DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Who Goes First Jimmie?

Haslam's ownership tenure has proven to be a disaster headed lower and lower. From middle school looking unis, to disaster drafts, free agent jokes, unprepared game day plans and a coach and GM who are becoming the laughers of the league, have the Browns reached rock bottom? Who do you think gets fired first? Haslam may be able to run a truck stop, but certainly is proving he can't run an NFL franchise.

Oh come on, he owns it, he's not going anywhere.. Look how long Modell owned the franchise.

WHOOPS, I read your post wrong. Sorry.

Will he blow it up,, No... I don't think so

From August:

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam on 2015: 'We're not going to blow things up'

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2015/08/browns_owner_jimmy_haslam_on_2.html

By Mary Kay Cabot, Northeast Ohio Media Group on August 01, 2015 at 1:47 PM, updated August 02, 2015 at 10:07 AM

BEREA, Ohio -- Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who was ridiculed from coast to coast for firing Rob Chudzinski after one season, has vowed not clean house despite what happens in 2015.

"We're not going to blow things up, okay?'' Haslam said during a press conference at Browns training camp Saturday. "I think we're on the right track so we're not going to blow things up. I understand why people might ask that after a couple of bumps in the first couple of years, but we are not going to do that. I think we're putting a good foundation in place.''

Haslam cited the last two drafts as reasons for optimism -- providing Johnny Manziel and Justin Gilbert rebound from their lost rookies seasons.

"The first year we were here, the draft was not what we wanted,'' he said. "I think the second year was better, and a lot depends on how the two first rounders do, right? If they turn out to be really good players, then we had a tremendous draft two years ago. If one of them makes it, we had a good draft; if neither of them make it; it's ok or just so-so.

"I think this past year we had a really good draft. We added 12 players, two of them might be redshirts, and we have 11 picks this coming year. If you have that many picks and you pick good talent and can coach them, over a period of time we're going to be successful."

So regardless of the record, he won't detonate his fledgling crew after the year?

"I think we have the right people in place to over a period of time be successful,'' he said "We're clearly focused on doing that."

That's not to say that Haslam, who's admittedly impatient, is fine with mediocrity.

"I think (Mike Pettine) Pett says it best, 'In this game, you are judged by wins and losses,' and as he says, it is a pass/fail league,'' said Haslam. "I think we came in with three goals. We will save the wins for last. Be a good participant in Northeastern Ohio. With (Owner/President of the Cleveland Browns Foundation) Dee (Haslam) leading the charge, we have done a nice job there. I think we said we wanted to provide our fans with a great experience. We spent $120 million on the stadium and we are changing uniforms, playing in Columbus and playing in Akron last year. We are doing a lot of things like that.

"The ultimate goal is winning, and until we consistently win in our division, which everyone knows is a challenge, none of us, including me, are going to be happy. We understand that we have a long way to go there."

That's why Haslam isn't resting easy heading into the season.

"I think you're always anxious because I worry about getting better,'' he said. "The first year, we came in the middle of the year so it was a little challenging. I would say the year before last was our first year (4-12), and it was a challenge. We got better last year. We went from winning four games to seven games. I can assure you nobody in this building is happy winning seven games, but at the same time, we are realistic that it takes time to build a good football team."

Haslam disagreed with the notion that he's willing to be patient this year because the Browns are poised to start a bridge quarterback in Josh McCown.

"Pett and (GM) Ray (Farmer) have said quarterback is important, but you can't put everything on one position,'' he said. "Listen, I'm not a football person. I'm a business person, but I think we have better talent than since we got here. We have a lot of young talent. We have some veterans to help teach them how to work and lead and improve the culture like Donte (Whitner) and Karlos (Dansby) and some of the guys did last year. I think we have a good blend of experienced people and younger players.''

Haslam indicated that McCown should be able to win games while the Browns determine if Johnny Manziel can cut it in the NFL.

"I think in Josh you have a guy who's played in the league and who is experienced,'' said Haslam. "We are clearly putting together a team that is not totally reliant on great play out of the quarterback. We think we are going to be very competitive this year. Despite what everybody reads and says, we haven't given up on Johnny. We think he has potential to be a good football player. Having the potential to do it and doing it are two different things.

"I think we have said numerous times that you are not going to win consistently in this league without a good quarterback. We are trying to make that happen."

Haslam scoffed at a recent report that Pettine and Farmer are at odds, something the coach and GM have also denied. Granted, the two had their differences last year and those came to a head during the Textgate scandal, which resulted in a four-game suspension for Farmer. But Haslam took the top brass offsite for team-building, and things have been considerably better since.

"The reports of them not getting along are just totally inaccurate,'' said Haslam. "They work together well. I am with them every day I am here. They work together exceptionally well."

Haslam is more confident than ever that Pettine and Farmer are the right men for the job.

"They're quality people, they're smart, they work hard and they have been around football all of their lives,'' he said. "If I had said this time last year we were going to be 7-9, you all would have said that's pretty good. The problem is we lost our last five and we get that and understand that. We're not pleased with it, and I don't want to say that. At the same time, I think it's unfair to say you have to win X amount of games, because injuries happen, schedules are harder, it's a tough league. You have to look at the body of work over a period of time. I feel good about where we are versus two years ago or even a year ago."

After wiping out the regime of Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur when he first took over, and then Chudzinski a year later, Haslam has learned the importance of stability. When it came time to replace Chudzinski, plenty of candidates were worried about job security. He knows he can't afford to display a quick trigger again.

"I think there's no question about it,'' he said. "At the same time, it's important to get the right people in the building. Maybe we did or maybe we didn't at first, but I feel good that we have the right people in the building now.''

Pettine said he knew he was on the right track with Pettine and Farmer when he watched the team go into Baltimore shorthanded for the finale last season and fight hard until the end.

"NFL coaches, one of the things they have to do is get their players to play hard all year,'' he said. "It's a grind. We're here on August 1 and we'll be talking again whenever our last game is January 3 and it'll be cold. That's a long time from now. People get hurt, things happened and you're under a lot of criticism. I think the testimony to Pett is that we go into Baltimore 7-8, (QB) Connor Shaw playing quarterback and a lot of people hurt. We lost the game, but we're ahead 10-6 going into the fourth quarter and the guys played their tails off. I think that's what head coaches have to do, and I think Pett did a great job with that."

The Browns close out the season this year against Pittsburgh, which has not been kind to the last two Browns coaches on the hotseat. Shurmur and Chudzinski were both fired after season finales in Pittsburgh, in 2012 and 2013.

But if Haslam holds true to his word, Pettine and Farmer will make it safely out of the matchup on Jan. 3.

j/c

Nothing could be more glaring than the talent differential between Carr, Cooper and Mack, and the difference they make on what was once a bottom tier team, and our own McCown, Bowe & Mingo. It was like a massive, red neon sign that flashed: TALENT EVALUATION SUCKS HERE!

A Oh,.,,,, he said he wouldn't blow it up,,,, everyone DUCK LOL

Or take a look at the Bills, who went into Miami and destroyed them. The Bills were like us for years. They got a decent, experienced HC, quietly signed FAs like Tyrod Taylor, Charles Clay, Percy Harvin and Incognito. Traded for Shady McCoy and added some good starters from the past two drafts.


The Bills had less resources but simply did more with it.

I get your point, but the Bills can keep that Charles Clay contract.

Not to nitpick.

Mack was 5th overall (we had no chance to get him)
Cooper was 4th overall (we had no chance to get him)

We messed up on the Carr pick but I wouldn't have picked Teddy over Carr.

We were out of position to draft those good players.

seems like we invest so much into positions, instead of investing into, oh i dunno, PLAYMAKERS.

We drafted a OL to be a backup, on a MAYBE replacement.

We drafted mingo. ugh. We drafted gilbert. i still like the manziel pick. he could still be something.

but the cake has to be the 2012(2011?) draft.

julio jones. and now from that trade, we have ZERO 1st rounders on the squad that came from that class.

I'm tired of winning the draft with multiple picks. we need to draft playmakers. we need to draft them at our spots, or move up.

we've "won" the draft for a few years now, but that crap doesn't show up in the W-L columns.

We invested heavily in defense, just to be last in rush defense, terrible in the secondary AGAIN.

We got a bunch of cupcake OL who are only good with scheme. but i'm tired of posters making excuses for them. they aren't strong. they can't man up and block one on one. they need a cute zone blocking scheme to be worth a damn.

So we got an OL who can't run block, and is ok in pass protection. they aren't elite. they aren't fine.

i saw posters go "well, the jets are good, and oakland is good too"

So that means our OL is only good against bad teams? Defense too?

so what we're saying is, they suck, overall, and only excel when the team we're playing just happens to be worse than us.

how bout we draft some burners? some Megatron type guys? We could've had Beckham Jr. we could've had Sammy Watkins. We could've had julio jones.

but instead, we drafted bum ass losers. we drafted a freaking project OLB at #6 overall. he is a BUST. We drafted a corner #9 who can't even see the field. an undrafted RFA and a 4th rounder is getting more PT than this guy.

we have a QB that absolutely needs playing time so we see what we have in the guy, but instead we go with McCown?

I'm sick of teams always breaking records on us. Cooper had his best game, Carr had 2/3 300 yard games on us, oh by the way, their 1st win on the east coast in how many games?

i'm tired of teams in a slump gaining confidence because we suck worse than them. i'm tired of winless teams getting their first win on us(jax last year)

I'm tired of people minimizing the skill position. we need big play WR. we need a boss RB. we need NASTY OL, not these soft ass losers on the line right now.

atleast teams have to gameplan for manziel's scrambling ability, and make no mistake, he would've connected on at least one of those bombs to Benji and grabriel.

just tired of of us trying to be like other teams. we aren't the patriots. we aren't the seahawks. just freaking stop it.

Want to see the wheels start coming off the cart? Wait until Pettine walks into Jimmy's office and says, "I can't win with the crap that Farmer keeps giving me." Mark that as the beginning of the end for this regime.

Cleveland, where after three regular season games people are already expecting, wanting or combo of the two someone get fired for the crappy team we put out there on Sundays!

Can't blame it though. If anyone getting canned, I'm not sure how Ray isn't numero uno on that list.

We could've taken Mack at #4. We didn't because we had taken Mingo the previous year. We traded down instead and took Gilbert.

Oh yeah, you're right. I forgot that no one ever trades up to get a player who fits a need and could be real a difference maker.

Four first round picks the last two drafts and only one looks like he could be good (Shelton). I know who I'd let go first.

We traded from six to eight.

Everyone thought that Gilbert was going to be a great pick in our system.. Is he bust?? Yes, he is a bust but at the time everyone was happy to trade down acquire more picks and taking one of the top rated cb on the board.

Obviously we should all wait and see how the season plays out, but the prospects do not look good. Josh McCown is our QB and the defense that were supposed to be relying on has regressed in the pass game (expected, but not to this extent) and not progressed in the run game (not expected).

No one should be fired right now, after only three games. It is far too small of a sample to decide anyone's fate. Also, firing a coach or front office person will only set the club back at this point. Basically putting up the white flag in week three is no way to build a team (even if the people in charge haven't been successful at building the team to this point anyway).

I will say this, if we continue on this current trend, then everyone should be fired. History shows that if a team is not good under a head coach within the first few seasons, they will likely never be good.

With that said, I think we are a tick behind Washington in the dysfunction leaderboard. That will lead us into hiring another less than stellar head coaching candidate and/or GM. If changes must be made, we will have to think outside the box instead of interviewing the usual suspects.

Panicking in pressure situations is a sure sign of dysfunction. The last thing our leadership should be doing right now is firing people (if they are functional).

As fans we panic, it's what we do.

Why is money and cap space such a overblown deal for Browns fans? We're the cheapest organization in the NFL behind maybe the Bengals.

We suck.

I'm just glad we will be forced to spend next year.

The main problem is the complete lack of fire or competitiveness after a win. They come out flat, weak, out of position and get blown up by the D-line, the RBs, the WRs, and stymied by the O-lines, they can't tackle, they can't stay in their lanes, they can't execute the simplest offensive plays and they can't block within their own scheme. Hell, they can't even put on the right cleats on their OWN FIELD. On top of all that, they play like a bunch of pussies who are believing their own press. It's certainly not too early to say that.

They might be forced to spend next year, but that doesn't mean they'll spend it on anybody good. They might bring in 5 more Dwayne Bowes or give him a raise just to spend their required amount.

Look at this roster. Look at the last two drafts. Who put all this together? If Farmer isn't fired...Jimmy is dumber than I could ever imagine.

We could have had Mack or a host of other players currently making an impact in the league, we got Gilbert.

The fact remains that the Raiders have had 6 picks in the first 3 rounds over the last couple years and have added...

Khalil Mack
Derek Carr
Gabe Jackson
Amari Cooper
Mario Edwards
Clive Walford

While we had had 10 picks over the same period and added...

Justin Gilbert
Johnny Manziel
Joel Bitonio
Christian Kirksey
Terrance West
Danny Shelton
Cameron Erving
Nat Orchard
Duke Johnson
Xavier Cooper

I'm not declaring anything as absolute yet, but the early returns sure do look like we squandered a tremendous opportunity to set this team up for long term success...

Coaching.

That may be a good part of it. It's certainly far from all of it.

It was one week. What happened (with respect to "fire") in week two has no real bearing on what happened in week three. We probably played with the same "fire" as in week two, except we lost so things feel different.

We played like crap in week one, then played with "fire" in week two. Are those two things related? If they are then we should expect a great performance in week four, right?

If he did that, I'm sure the guy that would be gone is Farmer.. I'm not sure I'd mind.

I really hope no-one gets fired..

Again.. Newer GM

Again.. Young learning HC

Again.. Young learning Coaching staff

Again.. New system in place

Again.. People want firings

Again.. Please tell me whose out there that's better

Again.. we will start all over again

Again.. no-one expected the team to be great

Again.. There are 13 games left

Again.. I SMH

Not newer GM...SMARTER and MORE QUALIFIED to select NFL talent GM. That's how I look at it. Keep the coaching staff and systems in place.

I really hate this excuse. But I hear you.

I don't want a new coaching staff at all, but I could care less about anyone else at this point.

I agree. Well said.

That's what I'm thinking. We'll see.

You described the team like this, "They come out flat, weak, out of position and get blown up by the D-line, the RBs, the WRs, and stymied by the O-lines, they can't tackle, they can't stay in their lanes, they can't execute the simplest offensive plays and they can't block within their own scheme. Hell, they can't even put on the right cleats on their OWN FIELD. On top of all that, they play like a bunch of pussies who are believing their own press. It's certainly not too early to say that."

Yet you think they will bounce back?

Just wondering? If Cowher would take $50 mil guaranteed for 5 years and complete authority in all phases of control. Why don't you ask him Jimmie?

Wow guys... I think yday game has pushed people over the edge. The second, long time die hard fan, I mean die hard, has indicated he's done.

I actually see his listing on eBay with all his jerseys up for auction so I knows he's being real. Two die hard fans, gone off the ship. I'm really shocked, but not really shocked *if that makes any sense*

The fans are fed up and pissed off, what do you expect, Jimmie?

Good lord, temper tantrums abound around here. The "fans" are as inept as the front office.

This team and front office suck. This is not news. We knew it during the off-season and during the pre-season. We've sucked for 20 years. Deal with it.

We either FINALLY stick with a plan for more than 2-3 years or we reboot AGAIN (because that's worked out so well the last 34231477 times we've tried it).

The "fans" want option B. This franchise is so screwed up, I bet they choose option B as well. So stupid.

Do I really need to repeat or explain: "That's what I'm thinking. We'll see."? Do I need to explain that one doesn't preclude the other? Or that it's possible that it may not happen at all? Exactly what portion of those two sentenced are confusing to you?

In regards to the defense, could it be simply that maybe O'Neill isn't up to the task? Is there maybe a corollary between Pet taking focus away from the defense and turning it toward the offensive side of things?

Speaking of the offense, honestly, I don't think Flip is doing too terrible of a job. He's not going to be a hot HC prospect after this season, but he has put together some pretty solid scripted drives. We could use some improvement when it comes to making adjustments, but McCown was generally having a pretty solid game the second half. The biggest problems I see on the O is lack of execution. Our O-Line isn't beefy, but it just doesn't seem to be executing the run blocking as well as it should? Both McCown and Manziel hold the ball awhile, but I think that might partly be that it appears our WRs and TEs run deeper routes.

If I had to grade Flip so far, I'd say about a C(-). We've certainly seen much worse in recent years (a la Shurmur).

Wasn't Farmer considered pretty smart and qualified to select NFL talent?