‘1-goal. Trust. 6:15 AM. Don’t be scared.’ And more words John Dorsey lives by as he rebuilds the Browns — Terry Pluto
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/09...erry-pluto.htmlBy Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
BEREA, Ohio — It didn’t take long for John Dorsey to figure out what the Browns needed — beyond a major talent infusion.
As we talked in his office four days before the season opened, the Browns general manager stood up and wrote one word on the big white board:
TRUST.
“That’s what has to permeate through the building,” he said. “It’s incredibly important.”
Dorsey doesn’t want to discuss the situation he inherited when he took over for Sashi Brown as head of the team’s football operations in December of 2017. But he did explain:
“My first four weeks, I was able to study everything from the people in the building – the support staff, the coaches, players and to some degree, ownership. You do mental gymnastics about what needs to be fixed. Then you go about it in a non-threatening way.”
It’s more than replacing people and players.
“You need to make moves where you can can create the harmony you want,” he said.
Coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley were fired in the middle of the 2018 season. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam mentioned “internal discord.” That has been the Browns’ problem for decades.
Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam seem to have found a GM they can trust in John Dorsey. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)
Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam seem to have found a GM they can trust in John Dorsey. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)
A REASON TO TRUST
When Dee and Jimmy Haslam hired Dorsey, they brought in a man who played in the NFL with the Packers. He worked his way up from a lowly scout in Green Bay to being general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs. In Kansas City, he combined with coach Andy Reid to take a 2-14 team to the playoffs in their first season together (2013). They made the playoffs all four years.
Some say he lost a power struggle to Reid. Others say Dorsey was fired because of problems handling the salary cap. Regardless of the reason, he was dumped following the 2017 draft. His final big decision for that organization was to trade up and draft a quarterback named Patrick Mahomes.
So, Dorsey arrived in town with more credentials than many men who have sat in the general manager’s office.
The Haslams also were mentally exhausted by all the losing and turmoil within the organization. They were ready for a strong leader. So were most fans, who soon embraced Dorsey as they watched his front office work when it came time to draft and trade for players.
FINDING THE RIGHT COACH
Heading into the 2018 training camp, Freddie Kitchens was the new backfield coach. He was hired by then-offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Dorsey did not know Kitchens well. Who would’ve guessed a year later Kitchens would be the head coach of the team?
“Football is a very interesting game,” said Dorsey.
Kitchens never has been a head coach at any level of football.
“He is a leader of men,” Dorsey now says. How does he know?
He said it began in the final preseason game of 2018. That was when Kitchens was given permission to call the plays for Baker Mayfield.
“I walked away from that game and thought, ‘He’s got IT,’ ” said Dorsey.
He has what?
“IT,” repeated Dorsey. “IT is part of play calling. Everyone thinks play calling is a science. I see it more as an art. Preparation is a big part, but it’s still a feel of the game … an art.”
ONE DECISION AT A TIME
Other than drafting Mayfield, Dorsey’s most important decision since taking over the Browns has been the hiring of Kitchens.
It goes back to building trust. Dorsey wanted to move away from all the factions, second-guessing and finger-pointing that have torpedoed the team for years. That begins when owners trust the general manager. The Haslams have expressed strong faith in Dorsey and his front office people.
Then the front office and coach have to be together. Dorsey fixed the front office by hiring Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith as his assistant general managers. The three worked together for years in Green Bay. They shared a common team-building vision, as was expressed on his white board written in red:
1-PURPOSE
1-MIND
1-GAME
1-0.
For that to happen, there has to be one more thing…
Cleveland Browns GM John Dorsey took a gamble making Freddie Kitchens the head coach. Kitchens has never been a head coach before. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)
cleveland.com
Cleveland Browns GM John Dorsey took a gamble making Freddie Kitchens the head coach. Kitchens has never been a head coach before. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)
FINDING THE RIGHT COACH
When it came to hiring Kitchens, Dorsey looked beyond the play calling with these questions:
1. “Does he fit the cultural values you are trying to build?”
2. “Can the job be too big for him?”
3. “Can he establish the trust of the players by being the same guy, day in and day out?”
Dorsey saw how Kitchens brought the offense together in the final eight games of 2018. On the field, the Browns went from a bottom-10 offense in the first eight games to a top-10 offense in most categories in the final eight.
“He coaches the way a team should be coached,” said Dorsey. “You could see the offense come together, beyond the play calling. He established a trust factor with players by being the same guy every day ... Consistency.”
The John Dorsey front office got it right by making Baker Mayfield the top pick in the 2018 NFL draft. (John Kuntz, cleveland.com)
cleveland.com
The John Dorsey front office got it right by making Baker Mayfield the top pick in the 2018 NFL draft. (John Kuntz, cleveland.com)
PULLING TOGETHER
Also written on white board is this quote from former Green Bay Packers GM Ron Wolf:
“ALL OF US ARE VICTIMS OF OUR OWN SELF IMPORTANCE.”
As I started to mention how Dorsey now has “his guys” running things, he stopped me and said “It’s our guys.” That led to something else on his white board:
“MOST INFORMED DECISIONS ARE ABOUT WE, NOT I”
About four months before the 2018 draft, Dorsey had his main advisors rate the quarterbacks: Josh Rosen, Josh Allen, Sam Darnold and Mayfield. They were told not to talk to each other. Doing this exercise were Wolf, Highsmith and advisor Scot McCloughan. They also used the old Green Bay Packers rating system … a system they learned from Ron Wolf, Eliot’s father.
All three came back with Mayfield ranked as the No. 1 quarterback. They sought other areas of information. The analytics people loved Mayfield, based on the stats from his college career at Oklahoma. Then the meetings began.
“You get every piece of information you can so you can make a factual decision, not an emotional decision,” Dorsey said.
The general manager said if someone has an extremely strong voice, don’t let that person speak first. Open with the people whose personalities are more quiet. Let their opinions come out first so they aren’t intimidated by louder voices.
“God created us with two ears and one mouth for a reason,” said Dorsey. “Listen more than you talk. I don’t reveal my opinion until the end.”
Then they go over all the information again. It was the same process he used in Kansas City. The result? In back-to-back years, Dorsey’s front office drafted Mahomes and Mayfield … two of the best young QBs in the NFL. Neither were rated by most “experts” as the top QBs in their respective drafts.
TRUSTING BAKER MAYFIELD
I asked Dorsey if he was concerned about Mayfield having a fall off in his second pro season. It’s called the “sophomore jinx,” the result of a successful rookie not being as dedicated as in his first season.
“You always worry, that’s human nature,” said Dorsey. "But from what I’ve seen in camp on a daily basis, I’m ecstatic.”
Then Dorsey wrote this on the whiteboard:
6:15 AM
“Every morning, I drop into the quarterback room at 6:15 in the morning,” said Dorsey. “I see Baker there with Drew Stanton and Garrett Gilbert. All three quarterbacks. Baker isn’t a worker. He LOVES football. He has that football mindset.”
It’s more than work, it’s a passion … even an obsession … in the mind of Dorsey. It’s why he brought in veteran QBs Tyrod Taylor and Stanton a year ago to set the standard for Mayfield.
“He saw them and knew, ‘This is what a real quarterback room looks like,’” said Dorsey.
BIG EXPECTATIONS
The Browns finished 7-8-1 last season. That was a huge jump from 1-31 in the previous two years. But this is a franchise that has not had a winning record since 10-6 in 2007. Now, the Browns are being picked by many experts to make the playoffs. Some fans are starting to have dreams of a Super Bowl.
“We always start with being competitive in the AFC North.’” said Dorsey. “The expectations are set and they are challenging goals. There is a lot of hype out there, but the only thing that matters is expectations in the locker room — the players and coaching staff.”
The 59-year-old Dorsey has been around far too long to play the prediction game. Ask him about a record, and points to the “1-0 … 1-GAME … 1 … 1-PURPOSE” mantra on the whiteboard.
But Dorsey made big trades to win now, adding Pro Bowlers Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon from the New York Giants. Only nine players are left from when he took over. His goal is to win soon, but not give away the future in the process.
A 2019 first-round pick was part of the Beckham deal with New York. Beckham is only 26 and under contract for five more seasons.
“Odell is one of the most prolific receivers in the NFL at a very young age,” he said. “When you have a young quarterback like Baker, why not surround him with enough playmakers to accelerate his progress?”
DON’T BE SCARED
That’s something else written on the whiteboard. It’s part of what Dorsey learned from watching Ron Wolf rebuild the Packers in the 1990s.
“If you really want to rebuild this thing and get it to the level it should be, you have to stay true to core beliefs,” he said.
That includes taking some chances. It could be with Mayfield, considered by some too short at 6-foot to be a big-time NFL QB. It could be drafting or signing some players with trouble in their past. It could be hiring a rookie head coach in Kitchens.
“I mention Ron Wolf a lot,” said Dorsey. “You go back on his moves, he wasn’t scared. He was aggressive.”
Sometimes, when an executive such as Dorsey is fired and lands another job, he could be more cautious. Not Dorsey.
“What, I’m going to get fired again?” he said, laughing. “When I did self-assessments after I was fired, I thought the way we built that model in KC was pretty good. There are some things to tweak. But for the most part, that’s the proper strategy in the rebuild.”
Then Dorsey sincerely thanked the Haslams for supporting him in some of the decisions he made.
THE BIG DREAM
Dorsey loves football history. He is in the process of collecting films and video of every Browns game back to the 1940s. For the interview, he was in his usual unofficial “uniform,” a gray Cleveland Browns sweatshirt and a “Brownie" baseball cap. It fits in perfect with the gritty fans of this city.
“This is a great football city, an iconic franchise,” said Dorsey. “I want the 2019 Browns to make you proud to be a Browns fan.”
Dorsey knows the schedule is demanding, especially the first eight games. He also knows he’s added a lot of new players and coaches. It takes some time for it to blend together.
“I ask the fans to exercise a degree of patience,” he said. “We are building this thing to last 10 years, not just have one good year.”
Then he paused, leaned back in his chair. He desperately wants the Browns and their fans to have something to cheer about … something good … something big.
“Why not us?” asked Dorsey. “Why can’t we have a franchise to make us proud? That’s what we’re all working towards.”
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