Month: January 2020

Right now I consider the Browns GM search akin to the quest for the Holy Grail. Don’t get me wrong, the extensive, well thought out process is a nice change of pace for Jimmy Haslam. In previous years, Haslam would have taken the advise of some homeless guy and the Browns front office would be up and running. Fear not Browns fans, I have a feeling Jimmy wants to get it right, for once. As of now, the Browns have interviewed the Eagles Andrew Berry, the Vikings George Paton and the Patriots Monti Ossenfort (you forgot about him didn’t you). Here’s where it stands as I know it and it could change at any time.

Andrew Berry interviewed first and as I said last week, worked for the Browns from 2016 to 2018. As Browns twitter melts down more and more every day, some are associating Berry with the 1-31 years. Personally I don’t think that’s fair, we really don’t know how much influence Berry had over GM Sashi Brown or head coach Hugh Jackson. Remember Jackson wanted to send two draft picks to Cincinnati for QB A.J. McCarron, thank god that didn’t happen. The Eagles will not let Berry interview with another team if he does not have control over the selection of the 53 man roster. Carolina wanted to interview Berry for their GM position, but could not guarantee that, so the Eagles denied their interview request. Another positive with Andrew Berry is that he was part of the interview process last year when the Browns interviewed Kevin Stefanski. They hit it off and have kept in touch over the last year. So this tells me Stefanski would be on board with Andrew Berry, remember it’s all about alignment. On the downs side, Berry knows how Jimmy Haslam operates, i.e. impatient, knee jerk reaction to everything, dysfunction. I would be fine with Andrew Berry.

Next up was George Paton of the Vikings. His first interview was a surprise. No one knew he interviewed until it was announced he would interview for a second time last Wednesday. Paton has worked for the Vikings for 14 years and is GM Rick Spielman’s right hand man. NFL teams have been trying to pry him away from the Vikings for years and he’s always denied their requests. It’s a good sign that the Browns not only got one interview, but also a follow up interview. As we have now learned, Paton has decided to stay in Minnesota and declined the Browns GM position. He didn’t do it because of the Browns reputation for dysfunction, but rather he chose to stay with the Vikings. This tells me when Spielman retires, Paton is the next Vikings GM.

Next up is Monti Ossenfort, the forgotten man. The Patriots have always been heavy into analytics and front office alignment. This hire would be right in Paul Depodesta’s wheelhouse. Because the Patriots are so secretive about any front office personnel, the general public knows nothing about Ossenfort. Lets face facts, the Patriots are secretive about everything, it’s the most paranoid NFL franchise. His position right now with New England is head of college scouting. Okay, sounds good, but what about pending free agents? Everyone right now wants to either copy the Patriots or the Steelers, because both are the most stable franchises in the NFL. They don’t make stupid, knee jerk reactions or mistakes. What Browns fans or anyone else doesn’t know, is how his interview went and if he’s interested. What we do know is coach “mumbles” did let him interview, so the Browns got that going for them.

I’m going to throw out a candidate that I think has an outside chance to be the next Browns GM…..Eliot Wolf. Son of long time GM Ron Wolf and current head of Browns pro personnel. He’s handling all scouting and personnel decisions along with Alonzo Highsmith. I think this hire would be great. I know he’s young, but he can always rely on his father, who now lives in Cleveland. The knock on Wolf is he not as knowledgeable in the area contracts. Okay, again he can fall back on his fathers knowledge, a future hall of fame GM. Make Wolf the GM and Highsmith the assistant GM and lets move forward. Obviously, Stefanski trusts Wolf and Highsmith, because they headed the Browns delegation for the Senior Bowl this week. All the candidates are young and have never been GM’s before, but I think a team of Stefanski, Wolf and Highsmith would be just what this franchise needs.

On the coaching front. Former Giants OC and head coach Ben McAdoo interviewed late last week for a offensive position. He’s another case of a guy who’s a better coordinator than a head coach. Immediately, Browns twitter went into meltdown saying if hired for the OC position, the Browns would trade OBJ. Beckham averaged about 1400 yards and 12 touchdowns under McAdoo. Nope, don’t think there’s a trade happening there. Why does everyone want to get rid of Beckham? He played every game, with an injury and still had over 1000 yards receiving. I know, he didn’t show up for OTAs and very little of training camp. But coach Stefanski talked to Beckham on Thursday, so I guess Browns fans will find out about Beckham’s commitment shortly. Pay attention to twitter. Speaking of twitter, Jarvis Landry, (dodge ball king) looks to be all in according to his twitter feed. This is the one guy, who is the barometer of the team, Browns fans need to pay attention to Landry and his twitter account. As for the 49ers assistants linked to the Browns, it sounds like Joe Woods will be the next Browns DC. His contract ends after the Super Bowl and word is he’s already lined up two assistant coaches to come with him to the Browns. The two offensive 49er assistants are a different thing. Running coordinator Mike McDaniels and passing coordinator Mike Lafleur are both in the running for the next Browns OC. The 49ers want to keep both and are currently blocking both from interviewing unless the Browns guarantee play calling responsibilities. 49er head coach and former Browns OC Kyle Shanahan, knows the Browns front office too well.

Lastly, I stumbled across a great free agent tracker the other day. http://www.pff.com/nfl/free-agency. It’s pretty comprehensive and is a must if you’re tracking potential Browns free agents. Of course, we won’t know what free agents the Browns are interested in until they hire a GM. And once they hire a GM, Browns fans might get a hint as to where they are going in the draft. All I know is the 10th pick had better be an offensive tackle. So let the quest continue, not only for a GM, but also for the allusive winning season and playoff appearance. That sound you hear is my wife Karen rolling her eyes and laughing uncontrollably (yes, you can actually hear her eyes roll and it freaks me out every time). Hang tough Browns fans, hopefully the Browns will get this right and I can’t believe I just wrote that. Go Browns.

As I sit here in Nashville, TN. waiting for the AFC Championship game between the Titans and the Chiefs, I am constantly checking twitter for any Browns GM or assistant coaching news. By the way, Titans fans bemoaning the fact that they haven’t been in the playoffs in two years and the Super Bowl in twenty years is really starting to get on my nerves. I had to stop my wife Karen from throwing something at the television this morning. If I hear the phrase “two tone blue” one more time, I may beat her to it. So here’s the latest as I know it, which could change at any moment, the GM search has started and the Browns want to interview three to five candidates. Andrew Berry interviewed this weekend and after that it’s Monti Ossenfort from the Patriots. There were reports that George Paton of the Vikings was asked to interview, but for some reason no time has been set or if he’ll interview at all. Berry, as all Browns fans know, worked under Shasi Brown and one year under John Dorsey. He currently works for the Eagles and they really want to keep him. Ossenfort has been with the Patriots since 2006 and is in charge of college scouting. The Patriots blocked him from interviewing with the Texans in 2018. Paton has just completed his 13th season with the Vikings and considered a rising star. He has turned down interview requests in the past.

I get the feeling that Jimmy Haslam and Paul Depodesta want Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski would like George Paton. This could be the first test of the new head coach’s power within the Browns organization. On the other hand, Stefanski maybe fine with Berry, who knows. One thing I do know, I’m starting to like the new head coach. I watched his press conference and have since listened to him being interviewed on Cleveland radio and came away very impressed. He seems to be a very no nonsense type of a coach, which the Browns really need. As for the coaches currently under contract by the Browns, Stefanski wants to talk to all of them to see who he would like to retain. Consensus among those in the know is that special teams coach Mike Priefer will be retained, which is good thing. Wide receivers coach Adam Henry has left to join the Cowboys and OC Todd Monkin is joining the Georgia Bulldogs. Henry was Beckham and Landry’s coach at LSU, however I’ve heard he’s been a little to chummy with the two, so no great loss. As for Monkin, he got a season of paychecks for basically doing nothing.

The Browns have hired former Miami OC Chad O’Shea as their new wide receivers/passing game coordinator and are interviewing former Denver OC Rich Scangarello. O’Shea worked for the Patriots prior to the Dolphin’s and was fired from the Dolphins because it is believed Miami wants to move away from the “Patriots way” due to the youth on their roster. As for Scangarello, it is believed he will be the next QB coach. He is well versed in the Shanahan run zone blocking scheme. Adam Schefter is reporting the Browns will hire 49ers DB coach Joe Woods as their next DC. If true, this won’t become official until the 49ers lose. Bye bye Steve Wilkes. Woods and Stefanski worked together in Minnesota. Also there might be interest in 49ers run coordinator Mike McDaniels for the Browns OC position, but San Fransico is currently blocking an interview. There are also rumors the Browns are trying to hire someone on offense from the Vikings and are waiting permission to conduct an interview. Again all this information is fluid at this time, so keep an eye on twitter and if you are interested in a great website for Browns news, get a subscription to the Orange and Brown report (@TheOBR), it’s well worth the price.

As for the draft and free agency, my favorite offensive tackle declared for the draft. Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs is perfect for the offense Kevin Stefanski is installing. I would grab him or Mekhi Becton out of Louisville at number 10. As for free agency, the first order of business would be to resign Joe Schobert. Then I would try and sign Titans tackle Jack Conklin, Atlanta’s TE Austin Hooper and Minnesota’s FB C J Hamm and safety Anthony Harris. It will be interesting to watch what happens in Minnesota and Atlanta with the salary cap, both teams are currently over the cap, Minnesota is about 10 million over. As for the Titans, they have to figure out how to sign Ryan Tannyhill and Derick Henry, both are free agents. The Draft Network (thedraftnetwork.com) has a really cool mock draft machine. It will go through the entire draft according to the Browns team needs. Give it a try. . Hoped you enjoyed the games today and GO BROWNS.

As all Browns fans awake this Sunday morning basking in the glow that is the Ravens failure, we are interrupted by the news that the Browns have hired Vikings OC Kevin Stefanski to be the next Browns head coach. Before I discuss the hire, let me assure all Titan fans who are reading this, we Browns fans appreciate what your team did. The worst ending for this nightmare of this season would have been a Ravens Super Bowl win. Now we get back to hoping for a great match up in the Super Bowl and bitching on twitter that the Browns hired the wrong guy. Personally, Stefanski was my second choice, I wanted Josh McDaniels and his head coach experience. But for me this is a wait and see approach. I want to see who they hire as a GM (probably Andrew Berry) and who Stefanski hires as his offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. Rumors have been flying around that Gary Kubiak or Pat Shurmer will be his OC. I think Kubiak stays with the Vikings and becomes their OC and have no idea what Shurmer would do, but would gladly take (NEED) an OC with head coaching experience. As for the defense, I’ve seen no names associated with Stefanski for DC hires. Maybe Wade Phillips or Jim Schwartz.

Lets look at the positives. The Vikings finished eighth in the NFL in offense and sixth in rushing offense. The Vikes had the eighth highest success rate in red zone scoring. They use the same zone rushing scheme as Kyle and Mike Shanahan. If you watched the 49er/ Vikings game on Saturday, just imagine Chubb and Hunt in that scheme. As for Andrew Berry, he was with the Browns front office prior to John Dorsey, so guys like Higgins and Schobert were picked by that front office and there’s is a better chance they will be resigned. I’m not going to get all negative about this hire, I’ll wait till it plays out. Jarvis Landry is apparently not happy, he deleted all photos from his twitter account except one, which shows him in his car and it says “I gave you 11 days… Na it’s my turn.” Let’s hope Landry comes around, you don’t need a team leader mad at you. Let’s see which players show up for the news conference. Besides that, you have to give Jimmy Haslam credit on one thing, he actually let the entire process play out and didn’t go with a knee jerk reaction, like with Hugh Jackson or a blind recommendation, like with Kitchens. The key is, if this teams structure is truly lined up in a winning fashion, we’ll start to see it as the off season progresses. Assistant coaching hires will go a long way in helping to determine the structure. I hope they retain special teams coach Mike Priefer, because right now other teams are lining up to try and hire him. Special teams was the only part of the Browns that actually improved.

So it’s going to be a marriage of Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry. In the end, it sounds like Josh McDaniels demanded too much change and Jimmy couldn’t handle that structure. Maybe McDaniels would have stripped down the roster and gone total rebuild? No thank you, enough rebuilds. So, as Browns fans we’ll spend the next few days complaining on twitter that our hillbilly owner screwed us again. No, hiring Brian Daboll would have been screwing us over. I’ll give this a chance and wait and see. I’m really interested in watching the press conference to see what the new Browns head coach and GM have to say. It looks like Kevin Stefanski values putting the right players into the right position, not calling plays and hoping the players execute the play. So he’s the anti Freddie. Lets see if our new GM can acquire the additional talent to do this, that will determine the Browns success moving forward, as well as game day success. I’m a little cynical right now, but we’ll see. Go Browns.

I’d like to thank the Giants and the Panthers for hiring their head coaches today and leaving the Browns as the last coaching vacancy. Jimmy, DON’T SCREW THIS UP. You have your choice, you have the guy everyone thinks you’ve always wanted available, Josh McDaniels. Again, DON’T SCREW THIS UP. The greatest threat to the Browns hiring Josh McDaniels is the New England Patriots talking him into coming back. Word is the Browns want their next coach to be hired by Saturday, so no Kevin Stefanski because he’s still coaching in the playoffs. The Browns are still going to interview Stefanski and Jim Schwartz on Thursday and McDaniels on Friday. Come on Jimmy, you only have to get this right once for the first time. That noise you hear in the background is my wife laughing and saying “right, the Browns getting it right.” Imagine Josh McDaniels as head coach, soon to be former Washington OC Kevin O’Connell as the offensive coordinator and Jim Schwartz as the defensive coordinator. That’s a home run. Come on Jimmy, let Cleveland sports fans only worry about when Kevin Love will be traded and if the Dolans are stupid enough to trade Fransico Lindor, not a coaching search. This is a layup. Josh McDaniels has lost all his leverage with no other job openings.

If McDaniels really wants to be a head coach again, here’s his chance. Come home and coach the team you rooted for as a kid. Hire Dave Ziegler as the GM, resign Paul Depodesta (his contract expires Saturday) tie them together and lets get this started. Some are wondering why Jim Schwartz? It could be a fall back in case McDaniels doesn’t take the job, he has been a head coach before. My thought is, as I mentioned earlier, hire him as McDaniels DC. He is under contract with the Eagles, that’s why you ask for their permission, but that contract expires on January 14th. He was an intern under Belichick in Cleveland and has ties to McDaniels. Next question, why interview, Daboll, Saleh, Roman and Bieniemy? It never hurts to pick the brains of people from successful teams. You get a better idea of how a winning structure works. And boy do the Browns need to learn how to create a winning anything. Also, it never hurts a coordinator to interview for jobs one year and set up interviews for the next year. It’s a selling point for their agents. And who knows, those agents may represent a free agent the Browns are interested in signing this year. This is all back channel stuff and lets face facts, the NFL has more back channels than the 2016 Trump campaign. Hire Josh McDaniels.

Moving on from the coaching search, the Browns 2020 opponents are now known. We know who and where, but won’t find out when until the week before the draft. The Browns will host the Colts, Eagles, Raiders, Redskins, Texans, Bengals, Steelers and Ravens. They go on the road and play the Titans, Giants, Jags, Jets, Cowboys, Bengals, Steelers and Ravens. Beckham will be in the Meadowlands twice and I’m really looking forward to seeing the Browns here in Nashville again. It wouldn’t surprise me that the Browns will play the Cowboys on Thanksgiving day. As for the NFL draft, I’m very happy the Bama QB Tua Tagovailoa declared for the draft. That’s one more QB in the top ten that will push an offensive tackle down to the Browns. Either Jedrick Wills of Bama or Tristan Wirfs of Iowa are fine by me.

I’m sounding a little optimistic, so it’s time to slam my head against my desk to bring me back to reality. In the end, Jimmy Haslam is the one making the final decision and that’s the major reason to be pessimistic. You know Browns fans, how we usually feel after a front office and or coaching change, which is about every year, right? As my wife always says, besides how much she hates the NFL, “they can screw this up again, can’t they?” Yes honey, they can, the Browns have an idiot for an owner. Hopefully, we’ll all know by Saturday if Jimmy got this right. I’m tired of winning the off season, it’s time to win during the regular season. Go Browns.

If you had align or alignment in the Jimmy Haslam news conference drinking game, are you alright? Do you need to take a nap and sleep it off?Today’s key word was alignment. If you weren’t able to listen, here’s some news that came out of today’s meeting with the Cleveland media. First, the Browns next coach will have NFL experience. So no college coaches. Sorry Lincoln Riley or Urban Myers, which is fine with me. Second the head coach will be hired first and the GM second with the input of the new head coach. Someone outside of the current front office, so no Eliot Wolf as GM. Wolf will stay with the Browns as assistant GM. Personally I like that idea, Wolf is a very talented personnel guy. The new GM and head coach will coexist and both will report to the owners. The two will be “aligned” with the analytics department (Paul Depodesta). Speaking of Depodesta, he will remain as chief strategy officer. and will not run the Browns. Third, the new GM will pick the 53 players on the roster and the coach will pick the 46 who play on Sunday. And lastly, the search committee will consist of Jimmy and Dee Haslam, J W Johnson ( Haslams son-in-law), Chris Cooper (Browns cap guy and the guy who stopped the A J McCarron trade) and Depodesta.

My takes from what Jimmy didn’t say. Former GM John Dorsey had more power than we thought. It sounds like he picked the players who played on Sunday, as well as the players on the roster. Also he had no use for the analytic department. In the current NFL, analytics is a valuable resource to help the GM and the scouting department decide on players. It is not how players are chosen, but a valuable tool in the decision process. Remember two years ago, Depodesta based on analytics, wanted to hire Josh McDaniels or current Bills head coach Sean McDermott. The Browns ended up keeping Hugh Jackson, so I’m all for analytics. Also, it sounds like the owners were not to sure about the Freddie Kitchens hire, but followed Dorsey’s recommendation. After all, he was a football guy. Hiring a head coach first, then the GM doesn’t bother me as long as they are both on the same page. Both the Seahawks and the 49ers did the same thing. In Buffalo, McDermott and the Bills first GM he worked for didn’t work well together. So Buffalo fired him and hired someone McDermott had worked with before and the Bills seem to be doing well. Like I’ve told a lot of fellow Browns fans here in Nashville, Jimmy only has to get this right once.

As for coaching interviews, Mike McCarthy was interviewed today and Greg Roman will be in Berea tonight for his interview. Sunday the Browns will be in San Francisco to interview Roger Saleh and Josh McDaniels has told teams he will be available January 10th for his interviews. I have not heard about when Kevin Stefanski or Brian Daboll will be interviewed. Stefanski did interview last year (another Depodesta recommendation). It’s been reported that the current structure being set up would scare Josh McDaniels off, but I think if he can help pick the GM he works with, that’s a plus. This sounds like the Haslams are finally about to get this right, but we’ll see. The next head coach and GM already have their QB and a very talented roster. Maybe this time the stars will “align” and the dysfunction train will finally be derailed. Or the light at the end of the tunnel could be another oncoming dysfunctional train. Cross your fingers Browns fans (and your toes). Go Browns.