2010 NFL Season Thread

[hammb]

Reading the "insider" stuff from my scout.com subscription has been pretty consistent as the year has went on. Holmgren is livid at the way this team plays offense, and doesn't agree with it at all, but has basically given them a chance to show if what they want to do can work.

I find that interesting since Holmgren is the one that overpaid Delhomme to be his QB and Delhomme is the one that is killing the offense. Hmmmm, maybe Holmgren planned all along to use Delhomme to sabotage Mangini.

But that's just it. It's not Delhomme that is killing the offense. The offense has been crappy with Delhomme, it was crappy with Wallace, and it's been mostly crappy with McCoy. They scored a lot more points in those 5 games with McCoy, but the offensive production was pretty similar...the main difference was the defense forcing more turnovers in those 5 games than it has in the other 8. So unless you think McCoy has done something to help the defense create turnovers, I don't see where the offense is that great no matter which of these QBs plays.

Don't get me wrong, McCoy has shown promise, and definitely should be starting if he's heatlhy, but the failings of this offense are NOT just at the feet (or arm) of Jake Delhomme. Holmgren also went out and brought in some new faces on OL, and it is Eric Mangini who continues to trot St. Clair out there (who has been nothing short of AWFUL every time he gets on the field. Holmgren listened to Mangini when he was told that he wanted to see the growth in the young WRs rather than bring somebody in that could contribute. It's not Holmgren who insists that Delhomme continues to start either. Moreover, one of Holmgren's first comments as a president was that he would never give his coach players he didn't want.

In other words I think Mangini ASKED for Jake Delhomme. Holmgren gave him Jake, gave him a respectable backup in Seneca, and gave him a young guy in Colt. Mangini, foolishly, still believed in the WRs that HE drafted, so Holmgren let him live/die with the worst pair of starting WRs in the league. Holmgren tried to improve the right side of the OL by adding Luavao and Pashos.

I just don't see Mangini ever being a coach that will be on a team with a worthwhile offense. The ONLY good decision I've ever seen from him is that he was the one pushing for Hillis (although apparently Heckert was equally in love with Hillis, as well).

What I see in Cleveland is a situation where they can FINALLY create a cohesive top to bottom organizational philosophy. They have a strong, credible President. He brought in an experienced, highly thought of General Manager. Now it is time to add a head coach that sees the game of football in the same way as the men above him. Luckily that team president has close working relationships with quite a few viable head coaching candidates. It's time to move off this god forsaken Parcells coaching tree. Take the time to look at it and Bill Belicheck is really the ONLY person from that tree to have any success as a head coach, and really even Parcells didn't do anything great unless Belicheck was on his staff. All those guys have the ability to make a team mediocre, but only captain sweatshirt has shown the ability to win with any consistency.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Has anybody talked about giving that fat ryan twin the job?

Miracle cover by the browns v 1.0 tonight.

[hammb]

Has anybody talked about giving that fat ryan twin the job?

Miracle cover by the browns v 1.0 tonight.

I've read rumblings that he is considered a head coaching candidate in the NFL. With Rex's success, and the fact that the defense has played admirably, he's gotten some love.

I don't see the Browns promoting him to HC though. If they make a coaching change I would be SHOCKED if it wasn't somebody from Holmgren's past. Either Holmgren himself, Mariucci, Morninwheg, or Gruden would be the ones I would expect to see.

[kdog27]

Who likes this Browns hire?

Why do I get the feeling that 2 years from now we will be looking for a coach. AGAIN.

[TG1996]

Who likes this Browns hire?

Why do I get the feeling that 2 years from now we will be looking for a coach. AGAIN.

I think the Browns could find a way to reincarnate Vince Lombardi and go 4-12.

Time will tell, but from a team that has hired and fired three (or is it four?) coordinators as their head coach in 11 years, color me "meh."

[hammb]

I absolutely LOVE the hire. I know that most Browns fans are pissed off because he's not a big name and the offense that he was the coordinator of wasn't prolific, but I don't care.

Firstly they hired an offensive minded HC. I'm usually much happier with an offensive mind than a defensive one. Offensive head coaches generally seem to be much more willing to be hands off and let their DC do his thing than vice versa.

More importantly though, for the first time since the return, the Browns now have a legit, thought out, organizational football philosophy. Gone are the days of drafting one type of player and trying to force the round peg through the square hole of the coach's scheme. We now have a President who knows what it takes to win in the NFL. He hired a GM who has experience drafting and selecting players that fit the president's view of how to win in the NFL. And now we have a HC that has spent a decade learning and honing the same philosophy that the president likes, and the GM knows how to draft for. As an added bonus the HC and GM have a long working relationship with one another from their stint in Philly. For the first time since the return we have a front office that should all be on the same page...both with what types of players they covet and how they want to use the players they have. To me there are a few different ways you can win in the NFL, but you need to find one and then fill your organization with the types of people that buy into that philosophy. Finally I think Cleveland has that.

I also think that Holmgren sees this as a pet project. I don't think Shurmur will be a puppet...they're paying him to coach, and they're going to let him coach. But I do think Holmgren will take him under his wing and help mold him into the best coach he can be. My guess is that Shurmur went into that interview and laid out what he wants to do with the team, and it fit very closely with what Holmgren would like to see done. I'm betting that Shurmur exhibits all the qualities that Holmgren thinks make a good head coach, and Holmgren will help him reach that potential.

I don't know whether or not Shurmur will be a good head coach, none of us do. I don't even know if he was a good offensive coordinator...the Rams might actually have less offensive talent than the Browns. I do know that there have been articles talking about him as a future HC for awhile, and I do know that Holmgren must see what he wants to see in him. Yeah, I would have loved Gruden too, but I'm very comfortable with Shurmur.

Honestly, though, I would have rather watched a retarded ape coach the team than another season of Mangini. Still, I put a lot of value on having a cohesive organizational philosophy...it's the one thing that all winning organizations have in common, and I think we finally have that as well.

[hammb]

Has anybody talked about giving that fat ryan twin the job?

Miracle cover by the browns v 1.0 tonight.

I've read rumblings that he is considered a head coaching candidate in the NFL. With Rex's success, and the fact that the defense has played admirably, he's gotten some love.

I don't see the Browns promoting him to HC though. If they make a coaching change I would be SHOCKED if it wasn't somebody from Holmgren's past. Either Holmgren himself, Mariucci, Morninwheg, or Gruden would be the ones I would expect to see.

Well it wasn't one of the big names, but instead was somebody that worked for almost a decade under Holmgren's best protege, Andy Reid. Still, they hired somebody that fits into exactly what Holmgren did when he was a head coach. I'm liking the hire.

[kdog27]

I absolutely LOVE the hire. I know that most Browns fans are pissed off because he's not a big name and the offense that he was the coordinator of wasn't prolific, but I don't care.

Firstly they hired an offensive minded HC. I'm usually much happier with an offensive mind than a defensive one. Offensive head coaches generally seem to be much more willing to be hands off and let their DC do his thing than vice versa.

More importantly though, for the first time since the return, the Browns now have a legit, thought out, organizational football philosophy. Gone are the days of drafting one type of player and trying to force the round peg through the square hole of the coach's scheme. We now have a President who knows what it takes to win in the NFL. He hired a GM who has experience drafting and selecting players that fit the president's view of how to win in the NFL. And now we have a HC that has spent a decade learning and honing the same philosophy that the president likes, and the GM knows how to draft for. As an added bonus the HC and GM have a long working relationship with one another from their stint in Philly. For the first time since the return we have a front office that should all be on the same page...both with what types of players they covet and how they want to use the players they have. To me there are a few different ways you can win in the NFL, but you need to find one and then fill your organization with the types of people that buy into that philosophy. Finally I think Cleveland has that.

I also think that Holmgren sees this as a pet project. I don't think Shurmur will be a puppet...they're paying him to coach, and they're going to let him coach. But I do think Holmgren will take him under his wing and help mold him into the best coach he can be. My guess is that Shurmur went into that interview and laid out what he wants to do with the team, and it fit very closely with what Holmgren would like to see done. I'm betting that Shurmur exhibits all the qualities that Holmgren thinks make a good head coach, and Holmgren will help him reach that potential.

I don't know whether or not Shurmur will be a good head coach, none of us do. I don't even know if he was a good offensive coordinator...the Rams might actually have less offensive talent than the Browns. I do know that there have been articles talking about him as a future HC for awhile, and I do know that Holmgren must see what he wants to see in him. Yeah, I would have loved Gruden too, but I'm very comfortable with Shurmur.

Honestly, though, I would have rather watched a retarded ape coach the team than another season of Mangini. Still, I put a lot of value on having a cohesive organizational philosophy...it's the one thing that all winning organizations have in common, and I think we finally have that as well.

I knew you would. Me, I have no faith.

[hammb]

]I knew you would. Me, I have no faith.

Well I HAVE been a Browns fan long enough to expect the worst. I fully believe that if we DO ever put together a team capable of winning the superbowl the world will likely end at some point in the 3rd quarter with the Browns winning by a lot.

Even still, I like the hire. I don't know if the guy will be a good head coach, but I don't think there is any way for any fan to know one way or the other about head coaching candidates. It's all about their leadership and communication ability...thinks we never know as fans.

I do know that for the first time since the return the important decision makers on the Browns will have a good relationship and share a common football philosophy. That has a lot of value to me. The only other time since the return that we had this common ground was when Butch controlled everything, and proved he couldn't draft to save his life. This is the first time they've actually had a cohesive, functional front office. Faith is pointless when it comes to being a sports fan. What I have is hope...

[Flipper]

I think the Browns and Lions are on similar arcs...both teams are on an upswing brought about by the hiring of competent management.

[Warthog]

If you take a serious hard look at the situation, the Browns were never going to hire a big name coach. Most of those guys don't want to simply coach. They want a piece of the front office action as well, be it GM or Player Personnel Director, President, whatever. With Holmgren and Heckert in place, there are no front office repsonsibilites to be given to the new coach. The Browns simply needed a guy to come in and coach, be happy with that, and nothing else. So I think that probably limited the candidate pool more than we realize.

But as hammb said, there are now three guys running the show in Cleveland that are all on the same page. And from that persepctive, I am happy about this hire. They didn't go out and hire someone that is going to disrupt things. And Shurmur isn't some young kid who thinks he has to come in and make his mark on the team. He's been around the block and probably is thrilled to have this opportunity.

Now, please hire a compotent defensive coordinator with some experience. While he wasn't much of a head coach, I think Dave Wanestadt was a fairly decent def coord. And I've heard his name mentioned for the job.

[hammb]

If you take a serious hard look at the situation, the Browns were never going to hire a big name coach. Most of those guys don't want to simply coach. They want a piece of the front office action as well, be it GM or Player Personnel Director, President, whatever. With Holmgren and Heckert in place, there are no front office repsonsibilites to be given to the new coach. The Browns simply needed a guy to come in and coach, be happy with that, and nothing else. So I think that probably limited the candidate pool more than we realize.

But as hammb said, there are now three guys running the show in Cleveland that are all on the same page. And from that persepctive, I am happy about this hire. They didn't go out and hire someone that is going to disrupt things. And Shurmur isn't some young kid who thinks he has to come in and make his mark on the team. He's been around the block and probably is thrilled to have this opportunity.

Now, plese hire a compotent defensive coordinator with some experience. While he wasn't much of a head coach, I think Dave Wanestadt was a fairly decent def coord. And I've heard his name mentioned for the job.

I think that's exactly what will happen with regards to the defensive coordinator spot. I keep hearing names like Jauron & Wannstedt. Both would be fantastic hires for defensive coordinator, IMO.

I'd like them to bring in an experienced OC as well, but I doubt that will happen. With the offensive minded HC, I bet that he'll want to call his own plays and that will probably limit his choices at OC, but I'm okay with that. I'm so sick of defensive minded HCs.

Like I said, I have no idea if Shurmur will turn out to be a great head coach, I'm just thrilled that they finally seem to be building the proper structure within an organization and getting everybody on the same page. If they can add a competent, experienced DC I'll be even more excited about things going forward.

I think you're also right, FWIW, about the availability of "big name" candidates. They probably wouldn't want to come somewhere that they know they are not going to be the face of the franchise. I think they might have had a shot at Gruden, simply because of his relationship with Holmgren, but I really am starting to believe that Gruden just doesn't want to coach yet. Maybe eventually, but not now.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

I think Jauron definitely has the inside track at this point. I think Wanny ends up in San Diego. It'll be a nice weather upgrade for him, but his mustache will get lonely.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Speaking of football...

Can anybody remember a more compelling AFC divisional round? This is going to be a great weekend.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Steelers win a weird, ugly, fantastic game at Heinz field. Go Jets!