DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Head Coach Candidates

I'm not really going to weigh in on whether it would be wise for Matt Campbell to take the HC job for the Browns. Well, okay, maybe a little bit. lol

When you're a young guy, you have an entire career ahead of you. In the grand scheme of things one four year contract may give you some temporary clout and prestige but is it a real opportunity? If you're that good you know more opportunities will come your way. You are building a career and a resume'. You're building a legacy.

In the case of the Browns, I believe any HC candidate would have to look at the ownership in terms of stability. It seems every couple of years Haslam turns over either the coaching position, the FO or both. Each time he hires a new GM, that guy purges the roster and rebuilds. There's zero stability here. If I'm building a resume' and legacy, I would much prefer an opportunity where I believe ownership understands the actual structure of how the NFL works.

The GM answers to the owner. The HC answers to the GM. The OC and DC answer to the HC and so on. I think it's pretty easy to understand why someone who knows and likes a certain candidate would he hope he avoids the dysfunction that has continued under Haslam here. After all, it's easy to see that sometimes our fans lose focus as to where the real problem exists.

There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity. I guess one would have to determine which one of these taking the HC job in Cleveland would be.

I'm sure that lack of stability here will be seen as a negative. That's fair.

There are very few excellent head coaching jobs that come available. For example, the Steelers in 2007 was probably one of the best ever-- just a couple years removed from a Super Bowl win (and a 15-1 season the year before that), elite defense with Dick LeBeau as an entrenched defensive coordinator, and a young Ben Roethlisberger.

Most don't look like that. It only came available because Cowher willingly stepped down. Most come available because the team isn't very good and/or there is chaos in the organization.

There actually were a couple positives of bringing Hue back this year. One of them was showing the coaching world that maybe the Haslams have learned to err on the side of continuity. It says something that a coach can get a third year, no matter how bad the first two went.

The defense has some terrific young pieces-- Garrett, Ogunjobi, Avery, Schobert, Ward. Mayfield and Chubb on offense. There are others, of course.

Once other coaches start going down, it will be insightful to see what those openings look like vs the one here. There's always going to be some risk, and mismanagement from the owner is a pretty big one, I agree. You'd also probably agree that from a football perspective, this one has to be awfully tempting.

Good coaches can whiff on a job like the Browns and still get another one down the line. Even Pat Shurmur-- possibly the second worst Browns coach ever-- got another crack at a head coaching job.

I would have to say that giving Hue another chance in a third season may very well be seen as a positive. And as you suggested, a job like the Steelers doesn't come along every day.

But I don't think an opportunity would have to be "Steelers level" to surpass what many may see the Browns job as being. My point is, and I'll stand by it, is that if you're a young, up and coming HC, you don't have a need to rush into taking a coaching position you don't feel will benefit your career long term.

So I can kind of see the points from both sides.

I have always liked Greg Williams so I hope he wins 6 or 7 games and is retained. I believe he and Mayfield have a strong relationship already just need to find the right Offense for him. Maybe Kitchens can get this offense going.

If a change at the top happens which is almost certain it will, then I really would like to see Flip back in here although I doubt he would want to come back to the Browns.

What would make you think the DC and a QB would have a "strong relationship"?

I could understand a coach on the O side of the ball having a connection with a QB but the DC doesn't even work with the QB.

It would be so Browns if we win enough games that we are "forced" to keep the interim coach. Then then GM still doesn't get his guy and if Williams fails he will be fired too.

Lincoln Riley is the pipe dream best case scenario.

Matt Campbell is the really good, I hope it can happen scenario.

John DeFilippo is the real life scenario that I would probably talk myself into in a couple minutes pretty easily (you can also throw Jim Schwartz into this column).

Gregg Williams is the oh my gosh we actually won a few games and can't find anyone else scenario.

Jeff Fisher is the worst case scenario.

I don't know about Riley. Pretty much every college coach that's come to the pros has failed. Even Saban floundered in Miami. Carroll went the Pro route first, bumped down to college and then came back up before he succeeded. I think Harbaugh is the only one that really succeed coming from the college ranks, and even he was a pro QB and a QB coach for the Raiders, before going to college.

I should probably list out some of the more successful NFL coaches and see what their history is like. It seems like most of them were pro coordinators at some point.

I don't actually mean to insinuate anything. They may work well together for all I know. My question I believed was an obvious one. A "strong relationship" is something I felt would be something that takes time and level of closeness to develop. Not something that just happens overnight.

It just seemed odd to me that this would be a conclusion someone would reach since they actually had no working relationship. One was coached by the HC, OC, QB coach and others on the offensive side of the ball. The DC works with the defense and has little interaction in the day to day with the QB.

He would suit me much better than many I've seen mentioned on this thread.

baker burns the D in practice he is talking smack to Williams. Baker gets picked or pass knocked down, Williams is ripping him for not seeing the play. I know its simple stuff like that but those things are huge especially with the young guy. You don't do that with people you are uncomfortable with.

Its not just those moments either, these guys are seen talking often with Baker asking questions. I would not be surprised if that was one of the reasons GW was promoted to HC over Al. Easier to promote the guy that your rookie stud is comfortable with.

I had no idea this fell under the description of a DC's job.

There have been a ton of failures, that is for sure, but there has also been a ton of successes. Guys like Jimmy Johnson,
Bill Walsh, Dick Vermeil, Dennis Green, and Tom Coughlin all were college head coaches before they became NFL head coaches (most spent time in the NFL before coaching in college).

I also think Chip Kelly would have worked out if his personality wasn't so quirky. Same with Saban, only if he got Drew Brees instead of Daunte Culpepper.

its not ripping him in a mean way, its just guys talking crap to one another. U need these glasses rook? You shoulda seen that safety dropping.

I guess our interpretation of what a "strong relationship" is simply is vastly different.

whats the common theme of Browns head coaches since 2002?
none of the coaches had ZERO experience in turning around a sub.500 team
as a head coach at the NFL level.
Hue was 8 and 8 with the Raiders.
Mangini didnt reach the playoffs with Jets.
so whether its Lincoln Riley
or Abraham Lincoln
it doesnt matter cause history has proved to us the Browns head coaching job is a impossible task to acumalate wins and play meaningful games past October

I just hope that Dorsey makes the choice of the Browns next coach and not Haslam.

While there's no guarantee Dorsey would get it right, history has shown us that Haslam would probably get it wrong.

Haslam hired a search firm last time and they picked Hue Jackson.

So he hired the wrong people again!?

Maybe. He could have given them the wrong qualifications to search for.

I'd rather take my chances with Dorsey.

We must have missed a connection in communication. I was actually agreeing with you. lol

That is what concerns me with Matt Campbell and Lincoln Riley. Not too many guys I can think of with zero previous NFL experience. Jimmy Johnson comes to mind. One could say Harbaugh although he did have NFL playing experience.

I think “ripping” is too strong a word. My impression was they were talking friendly smack, nothing nasty.

He's been on the fast track. Played high school ball at Massillon Perry. Played and coached at Mount Union. Went to Toledo. Got a big deal from Iowa State and they have improved dramatically.

I like him a lot and his family a lot. No way would I want any of them to have deal w/the vile comments from the local media and part of the fan base.

You can look at this board and see how downright mean, nasty, and ugly some of our fans are. And the junk on Twitter is repulsive and people rush to post negative comments on a guy if it fits their line of thinking. It's ugly.

I've talked privately to a few long-time posters and we all agree that the world has gotten much meaner and it's certainly evident on this board.

He will get that with ANY NFL team, and I'm sure that he gets it from his college fanbases as well.

It comes with the territory, and I'm sure he's learned how to block it out.

I was thinking more about the family. No one wants to hear that stuff about their son or brother.

And the other side of the coin is, if he (or WHO ever the next coach is) starts winning, he will be revered and idolized by the fans.

Yep. The only time he got slammed in Toledo is when he left for Iowa State and took some good coaches with him.

I have a feeling that a contract for the millions he would get - generational wealth - would go a long way towards helping a coach, and even his family, grow some pretty thick skin.

I agree with you on all the other examples, but I might be missing something here. Did you mean Haslam?

Sorry, I thought we were talking about DeFilippo.

So did I. Now I'm confused... who are you talking about?

I don't know, but John DeFilippo has never worked for the Chiefs.