Ultimately I think it's neither the FO or coaching staff. Ultimately not even the owners.
It’s my opinion that the blame falls on US demographics.
Cleveland last had successful sports teams in the 40s and 50s when Cleveland was one of the largest cities in the U.S.
I’m not counting the few years the Cavaliers were good when LeBron James (still at his peak) singlehandedly orchestrated a Cleveland NBA title. That can be done in a 5 man sport.
Now Cleveland is a podunk town. Economic forces are working against Cleveland.
If the NFL doesn’t collapse first, I think Cleveland will again lose it’s NFL team.
You know Modell moved the team because of economic issues. I think it will happen again if the NFL lasts long enough.
Anyway, who’s more to blame? FO or coaching staff?
Ultimately I think it's neither the FO or coaching staff. Ultimately not even the owners.
It’s my opinion that the blame falls on US demographics.
Cleveland last had successful sports teams in the 40s and 50s when Cleveland was one of the largest cities in the U.S.
I’m not counting the few years the Cavaliers were good when LeBron James (still at his peak) singlehandedly orchestrated a Cleveland NBA title. That can be done in a 5 man sport.
Now Cleveland is a podunk town. Economic forces are working against Cleveland.
If the NFL doesn’t collapse first, I think Cleveland will again lose it’s NFL team.
You know Modell moved the team because of economic issues. I think it will happen again if the NFL lasts long enough.
Anyway, who’s more to blame? FO or coaching staff?
It doesn’t matter.
I’ll say FO.
Metropolitan Cleveland population per Wiki / US Census:
There has been some shrinkage since the 70's, when Ford, GM, Republic Steel, J&L Steel, and others were all running 3 shifts / 7 days per week, but we are most definitely not "Podunk".
The "Greater Cleveland" area in your statistics above encompasses 4 counties.
Quote:
Cleveland–Elyria Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of Cuyahoga County, Geauga County, Lake County, Lorain County, and Medina County, and has a population of 2,055,612,
Just one of those 4 counties:
Cuyahoga county ALONE includes the following towns:
Bay Village Beachwood Bedford Bedford Heights Bentleyville Berea Bratenahl Brecksville Broadview Heights Brook Park Brooklyn Brooklyn Heights Chagrin Falls Chagrin Falls Township Cleveland Cleveland Heights Cuyahoga Heights East Cleveland Euclid Fairview Park Garfield Heights Gates Mills Glenwillow Highland Heights Highland Hills Hunting Valley Independence Lakewood Linndale Lyndhurst Maple Heights Mayfield Heights Mayfield Village Middleburg Heights Moreland Hills Newburgh Heights North Olmsted North Randall North Royalton Oakwood Village Olmsted Falls Olmsted Township Orange Parma Parma Heights Pepper Pike Richmond Heights Rocky River Seven Hills Shaker Heights Solon South Euclid Strongsville University Heights Valley View Walton Hills Warrensville Heights Westlake Woodmere
Places like Bay Village were tiny itsy bitsy villages in 1940.
Even including Akron, Canton, Youngstown and 100 more towns (about 1/5th the State of Ohio) This area only ranks 32nd in population in the nation.
Cleveland used to be the 6th largest city all by itself in 1940.
Cleveland has shrunk immensely in the last 50 years.
You may have noticed the proliferation of interstate highways since the 50s and 60s (or maybe not, being in Connecticut), which has allowed the urban sprawl that has occurred throughout the country - not just Cleveland. The greater Cleveland metropolitan area, once largely confined to Cuyahoga County, now includes 5 counties: Cuyahoga, Lorain, Lake, Geauga, Summit, and Medina, because people who live in those places can all commute to downtown Cleveland in a 30-45 minute drive And that doesn't even include Portage (Canton), Stark (Kent), and Erie (Sandusky) counties, which are also arguably part of the greater Cleveland area. I know this because I work inside Cleveland city-limits and I have co-workers who commute from those 3 counties.
Who are the 8 people who put more blame on Hue? Speak up, please!
I chose the FO. I'm not afraid to say that. Are you guys?
I will say again that I don't think we should assign "blame," but rather talk about who is more responsible. People..............this was part of the plan.
I picked coaching, because initially I thought of "current situation" as meaning our 1-31 record. I seriously think we could have won some games and seen some progress with competent coaching, and Hue is responsible for that.
But as I think of the total mess our team is in, it goes back years and the FO/ownership regimes can and should be blamed for building this disaster.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
There has been some shrinkage since the 70's, when Ford, GM, Republic Steel, J&L Steel, and others were all running 3 shifts / 7 days per week, but we are most definitely not "Podunk".
Jackson was rather overt about his intention to have a say in choosing the new Oakland GM and influencing the balance of power between owner, GM and coach.
It was either an incredibly gutsy or fatal attempt to grab more power within the organization. In fact it was probably both.
Owner Mark Davis did not entertain the absurdity of consulting with Jackson to decide who the head coach wanted as his boss. Davis hired Reggie McKenzie from the Packers as GM. Shortly thereafter McKenzie was reported to have fired Hue-bris Jackson, though the latter believes his walking papers came directly from Davis.
Either way, it doesn't really matter: Hue-bris Jackson's tenure was like a meteor that came crashing to the ground in a big, confusing mess.
If the failed power play isn't enough (and you would figure upsetting your owner would generally be the worst thing a coach could do), Hue-bris Jackson is also known for several flaws this season:
Hue-bris Jackson is considered to have heavily overpaid for personnel (i.e. Carson Palmer, Aaron Curry and the strange decision to hire the ancient TJ Houshmanzadeh.)
The Raiders blew several key late game leads through the season. Not exactly ringing endorsements of a coach's ability to keep his team from becoming complacent.
Perhaps worst of all, Hue-bris Jackson's Raiders are officially the most penalized team in the history of the NFL. A horrible season of pervasively poor on-field discipline cost games and exposed a coach who either could not or would not reign in the mental mistakes of his players.
I liked Hue-bris. But I have to admit his inability to jump the hapless Broncos late in the season is very damaging. Perhaps worst of all, the penalties and power grab paint a picture of a man who was not aware of what needed fixing on his team. Instead, he pushed to influence his owner's actions... and succeeded in provoking his own firing much sooner than most expected.
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