What Are Browns Trying To Accomplish With New Coaching Hire?

Tell me really. How much confidence do you have that the Browns won’t screw up this coaching search?

There is an old saying that when you decide to fire someone, a good organization has a plan as to who is going to succeed them. For example, New England knew when they let Jerod Mayo go, that they had a very good chance of hiring Mike Vrabel, a former Patriot player who had a very good coaching resume.

Does anyone think the Browns had a plan?

Of course, we advocated for Cleveland to do what it could to get John Harbaugh, knowing the best asset the Browns had was money. We also felt the next logical person to get the job is defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, and we still feel that way.

Many people in the local media are saying the Browns’ job isn’t as bad as it is viewed nationally, and there is some merit to that. On ESPN Radio’s “Unsportsmanlike”, they viewed the job as the third best among the available openings, behind the Giants and Ravens.

Why do people nationally think the Cleveland head coaching position is toxic? First, it comes from history. While Kevin Stefanski did have six seasons at the helm, prior to that it was musical chairs, with a change seemingly every two years.

That gave the Haslam family a reputation as meddlers. And the thought has occurred here that this search might be more about having control over the head coach and less about winning football games.

The reason is that many of the names being bandied about are very young coaches. Now, we understand some of them may be being brought in to talk about an offensive coordinator post, but if the Browns hire one of these wunderkinds, don’t you think that gives the front office an opportunity to pick some assistants?

It seems at times that it is a classic case of “yes, we want to win, but we want to do it our way”. They have an idea of what they want the organization to look like, but based on that track record, it hasn’t worked. Yet they seem unwilling to make any changes. They are in love with the collaborative effort.

What the Browns need most is a change in culture, leadership, and accountability. That’s a big reason we wanted them to get serious about Harbaugh. He would change the culture. And it’s also why Andrew Berry should have been let go as well.

The job might have been more desirable if the new coach had a chance to bring in his own GM, one that knew how to pick offensive linemen and bigger wide receivers.

Who is the leader in the Browns’ locker room? It might just be rookie Carson Schwesinger, who gutted it out in the penultimate contest against the Steelers.

They need someone who is going to come in and not worry about a “rebuilding plan” and how are they going to get a franchise quarterback. They need someone who is all about winning.

That’s why right now, the best pairing would be to hire Schwartz and pair him with one of the bright offensive minds they have interviewed. Schwartz can pick one of his defensive assistants to handle the coordinator post.

Could it work out for the Browns? Of course. People win the lottery every day too.

Has the ownership looked in the mirror and asked if they need to get a “Lord of Football”? Let’s just say the odds are slim.

Harbaugh Should Be Browns’ First Choice. No Question.

A few years ago, we wrote a piece about NFL head coaches and in our opinion, there are only four or five at any one time who are difference makers.

At the time, we thought those coaches were Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin, and John Harbaugh.

Belichick has moved on to college football and Carroll is now in his 70s, and we would replace them with Sean McVey and Mike Vrabel.

What we are looking at are coaches who can win in different ways, different quarterbacks, and has shown they can adapt to the constant changes of professional football.

On Tuesday, the Ravens parted ways with John Harbaugh after 18 seasons and a 180-113 regular season record, 12 playoff appearances and a Super Bowl win in 2012. He had just three losing seasons in that period, including this past season, but none of those seasons came in succession.

He won with two different quarterbacks in Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson, and in the latter’s case, basically changed the way he ran an offense in order to suit Jackson’s skill set.

We look at Harbaugh a lot like Reid, who coached the Eagles for 14 seasons, making nine playoff appearances, including a loss in the Super Bowl. He was let go after a 4-12 season with the prevailing thought being he wore out his welcome in Philadelphia at 54-years-old.

He went to Kansas City the following season, transformed a 2-14 team into one that went 11-5 and made the playoffs. He’s won three Super Bowl in KC and actually has won more games there (149) than with the Eagles (130).

Yes, we know Harbaugh will be 64 during the early part of the 2026 season. But it appears he still has a passion for the game. We know someone who says he looks like the most beleaguered man on the planet during games, he shows his emotions on his sleeve, especially when something goes wrong for his squad.

We know the Haslams like to spend money. Heck, it took them having to guarantee a contract for them to change Deshaun Watson’s mind. So, offer Harbaugh basically a blank check to come and coach the Browns.

We believe he can be a coach who can change the culture and bring accountability and leadership to an organization that badly needs it. And if Harbaugh can work with Andrew Berry? Great. If he doesn’t want to? Find someone he can work with.

But it won’t likely happen.

We think because Berry somehow survived getting fired, he and the ownership want to continue the “collaborative” process, and that means they want someone who will work with them, that they can control, and Harbaugh might just come in have strong opinions on what needs to be done.

And frankly, we don’t know if the Browns’ hierarchy want to hear about doing things differently. That’s a big weakness in running any kind of business.

Sometimes the logical move is staring you right in the face. John Harbaugh is an excellent coach. He’s available, and the Browns are in dire need of sustained success.

At least have a conversation with him. If he doesn’t want to come here under any circumstances, that’s a different story than not being willing to change in order to get a coach of his caliber.

The Browns need a coach, and a great, proven winner is available.

Browns Need To Learn Toughness

Over the past few weeks, we have accused Browns’ coach Mike Pettine of being a fake tough guy.

He certainly looks tough, the bald head, the goatee, and the scowl, but in reality, he’s a player’s coach just like Rob Chudzinski and Pat Shurmur before him.

That might work if the Browns were a veteran team, but the players they are supposedly building around are young guys, and they need someone demanding.

This is why we scoff at the whole situation with Johnny Manziel.

It’s the first time Pettine has been a tough guy, and quite frankly, it’s the toughness that would be displayed by a high school coach.

Regardless of what problems Manziel has with alcohol, and we don’t know for absolute certainty that he has one, his obligation to this football team is to be prepared for the next game.

No matter what happened over the bye week, if the former Heisman winner was prepared in practice and had the game plan down for Monday night’s game against the Ravens, he shouldn’t have lost his job.

That he didn’t know what the coaches asked, and then lied about it is secondary. It’s professional football, who cares.

It’s laughable that Pettine talked about accountability, because the Cleveland Browns haven’t held anyone accountable for a long time.

Look at our rivals to the east in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers have had injuries to several key players, including QB Ben Roethlisberger, and they sit at 6-4 and very much in the playoff race.

Why? Because they demand success and winning from the ownership on down to the front office and down to coach Mike Tomlin.

The Browns make excuses regarding their injuries, and keep telling their fans (more likely themselves) that they are close and they have a lot of talent on the roster.

This is where the Browns need to change the “culture”.

It will start with hiring a real tough guy as head coach when Pettine undoubtedly will lose his job at the end of this season.

Longtime radio personality floated the name of Mike Singletary recently, and quite frankly that would be a solid choice.

From what we have heard about former Patriots LB Mike Vrabel, now a Texans’ assistant, he would be a solid option too.

Those guys would demand performance and accountability for each and every player and each and every coach in this organization.

And until the Browns operate on this basis, nothing will change.

It doesn’t have to be one of those guys, it just has to be someone who will not accept mediocrity and excuses.

Instead of Pettine treating Manziel like his son, he should be demanding excellence ON THE FIELD from him.

He should not accept the poor performance of the defense from his friend, Jim O’Neil, and should tell his secondary coach to get Justin Gilbert ready to play on Sunday, and not be worried about techniques.

That why the accountability comment was a joke. He hasn’t demanded it all year from the players, his staff, or himself.

That’s why he hasn’t changed anything about the running game or the defense despite both being a problem from the FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON!

You would think a good football coach would have identified the problem and corrected it.

Real toughness is what is needed for the Cleveland Browns. They aren’t going to get it from “Papa” Mike Pettine.