Tag: eric mangini

A Big Night For Browns And The Thought Partners

The biggest question following tonight’s NFL Draft should be what will sports talk radio and all of the podcasts which discuss the Cleveland Browns talk about after this weekend?

Yes, we are sure if the Browns don’t move up tonight using the 33rd overall selection, there will be ad nauseum discussion tomorrow and who they should take or who should they trade for with that pick, but we are really talking about Monday. What do they fill airtime with?

This could be and probably should be a pivotal moment for both the franchise and the front office. This regime started with a bang, going 11-5 in Kevin Stefanski’s first year and with what looked like a solution to their quarterback issues in second year pro Baker Mayfield.

That was followed by an 8-9 season in which Mayfield play hurt and the organization either soured on him or got distracted by a shiny object in Deshaun Watson.

Owner Jimmy Haslam called what happened in the off-season following that year “a big swing and miss”. They traded the future of the franchise, one that was showing signs of finally having “good bones” for Watson. The price was three first-round draft picks, among other things.

That limited how the front office could continue to add talent and patch up holes to a pretty talented roster for three years.

Somehow, the Browns made the playoffs in Watson’s second season, although it was without help from the player who they ruined their future for. That team made the post-season with an incredible defense and a late season offensive surge led by free agent signee Joe Flacco.

The Browns let him go after he played very well for them. Can you say, “self-sabotage”?

It wasn’t the only weird move by the front office after a pretty good season. They fired several offensive coaches, including coordinator Scott Van Pelt. It seemed the goal of the front office was no longer winning; it was making the Watson decision look like a good one.

That should never be the goal.

So, this front office needs a good weekend. We don’t want to go back to change general managers and/or head coaches every year days. We felt at times during those days that maybe things could have clicked if change wasn’t a constant.

Perhaps Mike Pettine could have done better without front office interference or Eric Mangini could have been a better coach if he were not also a terrible GM.

But now, it doesn’t seem like anyone is accountable. And they should be. The Browns’ front office mangled a five-year period if which they had solid talent. They came out of it with two playoff appearances and one post-season win.

This group has a chance to restock the cupboards and put the team back on a winning track. And that needs to start next season. Haslam, Paul DePodesta, Andrew Berry, and Kevin Stefanski made this bed.

They need to have success in 2025, and by that we mean, be in contention for a playoff spot after they’ve played ten games. It’s not a huge ask, right?

That path starts tonight. Don’t overthink it, don’t look at three to four years from now.

As Al Davis used to say, “Just win, baby”!

Browns Need to Win Now

As expected by virtually everyone on the planet, the Cleveland Browns made it official this morning, firing coach Pat Shurmur and GM Tom Heckert.

The chief reason was the team’s poor record over the last two seasons, winning just nine games and losing 23, the same mark achieved in the two years under the previous head coach, Eric Mangini.

However, there is a major difference between the end of the Mangini era and the current group of Browns who finished the season with three straight losses after a three game winning streak prior.

There is certainly more talent here right now, mostly due to the efforts of Heckert, who should get credit for the talent he’s brought into the organization.

When Mangini was let go after the 2010 season, here are the players on the roster who still remained contributors in 2012:  On offense, T Joe Thomas, TE Benjamin Watson, TE Alex Smith, C Alex Mack.  On defense:  NT Ahtyba Rubin, CB Joe Haden, CB Sheldon Brown, and S T. J. Ward.

Of that group, Haden and Ward were drafted by Heckert and Brown was brought in via a trade with Philadelphia engineered by the general manager.  Watson was brought in as a free agent during the off-season as well.

That means only Thomas, Mack, and Rubin were here before Heckert arrived.

Most NFL people believe the Browns are close to being a playoff contender in the AFC.  Their primary needs going into the draft next April are help in the secondary, a pass rusher, and another outside linebacker.  That’s a far cry from several years ago, when Tony Grossi referred to the roster as a group of special team players.

What this means for whoever will be the new coach and head of player personnel (Joe Banner wants to run things, so the new guy will not be the GM) is there is no grace period.  Immediate results will be expected, so a one or two game improvement will not be tolerated by a fan base that has watched more than its share of losing football since 1999.

That is why people are concerned with Banner, that and the unflattering personality traits people here about from his days in Philadelphia.  He seems like a guy who wants things done his way, and to the Cleveland football fans, that sounds like starting over once again, something seen five times since ’99.

It is time to build on what is already here and enhance it, getting the Browns back to the post-season.  Of the teams with the top four choices in last year’s draft, only the Browns are packing up their lockers today.  The other three (Indianapolis, Washington, and Minnesota) are all preparing for the playoffs.

That kind of turn around needs to take place in Cleveland.

One of the things new owner Jimmy Haslam and Banner have to seek in a coach is the ability to make adjustments according to the talent at hand.  No more guys with the attitude of this is what I run, so we will try to fit a square peg into a round hole.  Let’s try putting Weeden in an offense where he is more comfortable, so he can just play.

Let’s try to utilize Trent Richardson better, and not just have him run up the middle continuously.

It has been said many times that based on the cash Haslam put up for the team, he should get to put his own people in place.  That is absolutely true.  However, the Cleveland Browns need to start winning in 2013.  A 6-10 or 7-9 record is going to get himself and Banner off to a bad start along the shores of Lake Erie.

JD