DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns Short-List of Head Coaching Candidates

We'll always have August of 2019 when we thought we'd be good.

oh well guys thats what im rolling with. keep freddie.

i wont be upset if they go another direction, but if they do, it better be for a guy with real experience. cause if its another project at HC, then what was the point...

Do they roll them tightly?

nah too tight and you cant pull it properly.

It all rides on making the correct decisions. Our track record ain't very good.

I am telling everyone right now that Baker is going to be a road block to getting a good coach. He was so bad this year do you think a McCarthy or McDaniels want to hitch their wagons to him? Knowing that if he doesn't play well they could be one and done?

You might have to go with someone like Stefanski which will be an utter failure.

If it is not one of these guys, they've gotten it wrong again...McCarthy, Rivera, McDaniels, Riley, or Rhule. That's it. And other than Riley none of those guys may want to hitch their wagons to Baker. That's a huge risk.

After Freddie is fired, it's going to be a crap show. And I'd expect nothing less.

Coaches always think they are the ones that are going to be able to unlock a guy. Our job is not as coveted as it was at this time last year but it will probably be the second best one available behind the Cowboys.

Exactly. All of them have giant egos and believe they're the cure for the ailment. We'll get tons of interest. It's the final decision that always concerns me.

Did Baker take a step back or were his pass catchers just out (Njoku/Higgins/Callaway) or trying to play hurt (OBJ/Landry)? Tretter and Hubbard have been trying to play hurt as well. Greg Robinson turned back into a pumpkin (I think he's thinking about technique too much again). Baker took a beating himself early in the year.

He's definitely looked like he's taken a step back, but there are possibly reasons.

Most of those reasons apply to Freddie, too.

When injuries happen to key pieces in a transition season, bad things happen. Throw in a rough schedule to start the season and it's not a recipe for success.

We've botched every head coach search since Haslam took over. When we hired Chud we first thought we were getting Chip Kelly. When we hired Mike Pettine we were wandering in the wilderness searching for anybody who wanted the job, then 2/3 of the people doing the interviewing were fired after Pettine got the job. When we hired Hue Jackson the front office wanted Sean McDermott and Haslam overruled them. When we hired Freddie Kitchens there was said to be a divide between who Dorsey wanted and who DePodesta wanted.

(I just have to say that I wanted Kitchens last year at this time. It became apparent pretty quickly that he was not the man for the job.)

if they are at another crossroad, they might as well finally sell their soul to the devil and be done with it...can't hurt, may even work

I wasn't disappointed in the Kitchens hire either but you and I being mistaken doesn't really affect the team much. The FO on the other hand...

j/c...

Bitonio is getting a bigger voice. He comments on the organization as a whole...

LOL - sure. A guy who 25% of the teams in the NFL had rated as the best QB when he was in the draft - set an all time NFL record as a rookie QB even though he didn't start from game 1 - had Hue Jackson as his HC for the half the season when he did start - then had Freddie (possibly/probably the worst HC this year) as his HC year two (when he admittedly regressed to the point of bad) ...... yeah - that guy is going to be a road block to getting a good coach? Very fair and balanced, un-jaundiced view point. Or not.

Benched for tomorrow

Baker is more of a reason why someone would come here instead of a reason why someone would NOT come here.

Dream on.
This is CLE.

Test the water in Berea.
I'll keep saying it until:

1. Someone looks sane at 76 Groza
2. Someone tests the water.

That's a slightly misleading headline. Not inaccurate, but not a very good summation of everything Bitonio said. But clickbait is what media does now.

I don't care if he stays or goes, but if he stays, take the play calling away from him. That in itself should give us more wins.

He already said he was only going to do the work he thinks he needs to do the way he thinks he needs to do it. That's basically going to accomplish nothing.

And no, no coach is coming here because of the 33rd ranked QB in the league. For those keeping score at home, that's out of 32 teams. One team has 2 QBs ahead of Baker. The guy lost to Brandon Allen and some guy known for making duck calls. This was the number one overall pick.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

I like Baker and still think he can be our franchise QB for many years. However, Baker is an employee of the Cleveland Browns. He shouldn't dictate what he will do in the offseason but do what the Browns want him to do. If the Browns want him to train a certain way or train with a certain coach then that's what he needs to do. He may have had a bigger say in things after the fine 1st season he had but not after how he and the team played this year. This will be especially true if we hire a new HC and staff. The players work for the Browns not the other way around.

Would u care to discuss his moves in LA and SD? ...

I’m not one to talk out my butt on history ... i am wrong a ton an future stuff like Freddie and Brady but i dont talk out my butt on history ...

I know the moves he made in all 3 places ... HE STUNK ...

There was a reason he was canned in LA and SD so quickly ....

I am not sure but I don't think the team is permitted to do that - I am not even sure how far they can go towards requesting/suggesting what any player 'should' or 'has' to do.

I found it!

"2012 - Nothing"

Though come to think of it, and all joking aside, 2012 was the year Haslam bought the team. That was during the season though.

Is it normal to transfer ownership during a season?

Odd how you’re willing to give baker all the love when it’s going well, then blame everybody else and start talking about “the team lost”, even though actual ex nfl players always refer to QBs losing to other QBs.

All those questions you asked Rish, yet the one question that needs to be answered is this: how do you know how players view head to head matchups and W- L records?

You keep talking about how the team lost, yet won’t hesitate to bring up bakers W -L record when it was going well last year.

Keep that same energy.

It's because when people post nothing worthy of debate, there's nothing left to do but laugh.

Dorsey is the best thing to come to town since our return and it isn't even close. We have the most talented roster we've had in decades.

I'm not going to legitimize the angry mob trying to debate something that makes zero sense. Speaking of expecting better from some of our posters....

let's agree to root for a browns victory today … I am not trying to debate but you are way wrong.

"There was a reason he was canned in LA and SD so quickly"

He was never "canned" in San Diego - he was hired in 2006 promoted in 2008 and then took a role with the Mets in 2010 (most of the west coast writers lamented losing him and wrote about how he really modernized the Padres operations) - 4 years with a promotion is not canned so quickly.

He was a GM once - in LA he was fired

The guy seems to have figured out where he provides the most value and does it quietly behind the scenes

Well thought out take. I can't disagree. I am kind of in the middle on theissue. Your take makes me lean your way.

Also, it puts some pressure on Dorsey. He hired the guy, he needs to figure out how to work with him. Something needs to be done with playcalling etc. They can figure it out.

If after next season it is still screwed up, we can talk about jobs, and not just the head coach.

The only reservation is I and You, nor anybody else really knows the attitude in Berea. If the players aren't buying, then a change needs to happen later today.

Thanks for the info on SD ... thought he got fired toot sweet from there also ... i know LA was extremely quick ...

U wanna talk moves I’m game ... I’d actually like too ... i my learn sumptin, he may not have been as bad as i think he was ... i know he hurt LA bigtime and he didn't help in NY ..

I have no clue why u think he contributes quietly behind the scenes ... especially not here ...

In baseball he was a failure ... way over rated IMO ... his analytics/moneyball was great for small market teams with no budgets .... thats why it helped in Oakland and maybe SD but he sure as all heck did nothing as far as acquiring personal in his big market stints ...

In football ... none of us has a clue how much or little input he has ... Peen acts like he does al the good stuff and the football guys do all the bad stuff ... *LOL* .... i

Brother, that is settling for mediocrity. I think we have to step back and really ask ourselves if we believe this or if we are talking ourselves into thinking something is better than it actually is. Let me say first....I agree that FK gets questioned more than any HC in their 1st year considering Chubb's success, Landry's 1000 yd season (and possibly OBJs), Myles was on course for a Pro Bowl season and we went 4-2 (assuming we win today) in the division.

HOWEVER, we also had a season of unbelievable drama and horrific game day play and collapses including coaching that never got better. In fact, the last 80 sec of the 1st half v Baltimore last week was atrocious and stands out as a serious alarm bell that FK just doesn't get it and hasn't improved. We have a #1 draft pick/franchise QB who has seriously regressed in their vital sophomore season and I am willing to put money on the fact that FKs hiring of Lindley hasn't helped. Josh Allen has done more (and Darnold) w/a lot less around them. We have had some of our better players listed as healthy scratches (Higgins and Njoku), Randall has regressed, we traded Avery, Schobert isn't wrapped up for an extension, and our defense literally looks to have given up in several games. The only coach who appears to be getting his unit to buy in and play for him is Pfreifer. And, we have seen serious lapses in discipline since TC, preseason and into the regular season since the debacle in the opening game. Garrett and Whitehead being the worst offenders, but it has been a joke.

Given all the money spent and the talent acquired I honestly do not think 7-9, or half a game worse than last year with superior talent, is acceptable. IF we go 6-10 that is even worse. I never expected Super Bowl, and I admit I didn't expect LJ to have the season he has had (or to improve his passing as much as he has), but I did expect to compete for the title rather than to finish in 3rd and I also expected at least a Wild Card. Did I buy into the kool aid? Perhaps. Is that an entitlement? Sure. But, again...given how we finished 2018 and the $ spent and talent acquired I think we were all expecting far better than 7-9 and certainly much better than a very realistic possibility of 6-10.

Regarding Mangini, Shurmur and Jackson...FK has more talent than any of those coaches. I don't know about Shurmur, but I am pretty confident that Hue and Eric could have won more than 7 games with this roster. Hell, Hue had his team of inferior talent playing significantly harder than FK has this team playing. Certainly, on the defensive side of the ball he did.

So, I celebrate Chubb, Landry's personal successes and I hope OBJ gets his 1000 yards today, but no...I can't settle for mediocrity. That's a dangerous thing to do given our past 20 years of bottom of the barrel football play, coaching and drafting.

Before last week's game I was still on the fence about firing FK, but unfortunately I think the Haslam's have to move on from this guy. Regarding Dorsey, I think that is a bigger decision. Yes, he has proved he doesn't walk on water (we saw that with his wasted pick #33) and he made the decision to hire FK, which may be his ultimate downfall. But he has also done a lot in his time here and made our roster relevant and certainly one that should be able to compete. If they do move on from him I would hope Wolf or Highsmith stay as GM and Pres. But, Highsmith is pretty tied to Dorsey so I can see him going as well and Wolf being promoted to GM. Remember, Wolf was overlooked and snubbed by Green Bay. Maybe his time has come and it will be Cleveland whose keys he finally gets to drive.

I agree and that’s the biggest problem: we have a roster full of talent, but if that roster is full of players with zero confidence in Freddie, than he has to go.

I guess we’ll find out today how the players come out during the game. While it will most certainly make me question the character of the guys on the roster, if we come out flat and lose, Freddie is out of here.

I feel that bro but what was realistically suppose to happen with a first year HC and a 2nd year QB going into his first season as the undisputed starter?

The 1st thing that needs to happen is for everyone to take a deep breath and relax for a minute to gain some perspective ...

Did you forget where you were?