Browns’ Roster Shake Up No Big Deal

After the Cleveland Browns pared their roster to 53 players on Saturday night, coach Rob Chudzinski said it would be a “fluid situation”. Everyone figured there would be changes, especially because they had no place kicker on the team.

No one could see a major overhaul coming the following day, but Michael Lombardi and his staff claimed six free agents and let six of the so-called final 53 go.

There were howls from many Browns fans, several of them commenting that it was proof of the lack of talent on the squad, supporting their woe is me mentality (taken from former GM Phil Savage), and preparing themselves for another horrible season.

To us, it was no big deal.

This is not to say the Browns are going to go 11-5 and win the AFC North in 2013, but we do feel this team will be improved as the young talent accumulated in the past few years will continue to improve and a more experienced coaching staff will put the players in positions where they can succeed.

As for the roster shake up, it is not like any of the six players signed yesterday are coming in to start for Chudzinski’s team, but they were acquired to provide depth, something the Browns don’t have yet in several positions.

For instance, at running back, the injuries to Montario Hardesty and Dion Lewis caused Cleveland to have only Brandon Jackson, unimpressive in the preseason, to back up Trent Richardson.

So they went out and signed two backs who were similar to Lewis, a change of pace speed back, in Bobby Rainey (from Ravens) and Dennis Jackson (from Texans). They are on the roster to be third down backs and return kickoffs, both jobs that Lewis looked to be in position to handle.

They also swapped out tight ends, letting Kellen Davis and Brad Smelley go, and replacing them with MarQueis Gray (49ers) and Keavon Milton (Saints). The top two tight ends on the depth chart, Jordan Cameron and Gary Barnidge remain unchanged.

It shouldn’t be a huge deal to change the third and fourth tight ends on your roster.

They also exchanged LB L.J. Fort, who made the team as an undrafted free agent a year ago for rookie Brandon Magee, who was cut by the Cowboys, and signed C Patrick Lewis (Packers) and released two other offensive linemen who were undrafted free agents in Jerrod Shaw and Caylin Hauptmann.

While letting Fort go was a bit of a surprise, Lombardi just picked up Eric Martin from New Orleans as well, and the Browns felt Tank Carder was ahead of Fort.

Most of these changes were probably done with special teams implications in mind, as the coaching staff felt those units needed an upgrade. There is nothing wrong with that.

Neither is there anything wrong with trying to incrementally improving the football team. If you see a young player out there who is better than the young player you currently have, why not add them to the roster.

Again, it is not like the front office released a high draft choice to sign someone who was cut on Saturday.

And more changes are coming because the Browns still need to find someone to handle the kicking duties this Sunday against the Dolphins.

If Joe Banner, Michael Lombardi, and Chudzinski feel they can make the team better, even slightly, by picking up players cut by other teams, then why shouldn’t they.

After all, that’s their job.

Should Be Room for Browns, Tribe on Sports Talk

It is becoming a daily debate among Cleveland sports fans: Indians vs. Browns. It’s really stupid when you think about it, because it would be great if both teams, along with the Cavaliers were all good at the same time, something that hasn’t happened since 2007.

As a fan of all three teams, the Browns talk can be a little overwhelming. All the sports talk stations in town have to do to generate calls is mention any topic relating to the football team and the switchboard is lit up with calls to discuss the issue.

Just in the past week, there was discussion about whether or not fans should be allowed to bring bags/purses into FIrst Energy Stadium for Browns’ games, and the driving habits of two young wide receivers on the Browns.

And we aren’t talking about one segment for a show, these discussions lasted at least an hour.

All the while, the Indians were sitting in contention for a playoff spot, entering the weekend just 2-1/2 games out of a wild card spot.

We get it. Cleveland is a football town. However, it is hysterical to think of how anything football related is viewed through rose-colored glasses at this time of year.

Because the Browns started preseason with a 2-0 record, fans are talking about playoffs, even though the team hasn’t won more than five games in a season since 2007.

We get the optimism. Rob Chudzinski’s crew has some good young talent and a veteran coaching staff and looked to be poised for their best season in six years. Last night’s egg laid against the Indianapolis Colts should temper some of this enthusiasm.

We’ve had the same view for both the wins and the losses. They don’t count, so there is no need to be overly optimistic or pessimistic about the games.

After last night, we still have the same feeling about the 2013 Cleveland Browns. They will be improved, and a record somewhere between 7-9 and 9-7 is very obtainable.

On the other hand, the Indians have played almost 5/6th of their schedule and right now, every game they play has meaning. They have a legitimate shot at the post-season, depending on what web site you look at, they have around 25% chance of making it at this point in the season.

After today, they have perhaps the most critical nine game stretch since the ’07 playoffs with contests against Atlanta, Detroit, and Baltimore, one of their main rivals for the wild card.

If they come through those games still within three or four games of the playoffs, they will have as good a chance as any.

The problem is the over analysis of training camp and exhibition play by both Browns fans and sports talk show hosts as opposed to talking about what the Indians need to do in the regular season to make the post-season.

Browns’ fans get upset at the notion that their team would be upstaged by the Tribe. This is understandable, but really the Indians are held to a higher standard in this city.

Can you imagine the outrage if the Indians lost more than 100 games five years in a row? There would be calls for the Dolan’s to sell the team, get a new general manager and make wholesale changes to the roster.

The Browns have done just that, and although there has been some criticism, their fans talk about patience and the process of building a winning football team.

The next week and a half should be about the Tribe. Their chance to make the playoffs (imagine a Cleveland team playing in them!) probably rests with those nine games.

The Browns won’t start playing games that count until after that stretch is over.

Let’s put the debate on how the Browns’ punter will be and give the Indians their due during this stretch of games.

Browns Looking Professional So Far

There is no question that you can’t take a lot from NFL preseason games.

For one reason, you don’t know the motivation of the opponent. There is no way to tell if the team you are playing is trying to win, or simply just get out of there without getting anyone hurt.

All Pro T Joe Thomas said after the first game that it was easy to block the Rams defensive line because they were basically just standing there.

However, there are some good things to say about the Cleveland Browns after two games that do not involve talking about their 2-0 record in games that do not count.

In watching the two games, the team looks crisp. Gone are the silly penalties that occurred throughout each of the last two seasons, and they don’t seem to be struggling to get plays off before the play clock goes off.

To simplify, they seem less confused.

They also seem more willing to throw the ball downfield, not using the dink and dunk attack used by Pat Shurmur when he was running the offense. To be fair, QB Brandon Weeden has made a huge mistake such as throwing a critical interception.

When that occurs, we will see if coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner get conservative with the play calling in order to avoid mistakes, or if they will continue to be aggressive. The guess here is if Turner gets his way, Weeden will continue to stretch the field more than he did in his rookie season.

Trent Richardson saw his first action last night getting six carries for 33 yards. But one play stood out to us.

Richardson took a pitchout, ran wide and gained eight yards. Last year, for whatever reason, the third overall pick in 2012 ran almost exclusively between the tackles, which was odd because you would think you would want linebackers and defensive backs trying to bring him down.

Turner has a history of developing tight ends as well, and Jordan Cameron has been able to get up the field and caught two TD throws against the Lions.

It is tough to judge the defense because WR Calvin Johnson, arguably the best wide receiver in the game, didn’t play for Detroit, but in watching the action, defensive coordinator Ray Horton seems to be true to his word. He wants to get after the quarterback.

The days of watching “bend, but don’t break” schemes appears to be over.

The Browns may give up big plays at times, but fans won’t have to watch 14 play drives where the opponent has the ball for seven minutes endlessly.

Individually, NT Phil Taylor seems poised for a very good year, making impact plays thus far. And OLB Jabaal Sheard looks like he can definitely make the conversion to his new position.

The defense is fast and aggressive, which is something not seen in Cleveland for a long time.

This is not to say that the Browns are going to the playoffs this season. Remember, when they take the field at FIrst Energy Stadium at September 8th, their record will be 0-0.

But after watching this team over the last five seasons, it is refreshing to see a product that resembles a professional football team.

That’s progress anyway you measure it.

Browns Enter Camp Poised for Success

It’s finally here, football fans! The Cleveland Browns open training camp at the end of this week, and exhibition football is just around the corner.

After accumulating cap space and high draft choices over the past few years, the Browns should be poised for improvement. Records of 5-11 and 4-12 should no longer be acceptable or tolerated.

This football team now has a new head coach in Rob Chudzinski and experienced offensive and defensive coordinators in Norv Turner and Ray Horton. These coaches have track records of developing players and putting them in position for maximum success.

That would seem to bode well for young veterans like QB Brandon Weeden, RB Trent Richardson, WR Josh Gordon, DE/LB Jabaal Sheard, NT Phil Taylor, and CB Joe Haden.

This squad has good, young players ready to make the step in becoming solid, productive football players, and fans should have faith that the new coaching staff will make that happen.

For all of the talk about Turner being a passing game guru, the man has a history of running the football effectively too. His offenses have been known to stretch the field with the passing game and pound the ball on the ground too.

That would seem to be a perfect fit for both Weeden and Richardson, as that would appear to be their strengths. If either does not flourish under the former San Diego head coach, then the front office will have to look to replace them both.

This isn’t to say that Turner is a miracle worker, but he’s had success in the NFL as an offensive coordinator and it seems like he has been able to maximize the strengths of players. And that’s exactly what Weeden needs after last year’s dink and dunk attack.

Horton’s influence is something new to Cleveland and his defense should be interesting to watch for Browns’ fans.

He likes to attack and that is something that we can’t remember from a Cleveland defense, and we’ve been following the orange and brown for almost 50 years.

Even in the late 80’s when Cleveland has two elite cornerbacks in Hanford Dixon and Frank Minniefield, they really weren’t an attacking style defense that got after the opposing quarterback.

Horton promises his crew will get after the passer and that will disrupt the aerial game.

That will be quite a contrast from the “bend, but don’t break” schemes Browns’ fans have been seeing since the days when Blanton Collier was roaming the sidelines as the head coach here.

With the talent acquired from the past few drafts, including the last few from the previous regime, and the experienced proven coordinators secured by team president Joe Banner and Chudzinski, if the Cleveland Browns can’t take a quantum leap forward now, they may never will.

It’s finally time to be optimistic about Cleveland’s football team, and with good reason.

Fans should expect a team that contends for the playoffs, nothing more, nothing less. And that is a good thing.

If the Browns don’t win seven or more games in 2013, there should be major disappointment.

And we didn’t even mention Jimmy Haslam’s problems with his company either.

Browns Need to Fill Holes, Not Draft a QB

Tonight is the event that comes as close to a Super Bowl type event for Cleveland Browns’ fans, since they’ve never actually been in the championship game since 1965.

Look it up, the Browns played for the NFL title against the Green Bay Packers that season.

It’s NFL draft time, and the Browns have the sixth overall selection this year.

The best case scenario for team CEO Joe Banner, GM Mike Lombardi, and head coach Rob Chudzinski would be the trade down and try to recoup the second round pick they used in the supplemental draft last summer, selecting WR Josh Gordon, who certainly was worth the choice.

Cleveland’s biggest needs going into the draft is on defense, more specifically the secondary, where CB Joe Haden is a very good player and S T.J. Ward is solid, but they need two starters and some depth as well.

They could also use a pass rusher to go along with LB Paul Kruger and LB Jabaal Sheard, who is being moved to the position.

Alabama CB Dee Milliner would seem to be a great fit with the pick, assuming he last’s that long. The mock drafts we have reviewed have him being picked anywhere from 3rd to 10th overall. Milliner would provide with the Browns best set of cornerbacks since the 80’s when they had Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield.

We all remember how those teams did.

If Milliner isn’t there at six, that’s where the trade down talk comes in. The top of the draft is loaded with offensive tackles, a position where the Browns are solid with Joe Thomas and Mitchell Schwartz. A team with that need may be very interested in jumping up to Cleveland’s spot in the first round.

If they can trade down, a good pick may be another Alabama product, G Chance Warmack. Warmack is very highly regarded, and some have said he’s the best guard prospect since Hall of Famer John Hannah.

Although the Browns have a solid offensive line, they could use a guard, and if Warmack is even close to being as good as advertised, he could make a very good line into a dominant unit. The chance to make one area of the team into an elite unit would be very tempting for the front office.

If Milliner isn’t there and the Cleveland moves down, another player to look at would be CB Xavier Rhodes of Florida State. A former receiver who has great cover skills, he could also give new defensive coordinator Ray Horton two solid cover corners, which would enable Horton to dial-up more blitzes to confuse and punish opposing quarterbacks.

Speaking of passers, here’s hoping Banner and Lombardi do not waste the first round choice on a QB. The Browns need their first round pick to play immediately in September, and this year’s crop doesn’t have anyone who can step in right away.

That’s not to say the Browns shouldn’t take one in the later rounds. There is always room for someone to develop.

The only offensive areas, unless they can get an elite player like Warmack, the Browns should target would be another wide receiver and a tight end. After losing Benjamin Watson and Alex Smith in free agency, new offensive coordinator Norv Turner could use a big target at the position. Jordan Cameron has potential, but still hasn’t been as productive as he may become.

This isn’t a bad draft, it’s just one without big time star power. That’s why the Browns need more picks. It’s another opportunity to gain some depth for a young football team that needs it. They started to build some last year, and it would be nice to add more.

QB Switch Makes Sense for Browns

Within the last week, the Cleveland Browns have changed the dynamic at the quarterback position.

First, they signed free agent passer Jason Campbell, late of the Bears, but before that a starter in Washington and Oakland to a two-year deal, and then yesterday, they traded Colt McCoy to San Francisco with a sixth round pick for a fifth rounder and a seventh rounder.

Campbell, as former coach Pat Shurmur famously called him, is a “big, pretty thrower”. At 6’5″ and 223 pounds and blessed with a big arm, he is very similar in size and style to Brandon Weeden. This means no matter who is the Browns’ starter this season, the offense that Norv Turner advocates, one that stresses downfield throws and a strong running game, can remain the same.

Besides the similarity in style, the switch also gives Rob Chudzinski and Turner a more experienced quarterback than the one that departed. Campbell has made 71 starts, with a career 31-40 record.

On the other side, McCoy has made 21 starts with a 6-15 record.

Campbell has a lifetime touchdown to interception ratio of 76 to 52. McCoy’s is 21 to 20.

The newest Brown’s career completion percentage is 60.9% and his average yards per attempt is 6.7, roughly the same numbers McCoy had during his rookie season, a year that had many feeling McCoy could be the Cleveland quarterback of the future.

That means that Campbell over his seven years in the league on average is as good as McCoy’s best. Of course, we all know that for whatever reason, Colt McCoy never played as well as he did his first year in the league again.

Since leaving Washington, Campbell has been better than he was with the Redskins, with an 11-8 record as a starter, firing 21 touchdowns while throwing 14 picks.

In 2010, a year the Raiders finished 8-8, they may have made the playoffs had Campbell not missed three games with injuries. Oakland lost all three contests and lost the division to Kansas City by two games. The following year, Oakland was off to a 4-2 start before the Browns, ironically ended Campbell’s season with a broken collarbone.

The Raiders acquired Carson Palmer in a horrible deal to try to make the playoffs that season, and the former Auburn Tiger never got his job back. He was a backup for the Bears last season.

There is no question he will provide real competition for Weeden for the starting job.

As for McCoy, for whatever reason, his career was never the same after the Jets game his rookie year, when he led a drive to tie the game and send it into overtime, and had a game winning drive snuffed out when WR Chansi Stuckey fumbled close to field goal range.

The Browns’ season fell apart, Eric Mangini was fired, and Pat Shurmur and his Stone Age offense came in.

Instead, Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell are the guys going forward. And based on statistics, there is no way you can say team president Joe Banner and GM Mike Lombardi didn’t improve the roster with this move. Campbell has better numbers than McCoy no matter how you slice it.

After all the hand-wringing about the change in management and the change in defensive scheme, it is tough to say the Browns’ roster isn’t better than it was at the end of last season.

That should be all that matter.

How Much is Weeden to Blame?

Now that the NFL draft is less than two months away, it’s time for Cleveland Browns’ fans to start the debate on who the team should take with the sixth pick in this year’s selection process.

And since it is Cleveland, the seemingly endless debate about whether or not the “Consensus Four” of Jimmy Haslam, Joe Banner, Michael Lombardi, and Rob Chudzinski should take another quarterback just a year after the Browns took Brandon Weeden in the opening round of the 2012 draft.

Because Weeden didn’t set the world on fire in his rookie year, like Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson, several people with voice on radio talk shows have given up on the former Oklahoma State signal caller.

Keep in mind, Weeden passed for more yards than Griffin III (by a little less than 200 yards) and Wilson (a little more than 200 yards). However, Weeden had way more interceptions (17, compared to 5 by RGIII and 10 by Wilson) and not as many touchdowns (13 compared to 20 for Griffin and 26 for Wilson).

The question comes down to how much do you blame the Browns rookie for his ineffectiveness?

Weeden isn’t perfect, but then again, most rookie QBs who start in their first years aren’t either. He did have a tendency to lock on receivers, and try to throw through defensive backs.

You know who else used to do that? Watch films of John Elway, Dan Marino, and Brett Favre early in their career. The confidence they had in their arms overrode their coaches telling them not to turn the ball over.

This is not to say that Weeden is in the same class as those three passers, two of whom are in the Hall of Fame, and the other will be soon. It does speak to the way quarterbacks with big arms think.

Before throwing Weeden out with the bath water, remember the circumstances he played under last season.

His coach had a horribly conservative offensive philosophy, and once a turnover occurred he played it more close to the vest.

The Browns best offensive weapon, fellow rookie Trent Richardson, was injured early in the season with bad ribs, and even when he was carrying the ball well, there were times when the coaching staff ignored him.

The Redskins had the league’s best running attack and Seattle was third. Cleveland ranked 24th. This is the same ranking the three teams had in terms of rushing attempts. And the Browns weren’t blown out of many games last season, so there was plenty of opportunity to run the ball, the coaching staff just refused to do it.

The question has to be how much is Weeden to blame for a mediocre rookie performance. If you think he’s a lost cause, then the Browns’ front office should look to replace him. If they think Geno Smith and/or Matt Barkley is the next Elway, then draft one of them.

Just remember that Alex Smith, another darling of the Cleveland media, had a worse season than Weeden in his rookie year (50.9 completion percentage, 1 TD, 11 INT) and under Norv Turner’s tutelage the next year improved to 58% completion rate, 16 TDs and 16 INT as San Francisco went from 4-12 to 7-9.

Also, notice that the front office’s evaluation of the quarterback has seemed to soften at least in public comments after Turner came aboard and presumably has looked at film.

Perhaps Turner, who knows more football than most, has seen something he can build upon with Weeden, despite his advanced age.

Still, the Browns should continue to say they may be interested in Smith or Barkley, but only because the Arizona Cardinals, desperate for a quarterback, pick right behind them. Perhaps Lombardi and Banner can squeeze a draft pick out of the Cards to move up one spot.

It comes down to this…do the Browns need to replace Weeden more than they need a big time pass rusher or another cornerback to team with Joe Haden? That answer is simple, Cleveland needs to get more playmakers on the defensive side of the ball.

Browns Need Progress Not Headlines

Now that the football season is over, with a mixed bag of emotions (unhappy that the Ravens hoist the Lombardi Trophy, but thrilled Art Modell is not going to be enshrined in Canton this year). It is time to start looking ahead to the next few months, meaning the free agent period and the NFL draft.

By the way, does Jim Nantz think the Lombardi Trophy is named for Michael?

There are still many Browns fans unhappy with the choice of Rob Chudzinski as head coach, and even more disconsolate over owner Jimmy Haslam III’s remark over during Super Bowl week that it is unlikely his team will make a big “splash” in free agency.

Supporters of the brown and orange want results and want them as soon as possible, and we are no different.

However, to be sure, it is better to have results than glamor.

While we don’t know yet if Chudzinski is the right man for the job, and we won’t know until the games start for real in September, there is a large population of ticket buyers who are upset that Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher didn’t take the gig. Put aside for a moment that neither man expressed any real interest in returning to the sideline.

They wanted a “big name”, an attention grab. That’s because we are so insecure about our teams. It lends credibility to the Browns and the city if a man who has talked about the game on a network for the last few years is the head coach.

The same goes for free agency. Think about last year at this time, two of the bigger names on the market were Packers’ reserve QB Matt Flynn, who signed with Seattle, and Texans’ DE Mario Williams, who signed a huge deal with Buffalo.

How did those moves work out?

Flynn went to the playoffs, but watched on the sidelines while rookie third round pick Russell Wilson started for the Seahawks. Today, you can get Flynn in a trade for a lower round pick or if and when Pete Carroll lets him go.

Williams had an okay year with 10.5 sacks, but he didn’t turn the Buffalo defense into a dominating unit, as they ranked 22nd in yards allowed, and 26th in points allowed.

This isn’t to say no big name free agent is worth the effort. Certainly, Green Bay wouldn’t have won its Super Bowl in 1996 without signing the late Reggie White as a free agent. But guys like that are few and far between.

It also isn’t to say the Browns shouldn’t sign any free agents this off-season. If the Ravens decide to make WR Anquan Boldin an unrestricted free agent this spring, he’s a guy who would provide excellent hands as a wide out and serve as a mentor to Josh Gordon and Greg Little.

This team is in desperate need of leaders. They don’t have many veterans on the roster, especially since guys like Sheldon Brown and Ben Watson likely will not be back in 2013.

Also, the Browns need some older players who have experienced winning, something the young guys have certainly never experienced. There is a lot of sentiment that Chudzinski’s team simply doesn’t know how to win, and they need someone to show them the way.

Those are the types of players this team needs to bring in, and with room under the salary cap, they have the cash to bring in a few winners. Spending big cash on a player past his prime, or doesn’t fit the system used by Norv Turner and/or Ray Horton isn’t the way to go.

Rather than making headlines, the Cleveland Browns need to make victories.

Please, No First Round QB For Browns

The Cleveland Browns have a new owner, a new CEO, a new vice president of player personnel, a new head coach, and new coordinators. It was really a case of out with the old and in with the new.

Here’s hoping the new regime doesn’t do something that the front office’s of the past have done in the recent past. And that is draft another quarterback in the first round of this April’s NFL draft.

This is not an endorsement of Brandon Weeden, Colt McCoy, or even Thad Lewis. Both Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner will make a determination who is the best quarterback to run the offense, but either the Browns have to trade for a veteran who can start, or go with one of the guys currently on the roster.

The Browns have too many other holes on the squad to select another QB with the sixth pick in the draft, particularly when it is their only pick in the first two rounds.

The switch to a 3-4 defensive alignment means new defensive coordinator needs some more linebackers to implement the scheme. Also, the defensive backfield is short of another quality cornerback to pair with Joe Haden.

So, it would be a mistake to pick a quarterback in the first round.

Also, there are no Andrew Lucks or Robert Griffin IIIs in this year’s draft. The best passers available this year are West Virginia’s Geno Smith, USC’s Matt Barkley, and North Carolina State’s Mike Clennon. While all three might be taken in the first round, it would be because of the NFL’s search for possible franchise quarterbacks, not because they are first round talents.

A list of the best players available might list one or two of them in the top 30, and probably none of them would be in the top ten. To pick one draft guru, CBS’ Rob Rang, he has Smith listed as the 11th best player and Barkley next at 17. Those are the only QBs he has listed in the top 30.

That means taking one of those guys at six would be a big time reach, and with a franchise on the brink of playoff contention, it’s not worth the gamble.

No matter what anyone thinks of Weeden, he deserves the right to compete for the job, and in fact, he shouldn’t be handed the gig after a rookie season that didn’t see progress as it went on.

However, it is clear here that the offense ran by Pat Shurmur did not play to Weeden’s strengths, a thought shared by more than one NFL analyst during the season.

If CEO Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi want this team to improve, they need to bring in a guy who has played in the NFL to compete with Weeden, not another guy who hasn’t taken a snap in the pros, and will be learning on the job.

Drafting a player like Luck or Griffin III is one thing, but handing the reins to Geno Smith or Matt Barkley doesn’t seem like the thing to do if you want to get off to a good start next season.

The Cleveland Browns need to add an impact player with the sixth pick this spring, a player who can help now. Hopefully, they won’t be picking this high again for a while.

Letting last year’s high picks on offense (Trent Richardson and Weeden) improve, and helping out a defense that needs an assist in the secondary or in getting to the opposition’s quarterback is the way to help the Browns win in 2013.

Taking another QB isn’t a smart move now.

Let Chud Coach A Game First

Of course, for fans of a football team with just two playoff appearances in the last 18 years, the hiring of Rob Chudzinski by the Cleveland Browns was met with a great deal of negativity.

However, if the whole fiasco surrounding Oregon coach Chip Kelly hadn’t taken place, would these people feel any differently?

Even though Kelly hasn’t spent one day in the NFL as an assistant coach or head man, he was a big name and would have created a big splash and a buzz with the Browns’ fan base.

The reality is no one really knows what kind of head coach Rob Chudzinski will be until he coaches a few games in the regular season.

As Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto wrote, Steelers fans probably weren’t thrilled about the hire of Mike Tomlin, nor were Raven fans ecstatic when they found out John Harbaugh was their new head coach. Neither was a “hot” candidate when they got the job.

On the converse side, look at the cases of Norv Turner, who is a favorite to be Chudzinski’s new offensive coordinator, and Wade Phillips, currently the defensive coordinator for Houston.

Turner was the OC with the Dallas Cowboys for many years when that team was winning Super Bowls. He directed an offense led by QB Troy Aikman, RB Emmitt Smith, and WR Michael Irvin. He is a great coordinator.

However, his record as a head coach is disappointing to say the least. In 16 years with the Redskins, Raiders, and Chargers, Turner’s record is just 114-122-1, a .483 winning percentage. His teams made the playoffs just four times.

Phillips has a great reputation as a defensive coach, and he has made the Texans a contender by making them stronger on the defensive side of the football. However, although his regular season record as a head coach is better than Turner’s (82-61 in stints with Denver, Buffalo, and Dallas, plus interim stints with the Saints and Falcons), he has won just one playoff game in five appearances.

The point is just because you are a great coordinator, it doesn’t translate into success as a head coach.

And as Tomlin and Harbaugh show us, sometimes a candidate who seemingly comes out of nowhere can be a big winner as a head coach. That’s why any judgment on Chudzinski should be reserved until he coaches a game.

He has had success as a coordinator, most notably with the Browns in 2007 and with the Panthers in 2011. The Browns ranked 8th in the league in points scored in ’07, while the Panthers ranked 5th in ’11.

His offenses have ranked in the top 12 three times in his five years as a coordinator, and his rushing attacks have been in the top ten three times, showing not only that he will make good use of Trent Richardson, but also he’s not a guy who falls in love with the passing game.

You can still hear fans disappointed that Jimmy Haslam III and Joe Banner didn’t hire Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, or Jon Gruden, the holy trinity of former NFL coaches. Those fans are delusional. Those guys don’t want to coach anymore. They make a lot of money talking about the game and don’t have to suffer through the possibility of losing games each week.

Who knows if Rob Chudzinski will be successful in his new gig? No one. Going into the process, many people said if Haslam and Banner were wowed by a candidate, they should hire him.

They shouldn’t be criticized because that guy was Rob Chudzinski and not Chip Kelly.