Written by Chris Hutchison

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Pat Shurmur confirmed Thursday what most of us have assumed for quite some time - that he will indeed go without an Offensive Coordinator in his first year as Head Coach.  When asked at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards if he was going to go OC-less, Paddy responded:

"I think it's going to stay that way.  I will actually take that role and then we have quite a few very accomplished coaches on offense.  I feel like we've hired a terrific staff and everybody on this staff has roles and issues of the day.  I feel really good about how we've structured things and I think it's going to work well."

This is not a normal situation - only the Patriots went without an OC last year.  There are 2 ways to look at it:

1. Oh my God!  How can a rookie Head Coach expect to call his own plays, much less be his own Offensive Coordinator!  This going to fail in a huge way!  Why does everything in Cleveland suck?  We're doomed, I tells ya, doomed!!!

2. If Shurmur is calling his own plays, then he's the de facto OC anyway.  So not giving someone a glorified title just to appease the writhing masses is no big deal.  He hired Mark Whipple (QB Coach) to be his de facto non-playcalling OC.  Dick Jauron will basically be the Head Coach on the Defensive side of the ball.  Shurmur will have ultimate final say, but I'd venture to guess that he'll let Jauron have fairly free reign (for the time being, at least) while he concentrates on running what he knows best.  Not to mention that Mike Holmgren will probably be issuing many "suggestions" from his ivory tower, so this unconventional set-up has as much of a chance at succeeding here in Cleveland as anything else.

(Which is likely zero, but that's neither here nor there.)

In the end, it all comes down to talent, and if the Browns don't throw a lot more of it out on the field, it won't matter a lot if Paddy O'Shurmur has an OC or not.