DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns hire Andrew Berry as GM and EVP of football operations

I agree. He has no idea what he's doing once he drops back. It's why he resorts to backyard football so much.

But he has that winning gene. He may not be polished but he has a knack for making game winning plays.

I'd take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Our QB is the exact opposite.

I think he's only lost one game by more than a touchdown in the NFL... could be wrong... he's up and down but you are never out of it... part of his problem has been OB is an average offensive mind and Texan s can't keep a WR health besides Hopkins

Haslam has had 5 HC and 5 GM hired and fired since 2012. That allows me absolutely ZERO confidence in his ability to form a team that will succeed.

This "new" alignment has been seen before. Maybe not with everyone being "best friends", but Haslam has tried this, and failed at it, before.

Actually, it failed with DePotesta and Berry as part of the equation.

I am sure that Stefanski is a solid position coach, and a decent OC ..... but we just fired a guy who had 8 games experience as an OC, and hired a guy who has 19. (Now, When he interviewed with us last year, he had 3) Who else has he interviewed with for a HC position?

I see more concerns than assurances here,

We've actually not been down this road with Haslam before.

What's different is that Haslam let the process play out. We've also never been "aligned" as we are now. Let's see how it plays out.

Also .. a football person, a former scout has control of the roster.

Wait, this guy was part of the 1-31 squad. Did he have a hand in drafting Corey Coleman?

Welcome (back) to Cleveland Berry!

Congrats! Lets do this!!!!

He probably did. So what? He was projected to be a first rounder. He had talent.

Who could predict the team's top 2 QBs getting injured the first couple weeks of the season and their deep ball receiver being stuck (not) catching passes from Kessler's noodle arm?

Then having an unready Kizer the next season. That RGIII injury blew up the plan for CoCo.

Being a bad fit on a bad team led to frustration and bad habits.

Hopefully the whole roster is in a better place now. Hopefully we finally catch some breaks on the injury front.

I for one am Berry excited for this trio and look forward to beating DePanski off of some teams this year! Right Dawgs?!

Devil looks around for some high fives...

Only the Shadow Knows.

Hilarious.

Berry possibly wasn't involved in picking players implied but hired as a GM.

Also, Watson isn't good.

Coleman had talent.

Awesome. Great chat.

Jimmy wants a yes man for a GM.

He got his man.

Or maybe he's just tired of divas. Big babies that feel the need to "flex" on people they disagree with have led to some lousy outcomes. Maybe instead of digging in and making picks everyone isn't on board with, leading to discord and division, we'll come to consensus on things and actually have a team instead of a bunch of competing factions.

It sounds like we have 3 very intelligent men, Kevin Stefanski, Andrew Berry, and Paul DePodesta, working together for us. Things might be different this time. Let's give it a chance, a REAL chance.

Andrew Berry named Browns Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager

The Browns on Tuesday named Andrew Berry, a former Browns Vice President of Player Personnel who spent the past season in a similar role with the Philadelphia Eagles, as the team's Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager.

Berry, 32, returns to Cleveland after serving as a Vice President of Football Operations with the Philadelphia Eagles for the past year. He becomes the youngest known general manager in NFL history.

"We are thrilled Andrew will lead our football operations," Dee and Jimmy Haslam said. "We have always been profoundly impressed with him as a consummate professional who has meticulously studied his craft every place he has worked and is extremely dedicated to utilizing every resource to improve an organization and to enhance his own knowledge. He will be a tremendous partner with Kevin as he embraces the critical nature of his relationship with the head coach. We know he can't wait to get to work."

Berry will be introduced at a press conference Feb. 5 at the team's facility in Berea.

Berry first joined the Browns in 2016 as a vice president of player personnel, working first under Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown and then General Manager John Dorsey. He helped lead all talent evaluation efforts for the club, including college prospects and NFL free agents. He also helped in overseeing the club's scouting department and worked closely with other high-ranking members of the front office.

During Berry's three seasons with the Browns, the team selected at least one Pro Bowler every year: LB Joe Schobert (fourth round, 2016), DE Myles Garrett (first round, 2017), CB Denzel Ward (first round, 2018) and RB Nick Chubb (second round, 2018).

In his one draft with the Eagles, Philadelphia used a second-round pick on RB Miles Sanders, who went on to lead all NFL rookies in scrimmage yards with 1,327 and set an Eagles rookie rushing record with 818 yards.

"I'm honored and blessed to lead the Football Operations of the Cleveland Browns," Berry said. "I'm appreciative of the Haslam family for entrusting me to be a steward of a franchise that is so rich in tradition and history. The passion for football courses through the veins of Northeast Ohio in a manner that is unique to that of any other region. Our fan base's devotion to the Browns is the catalyst for such affection for the sport. Rewarding YOU all—our loyal and faithful Dawg Pound—will energize and motivate me daily to attack the challenge ahead of us. It is for that reason that I am excited to partner with Kevin Stefanski—a coach I know our city will embrace because of his leadership skills, work ethic, humility and character—to work tirelessly and with immediate urgency toward building a winning organization that will make the people of Cleveland proud."

Berry started with the Colts in 2009 as a scouting assistant and was promoted to pro scout in 2011 before being elevated to pro scouting coordinator in 2012. During his time in Indianapolis, the Colts won four AFC South titles, made five postseason appearances and advanced to Super Bowl XLIV. From 2009-15, Indianapolis won 67 games, the sixth-most in the NFL during that span.

In the Colts' front office, Berry managed the free agency process, scouted upcoming opponents and evaluated NFL players and players from other professional leagues. He also assisted with college scouting, preparation for the NFL draft and participated in contract negotiations during free agency.

"I was introduced to Andrew about 10 years ago at the Senior Bowl by Leslie Frazier so I've known him for quite some time," Head Coach Kevin Stefanski said. "I've always respected him for the way he's carried himself in this profession. Andrew is extremely knowledgeable and is always looking to improve himself. We share a vision on the type of team we need to build to have the success our fans deserve. I'm excited and very much looking forward to getting to work with Andrew and developing the type of partnership needed for sustained success."

Berry graduated from Harvard University [censored] laude with a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in computer science in four years. While at Harvard, he was a four-year starter as a cornerback and was a three-time All-Ivy League team selection and an All-America honoree. He totaled 125 career tackles and five interceptions playing for the Crimson.

Berry and his wife Brittan have two boys, Zion and Kairo.

Her cutting edge journalism streak is alive. Not the hiring story, the one she wanted to write?

lame perhaps.

"I'm honored and blessed to lead the Football Operations of the Cleveland Browns," Berry said. "I'm appreciative of the Haslam family for entrusting me to be a steward of a franchise that is so rich in tradition and history. The passion for football courses through the veins of Northeast Ohio in a manner that is unique to that of any other region. Our fan base's devotion to the Browns is the catalyst for such affection for the sport. Rewarding YOU all—our loyal and faithful Dawg Pound—will energize and motivate me daily to attack the challenge ahead of us. It is for that reason that I am excited to partner with Kevin Stefanski—a coach I know our city will embrace because of his leadership skills, work ethic, humility and character—to work tirelessly and with immediate urgency toward building a winning organization that will make the people of Cleveland proud."

Counter that with:

"Awake the sleeping Giant"

very uninspiring hire...with haslam, the talent pool for quality FO/coaches willing to work here amounts to a puddle

Like GMs are really inspiring. How many can you name offhand without looking them up team by team?

Im interested to see what this guy can do standing on his own two feet and being "the man" in charge of the 53.

Oh no! He's left handed!

Hey now!

Remember about 5-7 years ago when things, weren't going well,
Well they werent' going well but they had common sense.

And Oh, one day things got all screwy when The Owners walked in and all the people with football sense, might have looked up and uh

All of a sudden here is for the first time "Dee" and Sashi, and This Berry gentleman, and Depodesta, and what not, and uhh, they all started to hold meeting as a group of about 5, and put the hammer down on "authority" as a group clique,

And that was about 5-7 years ago, and uhh, it didnt' go so well, , in fact, in my opinion it was not just a dumpster fire,
it was a forest fire, and not just a forest fire
(in terms of success vs. failure)
but a forest fire of Australia this year proportions
i.e like 50 times the size of a normal California forsest fire.

So it's been BAD to say the least, errrr, UNSUCCESSFUL!

And uhh, Maybe, Dorsey, and umm Freddie, were a little bit of a return to the common - football sense thinkers, ... expecially Haley, and Gregg Williams seemed to be football guys.

BUT!!! !!! !!!

Since we've seen this hasn't worked out for poop, with 5 years, "RECENT" years, to go on, as an example... a' control group so to speak

The appearance that the Browns have decided to umm, "double down" on Barry, Depo, and anylitics, (less than football common thinkers-- sense)

leave me non-plussed to say the least; and expecting absolute freakin disgraceful results as we've seen in the past, to equal some of the "worst" years we've seen
competitive wise, since 2006.

Now I can root for the team all you want, but there's only SO MANY TIMES,
I mean it's like , if you keep hiring an 11 year old kid, to teach kindergartners school lessons,

and you come back and go DUH! They didn't teach the curriculum; they took em to "chuck E' Cheeses'" again...
"Let's find another 11 year old to teach the kindergartners"

Wait a second, there's a problem with the process.
I want to laugh! But I'm crying- on the inside.

Forget what the fans deserve, how about the "town" with the "Name" of the City of "Cleveland." Give them a football team, That's Built Right!

But hey, I guess we'll "wait and freakin see!" < that's the only funny part left. (Funny because there isn't a member on this board who doesn't know exactly how bad this is going to go, whether they want to admit it in their hearts, or not,)

Not exactly true .... and for the record I’m not concerned with his past ... but we do know something ...

We know he was apart of two BRUTAL DRAFTS ... we know he played a role ... were just not sure exactly what that role was ...

If i would want to consider anything with him it would be the talent they brought in Phili ... i have no clue .... we also know he was involved but who knows how much ...

He’s young but he’s also super smart and driven. That counts as a major negative with lots of folks on this board but not with me. To graduate with a BS is economics AND a masters in comp sci in 4 years from Harvard is no joke. That’s a tiny cohort. It means you’re not just smart, you’re much further along in terms of personal discipline and professional development than 99.99..% of the people you meet. So yes, he’s young and absolutely could fall on his face as so many others have but I’m mildly reassured that we won’t likely do abjectly stupid things. That alone would be a breath of the fresh stuff. I’ve been around plenty of successful people from lots of different backgrounds and a fancy degree(s) certainly doesn’t guarantee anything but it does tell you he’s smart, organized, disciplined and knows how to connect. Does that translate to a winning football team? We’ll see.

I have never Browns fans more apathetic than I have this year...

if they don't turn things around, this could get ugly quick

Yes it could. However I will still be here with my pom pom's praying for a Browns Super Bowl win. Nothing can change that. Not even death.

Good luck Andy ....

Says every Browns fans everywhere, every year.

It got ugly this past year .. all the hype, expectations, all the "WE are going all the way" talk, led to the apathetic feelings we have now. Freddy wasn't ready, Dorsey thought he was infallible, and the peasants ( fans ) revolted.

j/c:

Making a brief appearance in case anyone wants a different perspective and doesn't mind getting off the beaten path.

I've been reading quite a bit about how good it is that we are finally getting everyone on the same page. I am a bit surprised that everyone's memory is so short, because we heard the same mantra not that long ago.

It's when Shanny was here. Many media members and fans said he was a "me" guy and you couldn't win w/those type of guys. They said he didn't work well w/others. Folks were so hopeful because we would be so much better off w/everyone working together and on the same page.

That turned out well.

The other thing I would like to point out is that some folks are saying that Dorsey couldn't work w/others. They point to one article while he was in KC and repeat it over and over again like there are many examples of that claim, when in fact, it was just one opinion. It was not "widely reported." Instead, it has been widely regurgitated by certain folks who had it out for Dorsey.

I think it has been reported that Dorsey had the respect of many football guys around the league. It's been said that is why he was able to make so many trades. Other folks trusted him because of his willingness to work fairly w/others.

I want to shift slightly to Depo and those who were/are in his camp. A lot has been made over the "flexing my muscles" comment, but those same folks ignore information from the very same article where Depo and company would not tell their head coach who they were drafting until the day of the draft. Those guys wanted Trubisky. Hue wanted Myles. They kept him in the dark throughout the entire process. Is that working w/others?

Now, pair that information by putting yourself in Dorsey's shoes. You know that the analytics guys had multiple instances of not working well w/their the coaching staff. You also are working your tail off and have to deal w/a guy that can't even be committed enough to move to Cleveland and is instead working from San Diego. Yet, that guy has the ear of Haslam and is bucking the moves of others in the organization. How would you feel about that? Would you trust Depo and his guys?

There are a ton of other examples that give credence to these points, such as Hue calling D. Watson and saying they are going to draft him, but then the FO trading away the pick. I won't go into all of them, but it's out there for all to see if they care to look.

It is my contention that Depo and his guys were never happy w/Dorsey and they were in Haslam's ear the entire time. When things went south this year in regards to the Brown's record, their voice became even more persuasive in Jimmy's mind, because he almost assuredly did not enjoy taking a back seat and allowing the GM to have so much control of football operations.

The Browns lost the best thing they have had since their rebirth in John Dorsey and the building is full of snakes and incompetents that are in over their head. That is my take and I will not be rooting for such folks. I'll come back after they are gone.

Expectations breed let-downs. I really hated all the preseason hype this year. HATED it. It really teed up an epic let down and boy did they deliver. I predicted 8-8 and everyone feeling like crap about it and I was more right than wrong. So some apathy and blasé and resigned sighing among the fan base and media are not necessarily a bad thing imo. Who knows what the atmosphere will be come late summer but the pressure of expectations and the handling of it shouldn’t be as stupid as it was this year. And that should help the team focus on what’s important which is, you know, blocking and tackling and stuff.

Well said,

People always say that football is a business. Well, we have a triumvirate of Ivey's. All played football at their schools and have been involved in the NFL for a good number of years.

So we have football guys...smart football guys. Not to say the others weren't smart, just not as smart.

Our GM is held as a respected talent evaluator and administrator in many circles around the league.

Our Coach is seen as a top offensive mind. A riser in the coaching ranks and one who holds to old school football values.

Our strategy officer is probably the best in the business at what he does.

Will it work? Who knows. What I do know is everything we do will be well thought out between Berry and Stefanski, with top shelf support information provided by the chess player Depo.

I don't get the hate. We have 3 really sharp people in charge of different, but related avenues.

Sounds like a plan to me.

Welp, I can’t speak for anyone else but I neither know the past or present machinations of what’s really happening in Berea and am not rooting for/against any specific faction real or perceived in the organization. I wanted Dorsey to succeed. I liked a bunch of his moves, disliked others. Whatever. I don’t really know what Depobaseball can or will do moving forward but I’m rooting for whomever can bring a winning team. Who comprises the FO I will one day matter very little to me. Ultimately, heart of hearts, I don’t believe anything will work with Haslam involved. So what happens among the names below him I suspect won’t matter much and the thing will eventually go rotten, be it this group or the next or the next. I’m hoping. Hoping for luck. But I’ll be rooting in my little way for these guys and then the next. Rooting to forget about them in the bright lights of a decent team.

I think that 'these guys' are here for a while...

I think so as well.

Seems like 'The Plan' is back on track after a 2 year absence...