as a top scout or Director of Player Development. Which, is a step down from GM. The problem with Savage, is he is still trying to be a scout and seems very one-dimensional in that aspect, which is why he might be in over his head. Just like some guys are meant to be assistant coaches and not head coaches, some guys are meant to be assistant GMs and player evaluators and not GMs.

That said, I am on board with Phil for one more year. I'm willing to see what he does.....my original comment was more tongue in cheek, although as I noted, you could make the case he is clueless with what he is doing (as the above linked article illustrates).

[The Score]

Should Crennel have been fired after the season? That is debatable.

Should the Browns have gone after more experienced assistants? That is also debatable.

The rest of the article is circular reasoning, contradictory reasoning, and hand wringing for the sake of circular reasoning, contradictory reasoning, and hand wringing.

[consigliere]

One thing that isn't debateable:

2004 record: 4-12
2006 record: 4-12

Crennel and Savage take over a 4-12 team, and two years later....are 4-12. Two years may be a bit quick to drop the guillotine on Crennel (or Savage)....but the warning signs are there.

[Dozen]

Should the Browns have gone after more experienced assistants? That is also debatable.

The only "more experienced" coaches that would consider coming here with Crennel's job status beyond this season uncertain is failures. Why not go youngand unexperienced? This may be what the organization needs. Someone looking to put there stamp on the league.

[consigliere]

Why not go youngand unexperienced? This may be what the organization needs. Someone looking to put there stamp on the league.

Which, also probably has a higher likliehood for disaster.

The 2007 season could turn out to be great......but the way they are handling the coaching staff for next season with Crennel being neutered and signing all these inexperienced guys or garbage retreads on the coaching staff.....their chances are being severely handicapped.

[The Score]

I would never pretend that there aren't warning signs specifically with Crennel and by extension Savage and his handling of Crennel.

Roster-wise, I don't really know what people expected to happen. The big thing about hiring Savage was looking at the success of Baltimore. However, people are expecting miracles to happen immediately and that didn't happen in Baltimore. What Baltimore did was hit on their first round picks and then developed players from later in the draft. If you're (to anyone, no one specific) expecting a Marques Douglas, Bart Scott, Edge Hartwell, or Adalius Thomas then don't hold your breath. It took everyone of those guys a couple of years before they really starting contributing.

Secondly, everyone knew that the Browns were switching to a 3-4. Was it supposed to happen immediately?

[Dozen]

Which, also probably has a higher likliehood for disaster.

So, what would be different?

[The Score]

Should the Browns have gone after more experienced assistants? That is also debatable.

The only "more experienced" coaches that would consider coming here with Crennel's job status beyond this season uncertain is failures. Why not go youngand unexperienced? This may be what the organization needs. Someone looking to put there stamp on the league.

Which is why I said it was debatable.

I actually like the hiring of Chudzinski. As far as everyone else, I could do without the dude from the Raiders and I'm willing to give everyone else the benefit of the doubt. The people they are replacing didn't do much to garner being brought back.

How the QB coach was brought back, I have no idea.

[consigliere]

The problem, is the roster decisions from 2005 as a whole have pretty much turned out to be garbage. The draft from 2005 hasn't provided any top talent....and the FA class of 2005 is garbage (Baxter, Andruzzie, Coleman, etc). Edwards and Pool look like the only positives from that offseason, and they are hardly elite or in great standing (in Braylon's case).

Savage did a lot better in the draft last year.....but again, FA didn't bear anything that impacted this team. FA was better in 2006, but that was moreso because 2005 was a disaster. Schaffer might be a decent o-line plug in the Ryan Tucker mold for a few years. And if Bentley ever gets back in there he'll be good......but to me guys like Jureviciouis, Washington, McGinnest, etc had very little impact on this team, if any at all.

This is a key offseason. Everything Savage does in FA and the draft will be put under the microscope, and rightly so. In the draft, they need to nail two potential first year starters in the 1st and 2nd round and find guys in the 3rd round and later who can provide depth and be potential starters down the road....and in FA, they need to find 2-3 impact players they can rely on for the next 3-5 years.

[The Score]

The problem, is the roster decisions from 2005 as a whole have pretty much turned out to be garbage. The draft from 2005 hasn't provided any top talent....and the FA class of 2005 is garbage (Baxter, Andruzzie, Coleman, etc). Edwards and Pool look like the only positives from that offseason, and they are hardly elite or in great standing (in Braylon's case).

Once again, if you look at how Baltimore found their players, it took years.

Writing off Babatunde, McMillain, Perkins, Sowells, or whoever b/c they haven't produced in their 1st or 2nd season is extremely unfair.

As far as the FA signings, the top guys have been good signings, injuries not withstanding.

The older defensive guys, not so much.

[leadpipe]

Savage will not pay for Dwight Clark and Davis. His reputation around the league is still extremely high which is much more than can be said about anyone else in the organization. He would have held a higher position here the first time around if not for his age. The Browns have and have had much bigger problems than him.

[consigliere]

I'm at a complete loss with what the Browns are doing with their coaching staff. They just hired receivers coach Wes Chandler. Guy was out of football last year, and was the Vikings receivers coach in 2005.

Channelling Mansfield and Godfried....

[jb]

Herb,

Dunno how you can cite the reasoning as circuitous or not linear unless you miss the point, which is possible. Writing is a one dimetional form of communication and there's no Q & A attached.

Phil cites continuity as the top organizational need.

He reshuffles the coaching staff.

In doing so, he doesn't see the one OC he has that could maintain continuity as worthy, and he hires almost the exact same guy profile-wise, albeit with a slightly lessor resume. Don't think in terms of who you like, think in terms of hiring quality and whether the change rationalizes no continuity.

You admit that the asst coaches hired are substandard, and the analysis by many sources, incl Grossi this morning, asserts the reasoning is that NFL assts believe RAC is walking the Green Mile, so they don't want to come.

So what has contiuity wraught? If we even followed the course of continuity?

As for the day two draft choices you fcous on, pisha. Maybe they hit like the Rars choices you cite, maybe not. Time will tell. Odds are against day two guys developing.

But they aren't the point of the piece.

The point is that Phil is full of contradictions, and the progess is only in the eyes of the beholders who filter events through hope, such as yourself. Doesn't mean progress can't happen, just means you have no money to show me.

Take it easy.

[swerb]

Romeo is still here for the following three reasons in my view ...

1. He's a players coach and a pushover. In theory, this appeases the existing core and gives them reason to believe things are still on track. Also, Savage probably also feels keeping Crennel will help the team lure free agents, and this just in ... they have a couple bucks to throw around this year.

2. Gives Phil and Randy a fall guy in the event of another 6 or less win season, which they will badly need if the team goes 4-12 again. Dumping Romeo and hiring a nice shiny new name will reinvigorate an already beaten down and fed up fan base that will be pushed to the ledge by another shit season.

3. There was no one out there! Give the fat man another year. Pray he rights the ship. If not ... Bill Cowher, John Gruden, Urban Meyer may be available. Also, you'll have another year of empirical data on a wave of "hot assistants" so weak right now that the Inbred hired a 34 yr old with one year as a coordinator.

[Dozen]

Urban Meyer? Seriously? I think he's a great college coach but his offense would have no shot in hell in the NFL. The only college coaches who ever really get hired are coaches who run pro-style programs. Well, there was Spurriers "fun and gun" but it didnt get him anywhere.

[swerb]

Im not advocating the hiring of Meyer by any means, just trying to make the point that next years class of available HC prospects could be incredibly strong, while this years was very weak.

[furls]

If you had other options, would you come to Cleveland now?

[Dozen]

Im not advocating the hiring of Meyer by any means, just trying to make the point that next years class of available HC prospects could be incredibly strong, while this years was very weak.

I agree with that, but Mr. Meyer isn't a NFL cannadite by any means IMO.