As of today, coach Shurmur hired Mark Whipple to be quarterbacks coach, Mike Wilson to coach receivers, Bill Davis to coach linebackers, and Dwaine Board to coach the defensive line. The four have strong ties to either Shurmur, Browns President Mike Holmgren or General Manager Tom Heckert. It appears that the Browns will not be hiring a true offensive coordinator.
Since the return of the team in 1999, there have been many poor combinations of front office and team executives with coaching staffs. These all eventually led to power struggles or a falling out which led to some one's ouster. Let's review:
1999 - Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark with coach Chris Palmer;
2001 - Butch Davis joins the Policy and Clark expedition;
2002 - Clark is forced out after Davis' first season (7-9) and Butchie becomes the GM and head coach - along with his right hand man Pete Garcia;
2004 - Davis freaks out and resigns after a 3-8 start following a playoff appearance the year before; Policy also resigns;
2005 - Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel team up with President John Collins; during the end of the season, Collins loses out in power struggle with Phil Savage;
2008 - Martin Keenan fills the long-vacant President and CEO role;
2009 - Enter Mangini and Kokinis; Kokinis is fired after 8 games; Mangini becomes all powerful - though he was really calling the shots all along; Randy Lerner hires Holmgren at the end of Mangini's first dismal season as team President; Holmgren hires GM Tom Heckert....
Whew. That was a mess to read. When one studies the personnel dynamics of the past 10 years, a few noticeable trends appear.
1) The GM, Coach, and President were never on the same page as far as background, football philosophy, or personality;
2) Whenever a coach or GM experienced any shred of success, heck, even improvement, they were quickly offered either a big contract extension, more power, or both;
3) No more than 2 bad seasons were ever tolerated, leading to a grand firing and almost complete roster turnover.
This team's history of front office personnel moves reads like a bad soap opera. First Policy and Clark get ousted by Davis and Garcia, all four eventually exit. Next, Collins gets ousted by Savage, and by the end, Savage and Crennel were divided against each other. Then Mangini plays games with the Kokinis puppet and Holmgren comes in to squash it. Then Holmgren and Mangini try to co-exist for another year before that fails too. The common thread in all this failure is that all the characters were hired by Randy Lerner.
Fast forward to today. One man sits atop the football hierarchy - Mike Holmgren. The Mangini experiment is over. The coaching staff is now stocked with west coast offensive disciples and the defense is now stamped with a 4-3. All the major coaches, the GM, and the President are from the same coaching tree/philosophy. They all have worked together at some point in their careers. They are, by all current appearances, on the same page.
This is a first in Berea since 1999. It comes on the eve of yet another Pittsburgh Steelers Superbowl appearance. It comes as two of the NFL's top teams reside in the Browns' division. The Browns have squandered the last ten years, mired in mediocrity with constant changes to the front office, coaching staff, and roster. Meanwhile, the rest of the division has experienced much less change and won much more (even the Bengals have twice won the division and made it into the playoffs.) Mike Holmgren's stamp is officially on this franchise from this day forth.
As a fan, I have been longing for some kind of continuity in coaching and roster since Crennel and Savage. Walking around Browns Stadium is like a slap in the face - everywhere you look, you see another fan wearing the jersey of some player or top draft pick long since cut or traded and gone. Each viewing stings and serves as a reminder just how bad this franchise has been (Couch, Holcombe, Garcia, Dilfer, Frye, Anderson, Quinn, Edwards, Winslow, Wimbley, Green, Warren, Brown, etc.)
Browns fans, wouldn't it be amazing to see a Browns GM hit on 3 to 4 draft picks a year for 3 or 4 consecutive seasons? That would equate to anywhere from 9 to 16 quality starting players being added to the team's core and would do wonders for improving the product on the field. Not to mention the benefit of having the same offensive and defensive philosophies year in and year out so players know what to expect and can work on improving within the same system every year.
Consistency leads to a team identity and makes it easier to identify players who fit into the system. Look at Pittsburgh and Baltimore - they have identities on both sides of the ball and when they draft a player in the first 3 rounds - you know you're going to see that guy for the next 5 or 6 seasons making a difference.
Consistency means there are eventually more veterans around in the locker room to mentor young players and serve as coaches on the field. Consistency means that if a coordinator leaves for a head coaching job, a position coach moves up to take over and everything stays the same. This is what happens in New England when they lose a coordinator every other year. This is what happened in Indianapolis when the head coach left. This is what happened in Pittsburgh when Cower left. Good teams stay in tact no matter who leaves because the blueprint, the system, and the philosophy are in place. This is how you build a culture of success.
Here's hoping that this new crop of coaches can stick around for more than 2 seasons.
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