The Browns have hired their new coach. He replaces Mike Pettine who had been the Browns coach for two years. Pettine replaced Chud who was given only one year. This means Jackson will be the 4th coach the Browns have had in five years. That ratio is almost as bad as their starting QB ratio.
I didn't know much about Jackson as I was in the "let's hire Chip Kelly or Matt Patricia" camp. I don't think Pettine was a great coach. In fact, he may have barely qualified as an okay coach. He had a lot going against him including being dead last in coaching errors made from the sideline (however that's measured), he's a Rex Ryan guy who I think is among the worst coaches in the league, and he didn't do anything really great. He's a defensive coach and the Browns D went backwards. So when I say I didn't think Pettine should've been fired, it's not because I thought he was a good coach. I think that the Browns are sending the wrong message by firing their coaches every 1-2 years. I'm pretty sure that's what made Chip Kelly not really look at Cleveland as a real landing spot.
The Browns organization is looked at as dysfunctional by people around the league and by media members not located in the state of Ohio. Sadly to this point, I have to agree. Pettine, Farmer, and Haslam have made some good moves but they've also made terrible ones. Farmer was great with free agency but horrible in the draft. Pettine had his hands tied a little on offense but didn't do much on defense, his specialty. Haslam cares about the team unlike the previous owner. He's upgraded the things that fans don't get to see very often such as the facilities, the food, and the overall feel of the Browns. Players who wouldn't have been happy before, like Joe Thomas and Joe Haden, feel that the new administration are doing things the right way. I trust their opinion.
To most outsiders who don't really care about the Browns, it's "Cleveland as usual" to them. There have been some significant changes in the organization, good changes for a change, that the Browns have made though. It starts with Jimmy Haslam who has even admitted he's learning as he goes. The difference with this guy? He cares. He puts money into the team. He puts resources into the players. He loves the fans, he really does. He knows what success looks like, he just hasn't had to build it before. He came from our hated rival, Pittsburgh. Say what you want about Pittsburgh, but they have a solid, well-run organization. The Browns will get there, but they're figuring out how.
Haslam is switching things up. I think switching things up, especially when they're not working, is a good idea. There's just been so much 'switching things up' in Cleveland that the fans start to feel that 'here we go again' feeling. I also agree with how they're switching things up by going the analytics route. Know who else relies somewhat heavily on analytics? The Spurs and the Patriots. Paul DePodesta (the moneyball guy) and Sashi Brown are smart guys who will be looking to use analytics. Whether you agree with going this route or not, what you can admit as a fan is that (1) the way we've been doin things up until now hasn't worked and (2) Haslam is showing initiative and effort. He wants the Browns to win.
Not many fans know this, either, but Haslam made a great move to get the guy, Hue Jackson, that he felt was the best guy available. Jackson was the second coach hired right after Adam Gase in Miami. The Giants and the 49ers both were targeting him. In fact, he had dates to meet with them. The Giants are a well-run organization, so I like it when the Browns do things that well-run organizations like the Giants, Patriots, and Steelers do. There was an owners meeting that took place in Houston on January 12th and 13th. This meeting was the same one where the owners ended up voting to move the Rams back to Los Angeles.
Jimmy Haslam was originally planning on going to that meeting, but instead decided to stay back in Cleveland to work out a deal with arguably the top coordinator candidate, Hue Jackson. Jackson was scheduled to meet with the Giants and the 49ers, but Haslam got it done instead. That speaks highly of an owner. Maybe Jackson isn't the right guy, maybe he is. But this is what former Browns owner Randy Lerner, who didn't really care about the team, didn't do. So even though Haslam is the guy who wanted and got Johnny Manziel (biggest mistake of his tenure) as our franchise QB, I can tell you that he is the right owner for the Browns. He's not afraid to take chances, he has salesmanship, he's smart, he's respected, and he's surrounding himself with people smarter than him. I've always supported Haslam despite his mistakes because he's the type of owner you want if you're a football team and especially if you're a football town.
So that brings us to Hue Jackson. He's an offensive guy coming over from the Bengals, which gives the Browns a nice tool against them. He coached the Raiders for one year before getting fired. While with the Raiders, he led them to an 8-8 record while making them a top-10 NFL offense. I like that, that's impressive. The Browns have players on D which means we need to get the offense rolling.
I didn't want to take a chance on a coordinator not named Matt Patricia from New England. If I had to, though, Jackson may be the guy I'd choose after looking him up. The thing I love most about Jackson? He knows coming in that Johnny Manziel is not the franchise QB of this team. To Pettine's credit, he didn't want Manziel, either, but he was stuck with him. During the draft, Haslam let Pettine and Farmer decide who their first pick was going to be (they took Justin Gilbert) but Haslam made it clear he wanted Manziel. So they traded up to get him.
I probably will never be as confident in my opinion of a player. Manziel was overrated in college. He showed horrible judgement on and off the field. He lied to his team. He didn't show up for team activities. He went to rehab and was caught drinking multiple times since, which makes me think he did it as a PR move. His arm isn't built for the AFC North. He'd do better down south. Manziel, to me, is a joke. He's entitled. He's a trust fund kid. He represents everything that Cleveland isn't.
At least with Hue Jackson, he looks like he fits the bill of a Cleveland guy. He's actually born and raised a California kid. So whether or not Jackson does a good job, as long as he does an okay job, I think the Browns need to give him a minimum of three or four years. Not because he deserves it, not because this team needs that long to rebuild, but because it will look bad if he gets anything less. We won't be able to attract the elite head coaches or up-and-coming coordinators. We need to show the league that we'll take care of our not only our players but our coaches.
All that being said, I think there's a good chance Jackson does a really good job. This team has pro bowlers on both sides of the ball. We have a top O-line. We have a great D-line and a really good secondary. Injuries haven't helped, but defensively, I think we're fine. We need to add some pieces on offense though. The Josh Gordon situation might be interesting. I agree with Tom Reed in that Hue Jackson could bring back in and stabilize Josh Gordon. He's got a good shot. I don't think a team needs great WR. I'm looking at Seattle, Carolina, New England, and Kansas City. They don't have great WR's. However, I think having a Josh Gordon is really a game changer, especially for a team who doesn't have an elite QB.
With the second pick in the draft, I hope Jackson decides to take Paxton Lynch and not Jared Goff. He might like Goff since they're both California kids. I think Lynch will be the better QB. I may even take Carson Wentz from North Dakota State. Actually, here's my order of QB's I'd take:
- Paxton Lynch, Memphis
- Carson Wentz, North Dakota State
- Kevin Hogan, Stanford
- Jared Goff, Cal
- Dak Prescott, Miss. State
I actually wouldn't take any of the top Big Ten QB's in Connor Cook from MSU, Christian Hackenberg from PSU, or Cardale Jones from OSU. I don't like Jake Coker from Alabama, either. If we don't take one in the earlier rounds, Brandon Doughty from Western Kentucky will likely be available starting round 5.
Let me say that just because you do well in college doesn't mean it always translates to the NFL. The list is really long of guys who were good, really good, or even great in college but didn't pan out in the NFL. RG3 (Heisman winner), Tim Tebow (Heisman winner), Jamarcus Russell, Brandon Weeden, Ryan Leaf, Johnny Manziel (Heisman winner), AJ McCarron, Aaron Murray, and Ohio State's own Troy Smith (Heisman winner). To succeed in the NFL requires a slightly different skill set with an ability to elevate to the next level.
Whoever the Browns get, I think we have an intelligent staff to lead us on making these decisions. I'm excited for this year of Browns football! Go Browns!!
No comments:
Post a Comment