You'll get to know a lot about what Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert truly think about Colt McCoy this offseason as the temptation of previous Heckert draft pick Kevin Kolb likely being available - for the right price - will be present.

The 2007 Second Round QB was given the starting job last offseason at Donovan McNabb's expense... and then Michael Vick took over for him in an injury situation and went berzerk.  Vick is a Free Agent this year, but it appears that the Eagles have every intention of Franchising him, making Kolb more or less a tradable commodity.

You can read more about this situation on BSPN if you want to, but the only real key quote from their article would be this:

Kolb said after the season that he wants "to be starting somewhere" in 2011.

Team Heckgren has said all the right things this offseason regarding Colt and his "bright" future, but it's hard to argue that - all things being equal - Kolb has the higher ceiling.  Throw in his familiarity with the West Coast Offense and pretty much the entire Browns coaching staff... don't be at all shocked if someone from Berea makes a call or two to see what the cost of acquiring Kolb might be.

The Cleveland Browns have reportedly hired two coaches -- Mark Whipple to be the quarterbacks coach and Bill Davis to be the linebackers coach.

Mark Whipple, fresh off a Miami Hurricanes firing, was the former offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach for the Canes. Whipple was fired along with head coach Randy Shannon after the Hurricanes failed to compete on a consistent basis (or any basis) in the ACC. Being the quarterbacks coach at Miami, that means Whipple was the man coaching Jacory Harris, who's touchdown to interception ratio was somewhere around 1 : 1,235,345,235.

Whipple also coached a young Ben Roethlisberger as the quarterbacks coach of the Steelers from 2004-'06. Although Ben experienced some success in those years, the ratio of women he met to the women he sexually assaulted during that time span was about 4,322 : 4,321. The one that got away haunts Ben's dreams to this day.

With the hiring of Whipple, it's suspected that the Browns will not hire an offensive coordinator, which makes an incredible amount of sense for a Cleveland Browns team. 

Bill Davis should be familiar to Browns fans as he coached the Linebackers for Cleveland back in 1999. He left for greener pastures to coach the Linebackers at Green Bay the next year (get it? greener pastures?), and worked his way up to be the defensive coordinator at Arizona. In 2009, his Arizona team had the fifth best scoring defense in the league, but 2010 was a completely different story. The Cardinals defense slipped to the bottom of most defensive standings this year, leading to Davis' firing. Now he's coaching our linebackers. 

The nation's No. 1 long-snapper, Bryce Haynes, has given a commitment to Ohio State after narrowing his decision to North Carolina, Notre Dame, Harvard and OSU.  Haynes is 6'4", 185 and attended Pinecrest Academy in Cumming, GA..

And that one blocked "most important play in football" that almost cost Tressel the Sugar Bowl had nothing to do with it. The Buckeyes offered Haynes back in December.  Jake McQuaide, a three year starter at long-snapper for the Buckeyes, was a senior in 2010. 

Incidentally, there was nothing wrong with McQuaide's snap in the Sugar Bowl. In fact, if Haynes proves as reliable as McQuaide was, it will be a scholarship well spent .

Yes, there's even recruiting video of long-snappers...at 11W

The Indians' organization is out in full force for the next few days as the traveling caravan is hitting local malls in an effort to drum up support for the upcoming season, as much as that effort may be in earnest. Nevertheless, at the first stop of the “Tribe Tour”, Tribe GM Chris Antonetti hit on a couple of small items of note, all of which can be seen here and offered with comment heretofore.

After Antonetti weighed in and officially debunked the previously-debunked “Grady and Fausto to Washington” rumors (and, for the love of all things holy, can we institute some sort of filter on all of this noise?), the new Indians GM asserted that Grady would remain in CF because he's most comfortable there and because, Antonetti said, “talking to our medical people, center field is less demanding on his knee because, while he may have to cover more ground out there, he doesn't have to decelerate as quickly. In left and right field, you have to make a lot more quick stops."

While I'll neither pretend to be a medical expert nor an expert on what it takes to play different OF positions in MLB, that seems to make sense and if it helps protect Sizemore's knee, I can buy into that. Though a lot has been (justifiably) written about the Indians' youngsters this off-season and how they're being counted on to push the Indians back towards competition...then contention, the presence of a healthy Sizemore (at some level of production above that put forth by Trevor Crowe) in 2011 is going to go a long way towards taking some necessary steps.

There's some talk in the piece about lineups and where Grady hits that doesn't interest me at all so long as a healthy Sizemore is somewhere at the top of the lineup and justifying his place there. Acta said to the assembled crowd that "statistically, you have to score about 800 runs to make the postseason.  Last year, we lost the top five guys in our lineup to injuries. No one hitting eighth or ninth got hurt."

The team scored 646 runs last year...so let's hold off on the talk of 800 runs or postseason (as much as Acta can shine that light of optimism of his on the topic) and try to take some steps here, maybe back towards 800, if not quite to it.

As for adding other players to the mix, Antonetti said that they're still looking to add players and the piece mentions the Casey Kotchman rumor that makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. If we're talking about Millwood or Orlando Cabrera or, as was suggested to me by a reader, Willy Aybar on Minor League deals...come on down guys.

But Kotchman?

A scaled-down LH-version of Ryan Garko with a bit of a better glove?

To compete with LaPorta or platoon with him?

Those are just three question marks here, with the promise to add hundreds if they actually sign Kotchman, even if it is on a Minor League deal.

If the Indians are thinking about Kotchman (which would be more than a little disconcerting in terms of perceived production from LaPorta) seriously as an upgrade for what they have, then Antonetti – who said that he will be “disappointed” if the team is not contending this year – and Tribe fans are in for a year of disappointment.

It's official. The long-rumored addition of Cleveland native Stan Drayton to Jim Tressel's Ohio State football coaching staff was announced today by the university. Drayton replaces Darrell Hazell, who was hired as the head coach at Kent State. From the official release...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Stan Drayton, one of the top offensive skill coaches in the nation, is joining the Ohio State football staff as an assistant coach working with the Buckeye wide receivers, Coach Jim Tressel announced today. Drayton will start his duties Feb. 1.

“Stan Drayton first and foremost is a fine person and family man. He is a Buckeye born and bred, and will add a tremendous dimension to our football family,” Tressel said. “We are fortunate to gain one of the finest coaches in America to serve our kids, school and community.”

Drayton comes to Ohio State from Florida, where he served as the Gators’ running backs coach and recruiting coordinator during the 2010 season; he also served as Florida’s running backs coach from 2005-07, and held the same position at SEC schools Tennessee (2008) and Mississippi State (2004).

Drayton has a great reputation as a recruiter, and as the Gators' recruiting coordinator for the 2010 recruiting class, had responsibility for a group considered (along with Texas) as the strongest in the nation.

Schlegel to Join S & C Staff - On Tuesday, the university also announced that former Buckeye player Anthony Schlegel would be joining the OSU staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. Schlegel played at linebacker for OSU from 2004-2005.

Certainly by know, you've seen or heard the report that the Nationals have had “conversations” with the Tribe regarding Grady and Fausto...and truthfully, I feel like I've addressed both situations to the point that I could recite their contract stipulations in my sleep. Nevertheless, let's take a look at the origin of that rumor and see how this looks like a big game of telephone as the text in the original story is that a “big league scout tells me he'd heard some "conversations" had taken place between the Nats and the Indians about starting pitcher Fausto Carmona and outfielder Grady Sizemore.”

So wait, let me catch up....a big league scout has “heard some 'conversations' had taken place” but has no direct knowledge of them, passed it along to this writer who connects some dots himself because the premise of the report is that “one pretty consistent source tells me that the Nationals are working on 'a number' of other trades, though didn't have enough specifics to flesh anything out.”

Sounds like a pretty big leap from the Nationals working on a number of trades with no “specifics to flesh anything out” to something that a scout told him that the scout had “heard some 'conversations' had taken place between the Nats and the Indians”...

Maybe there's fire to this smoke, but isn't this what happens in the off-season with teams talking about potential deals for specific players and seeing if they can get packages to line up?

As has been stated far too many times, the attractiveness of Carmona's deal makes him a valuable asset to the Indians going forward and any trade for Sizemore means that the club option becomes a player option. Let's say the Nats acquired Grady and found out that his knee is still a mess or that he simply isn't the same player he was prior to 2009...that doesn't matter to Grady and his agent, who would certainly exercise that $9M option for 2012 and whistle all the way to the bank.

Maybe the Tribe can get someone to overpay for either of these players and I wouldn't be all that opposed to dealing either depending upon the return (although it would be akin to dropping napalm on the PR crater at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario in terms of public perception), but this “rumor” strikes me as a convoluted game of telephone gone crazy in the world of Twitter and internet page hits.

Nothing makes an honor like playing in the Pro Bowl more special than having to sweat it out.  Fourth on the AFC Pro Bowl ballot, Alex Mack was cleared for Hawaii takeoff by the departure of two guys ahead of him, making him the de facto PB backup.

Maurkice Pouncey - the detestable Steelers Center - will not be able to make it due to a prior engagement at the Super Bowl.  And Nick Mangold - the former Buckeye Center playing for the Jets - was injured in Sunday's Conference Championship Game.

So... enter Alex Mack.

Despite "backing in", Mack is still excited about the honor.

"I jumped up and down and ran around the room a couple times," he told ClevelandBrowns.com. "I texted just about everyone that I knew. I called [my parents] this morning. They were really excited. They were fired up and I know my mom's going to try to get a plane ticket out."

Who wouldn't?  Especially if you live in Ohio and it's January.

Congratulations, Alex.  Keep up the pretty good work.

We were told that he changed.  We were told that he'd grown.  We were told that he'd turn over a new leaf.

There's a shih tzu named Muffin that would beg to differ.

Ace reporter Cristin Severance - best known for breaking the evidence-free second-hand story that became urban legend of the kid in the Jets jersey supposedly being tackled by a Browns fan - is on the trail again, this time with much more solid evidence:  A guy named Ray from her apartment building swears it's true.

Ray informed Ms. Severance that the hypothetically "reformed" Ben Roethlisberger was once again involved in a case of alleged sexual misconduct, this time with his neighbor's prized pet.

Harold and Sally McStuffin of Dreary Lane in Hampton, PA, have come forward with a disturbing tale, one that should bring pause to the torrent of national adoration currently being heaped on the former alleged rapist.

"We had to go out of town for a doily convention and Muffin couldn't come," stammered Sally, 48, a long time housewife.  "She doesn't like the pound, so we usually have someone watch her while we're away.  Just come over, let her out, give her a walk, feed her, play with her, read her a book... the usual."

"Well, that Ben seemed like such a nice boy, and so famous..."

"And so tall," her husband interjected.

"When we asked him if he could look in on our Muffin for a few days, we never imagined what would happen," she continued.  "How could we?"

The McStuffins have a high-tech security system installed in their home - Sally has a world-class collection of porcelain Disney figurines - and that includes video cameras in every room.

"When we got home, Muffin was acting strange," Sally continued, her voice breaking.  "She didn't run out to greet us, she didn't nip at Harold's leg, nothing.  She just laid on her cushion in her bedroom, sad, confused..."

Harold said that they just thought it was separation anxiety, something that Muffin had suffered from in the past.  But when her depression dragged on into the second day, he decided to look at the tapes.

"I just wanted to see if maybe something happened to her that might be causing her distress," he explained.  "And when we watched it, we knew what it was."

On the tape, in grainy black and white, was the evidence that Mr. Roethlisberger had had "relations" with their beloved pet.

"It was awful," moaned Sally.  "He was holding Muffin up in the air... you could tell from the look on her face that she didn't know what was going on."

When asked if maybe the sex was consensual, Sally was adamant in her reply.

"One bark means yes, two barks means no," she said.  "There were clearly two barks on that tape."

The McStuffins have now entered Muffin into counseling, and, although very angry, are still glad that things didn't go worse.

"Muffin is a pure bred, so, naturally, we were very relieved that the incident didn't result in conception.  She'll never be the same as is, but imagine if she also had a mongrel litter to support," said Sally.

"You've seen the guy," interjected Harold.  "He ain't winning no 'Best of Show', I can tell you that."

Unfortunately for the McStuffins, Harold accidentally recorded an episode of Dancing With The Stars over the evidence, but that does not lessen their outrage.  "We want this lunatic brought to justice!" proclaimed Harold.  "Or some money!"

When reached regarding the alleged misconduct, Mr. Roethlisberger was not in a receptive mood.  "I will not respond to these alleganations.  I did not have sex with that dog, and, if I did, it was consensual," he told Ms. Severance, who actually decided to try and maybe investigate the story before breaking it this time.

"This is ridiculous," said Humbert Humbert, one of Ben's bodyguards and a local police officer.  "Ben doesn't need to go around screwing dogs.  He can get any girl he wants."

"All we do is go to some dive, find the drunkest girl there, separate her from her friends, get her in some back room or restroom, and then Ben whips out his junk.  Works better than a bottle of Boone's and a fancy dinner at Golden Corral."

Ben's mother Beulah was mystified by the accusations.  "I don't know what the big deal is," she said.  "Ben's girlfriends have always been dogs."

Ben's father, Herman, explained the situation to her.  "No, honey, they mean an actual dog this time."

"A... dog?  A real dog?" Beulah exclaimed.

"Yes," Herman replied

Beulah shrugged.  "Well, that's new."

Except that it's not.  The Muffin Affair is just another of a long line of disturbing incidents that show a pattern of reckless and criminal behavior, behavior which has gone unpunished for far too long.  Mr. Roethlisberger says that he's humbled, that he's changed his ways, but no amount of crocodile tears can wash away his trail of shame.

It's time for the pound to come and take this hound away.

According to multiple sources (just check any major sports website), the Browns are set to make Dick Jauron their new Defensive Coordinator.  There was some speculation that he'd remain in Philly and jump up to their DC after the Eagles fired McDermott, but it appears that his relationship with Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert has swung his favor in the Browns'... uh... favor.

Per the PD:  In an appearance on Pro Football Talk Live, [Paddy] Shurmur declined to confirm or deny Jauron's hiring. "I think it'lll become public and official from the Browns side very quickly," he said. "Obviously Dick's a very well respected guy in the profession, a guy I've known him a long, long time."

Sounds like "I can't confirm it, but, yes, it's true" to me.

Jauron - 60 - is an experienced defensive coach that was previously the Head Coach in Chicago and Buffalo (man, who hasn't been the HC of the Bills?).  Speculation runs rampant that he will convert the team to a 4-3 set, which would mean considerable turnover at a lot of the Front 7 positions (although, a lot of those positions need turned over regardless of the alignment).

Experts (OK, just me) feel that this is a solid hire by the Browns, giving the Coaching staff an experienced, respected coach to go along with rookie Head Coach/Playcaller Paddy Shurmur, an important aspect at the inception of this regime until Shurmur can grow into his role.

I'd make some snide comments, but this guy has saved me the trouble.  An excerpt:

So much for embracing the role of villain.  Looks like LeBron is going to try and repair his fractured reputation by starring in a Web-based animated series called “The LeBrons.”  The series will debut in the spring on James’ YouTube channel, as well as his personal website, www.lebronjames.com, and will feature LeBron voicing the many characters found in his popular Nike commercials.

That’s right—as if one animated LeBron wasn’t enough, you get a mess of them, including 16-year-old Kid LeBron, Business LeBron, the elderly Wise LeBron, Athlete LeBron, and judging from the picture, cute Asian girl LeBron, and token white kid LeBron, which, to me anyway, seems like a stretch for King James’ vocal talents.

Guess they left Narcissistic LeBron on the cutting room floor. That’s probably for the best.

Yeah, this will go over well with the kids, because if there’s anything I know about children, it’s that they really take to being taught life lessons by their favorite cartoons.  Big swing and a miss there.  Maybe the first episode of “The LeBrons” can focus on how not to alienate an entire city and its fanbase by humiliating them with an hour long, ego stroking television special so the whole world can watch you break their collective hearts in prime time.

I’m sure you could count Jim Gray in on that.

My favorite quote from the article is this:

“I’m mostly a kid at heart,” Mr. James said of these manifestations, “and I’m the athlete, of course, that everyone sees. But I also have a business side, a cool side, and I love antique stuff and classical music. I guess that’s the old man side of me.”