DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum View from Pluto

The View from Pluto

By Terry Pluto

Akron Beacon Journal

(MCT)

There will be big changes on the Cleveland Browns' coaching staff even if coach Romeo Crennel survives - and that's not a guarantee. It's no secret that the Browns have major concerns about several people on their staff, and one of the conditions of Crennel returning will be whether he is willing to go along with a major shakeup of his staff.

_ As of now, General Manager Phil Savage insists that Crennel will be back. Of course, what else would he say? The Browns never had any intention of firing Crennel during the season. Rarely do interim coaches work. Nor do the Browns have a replacement in mind at the moment. They know Crennel was given a roster with little talent, and the Browns have had as many as 10 starters injured for some games. Even the harshest Crennel critic knows this 4-11 season is not all the fault of the coach.

_ Why is Crennel on thin ice? His inability to deal with wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who might have been a few minutes late for two meetings before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. The Browns were outraged about Edwards telling TV commentator J.C. Pearson that he had dislocated right thumb. He didn't miss a practice. He didn't think the hand was hurt severely enough to have an X-ray.

_ Edwards knew he wasn't starting because of the discipline by Crennel, and he had a sore thumb - so why tell the TV people he was injured? That way, it doesn't appear he's being disciplined when he opens the game on the bench. In his own way, Edwards is worried about his public image. Too bad he doesn't think about that before he does and says some of the things that get him in trouble.

_ The Browns want it to work with Edwards. They still believe he can be a big-play receiver. They have more than $18 million in guaranteed money tied up in him. He would not be easy to trade because his contract is tough on any team's salary cap. His surgically repaired knee has been sound, giving him little trouble. For all his self-absorbed antics, he has six touchdown catches and 57 receptions, averaging 14.7 yards. He has had 13 catches for at least 20 yards - four of them for more than 40 yards. The Browns believe that the coaches need to get him focused. They know that he will drop some balls - he did at Michigan - but they also are convinced he can make game-breaking plays.

_ The problems with Edwards also reflect poorly on receivers coach Terry Robiskie, who probably won't be back. Often, it's hard for an interim coach from a previous regime to be effective with a new head coach and a new staff.

_ As one Browns operative said, one of the reasons they signed Joe Jurevicius was to bring a veteran presence into the film room with the other receivers. It appears some of the young guys have ignored Jurevicius. He's very frustrated.

_ In December, the Browns finally have Jurevicius in the offense, and 20 of his 22 catches have been for first downs. On the year, it's 31-of-40 for first downs. By contrast, Edwards is 35-of-57 for first downs. Jurevicius knows how to run the right pattern to catch a ball for a first down, something most young receivers need to learn.

_ The Browns say Edwards seemed to be distracted and getting out of control after his sophomore season at Michigan. Coach Lloyd Carr became very tough and demanding, and Edwards responded. The feeling now is that Crennel was just too patient with his young receiver.

_ If Crennel does lose his job, it will be because of two people: Maurice Carthon and Edwards. His loyalty to Carthon as offensive coordinator bothered some in the front office and some players, who could see that Carthon was overmatched. Crennel's inability to keep Edwards in line has bothered some veteran players, and the front office knows it reflects poorly on the team in terms of having order and discipline.

_ As we know with the Browns, things can change. It appears Randy Lerner remains firmly behind Savage. He should know that changing general managers is not a great idea because it means the entire organization starts over again with drafting, scouting, etc.

_ Next week, several coaches will be fired because the regular season will be over. That means several experienced coaches will be available. The Browns would be smart to see if there is an attractive candidate. It makes no sense to replace Crennel with the hot coordinator of the year. Hey, that was Crennel in 2005. If there's a head coach available who has lots of experience and would be a good fit, however, they must consider him.

If the Browns lose Sunday, they might draft as high as third. That could give them a chance to take Joe Thomas, the left tackle from Wisconsin. Most scouts consider him good but not great. Good sounds great on the Browns' line these days, however. They could move Kevin Shaffer to right tackle (where he played in 2005). There are several excellent defensive linemen available.

[img]http://[image]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/thepitdog/topdawg.jpg[/img][/image]

Ugh, this whole situation is a mess. It really appears like no one is safe. We'll just have to wait and see what remains of the Browns when the smoke clears.

Well if this holds any truth to it ,Then we will finally have gotten rid of Robiskie.I never really cared for him considering we have had a problem with the recievers cathing the balls since he has been here. Even when he was the WR coach with ol' Butcher.

[img]http://[image]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/thepitdog/topdawg.jpg[/img][/image]

Not only that, but it seems like Edwards has had more of a part in this than most people wanted to believe. The whole "give him a break, he's talented" crap. Lying to the press about an injury to cover his tail for not starting???????????

I agree, he has been a drama queen and has thought that since he was a high draft pick that he can get away with things . He needs a coach to ride him . Some players talent comes out when they have someone that just rides them and keeps expecting more and more .

I didn't understand the pick . The draft bio on him was that he was a player who dropped the easy catches and caught the hard ones .
IMo Crennel & Savage need to sit this punk down and tell him look you are either going to take this organization more serious or you will be demoted to the 3rd WR spot. No more flying to collage games before our games and your TV show thats cheesey gots 2 GO . Instead of worring about your image you could be studing our playbook and watching film.

And with Edwards , his image is everything. HE couldn't stand being the 3rd WR. his poor image would be belmished .

[img]http://[image]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/thepitdog/topdawg.jpg[/img][/image]

JC

good read....unbiased and very good at explaining causes and effects. I have always enjoyed Plutos writing

Did anyone listen to Chuck Galeti on 1100 AM..he was hosted weekend sports and a caller brought up Braylon Edwards around the 2 oclock hour.
Chuck replied with "you guys wanna know some inside stuff"........."well the truth is,Braylon Edwards did NOT want to be a Cleveland Brown when he was drafted"
that says it all right there.

It screams of immaturity to be telling people this Bray, even if it is true. We all heard, we know you wanted to go to Miami, we know.

We don't care...play ball

If Braylon Edwards decided to go all out %100,he could be putting up Andre Johnson like numbers.
Fans pay good hard earned money to see their teams and yet players can't hold up their end of the baragin on the field..go all out likes it your last game and do your best.

View from Pluto is always one of my favorite reads.

As far as Edwards goes, if I was head coach and he went to the OSU-Mich game and showed up late as a result (ignoring the advice of many) he would have sat the whole next game regardless of who we were playing. Even if we had several injured players that required me to start Brodney Pool at WR.

That's part of the problem with Romeo as a coach. He's fine dealing with experienced, seasoned PROFESSIONALS. If Romeo only had to deal with the guys like Joe J, McGinest, Washington, etc. I think he'd be fine. For some reason, he's having a problem dropping the hammer on the young punks like Braylon.

[color:"white"]
BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's exactly what I've said ever since word got out that the rest of the team wanted more discipline. RAC's first real black-eye was how he couldn't handle the Carthon situation. The final blow........for me at least..........is how he's let this crap with Edwards go so far. When the team whines about not having enough discipline, it's nearing a breaking point. Now the only question is whether or not the FO is willing to do this right now. I think it's time, because doing it in mid-season wastes another year completely, and bringing in a new coach doesn't mean anyone on the roster has to be replaced that isn't allready under consideration for such an action.

Do I absolutely know that RAC needs to go? Nope. I just think there are too many negative signs, and that while the team is playing hard, they probably don't have complete belief in RAC, and teams never win in those situations.[/color]

He even whined about it after the draft, so disappointed the Dolphins didn't select him "But they prom-ised!!" (not a direct quote, just that he sounded like a friggin kid).

I am so disenchanted with Edwards right now. If they dumped him, I wouldn't care. [censored] him.

After seeing the same type of story play out over the years, it isn't hard to see how this story will end.

I doubt Romeo makes it. Now it is just a question of if we want to let it linger a while longer or get it over with now.

[color:"gold"]The mistake that cost the Browns the 2006 season was not having a qualified offensive coordinator.

As the article said, Carthon was overmatched for the job and even the media and fans could see that, as Carthon's offense was the subject of discussion throughout the 2005 season.

When Carthon was kept by Romeo and the offensive performance did not improve, that was on Crennel. Crennel gambled on Carthon and lost.

IMO, Crennel put personal friendship between him and Carthon ahead of the teams needs and team goals. When a head coach cannot look objectively at his coaching staff and make the needed changes, the team suffers.

The Browns not only lost half the season due to Crennel's decision to keep Carthon, they lost the entire off season, training camp and pre-season. Then when Crennel could not step in to take over the offense, he turned to someone who had never been a OC which further weakened the offense and the offensive line.

The hiring of a qualified offensive coordinator was the "most critical" hire Crennel made when he first got the Browns job due to the fact that Crennel brought nothing to the table on the offensive side of the ball.

Crennel's judgement failed him in his original hire of Carthon and again when he brought Carthon back for a second season.

What should a pro football franchise do with a head coach who does not understand offense and makes the same mistake, twice?

The Browns did everything they could to support Crennel. Crennel may not survive his mistakes and he has no one to blame but his own judgement.

I think Crennel is a good person but "good" people do not always make good head coaches.

I do not fault the Browns choice of Crennel as their head coach either.

But I will ask a question that I have asked before...Do defensive minded coaches make the best head coaches?

I think defensive coaches are fine as head coaches as long as they learn the offensive side of the ball and hire a qualified individual as their Offensive Coordinator.

[/color]

A few things:

I've been telling you for weeks that there would be multiple changes in the coaching staff. Am I still "just being negative."?

I told you from day one that Leon was an [censored] and was a terrible pick by Savage. What do you say now?

Where are all those people who just a few weeks ago said that Leon's behavior wasn't a reflection on RAC? <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Now.........I'm going to tell you a couple of other things. Believe them or keep believing people who blow smoke up your ass.

---RAC was safe as of 2 weeks ago. However, that TB game was brutal and if the team plays that poorly again this week....well, there are no guarantees. I'm hoping we play pretty good but still lose. It would be a mistake to fire RAC this year.

Why? Because even though he won't make it beyond next year, he will hold the fort until we can go after Cowher.

Either way.........RAC won't survive in Cleveland because next year's team is going to suck too. And it won't matter who is coaching them.

---Players were miffed w/the way Leon has been treated. There are also many guys who have a problem w/K2. However, the team still respects RAC and those who are telling you that RAC has lost the team because of what happened w/Leon are not correct. Players didn't like it and want it fixed, but they still respect RAC. Oh, and the BS about Mo is just that.

----One more thing. One of the coaches on the hot seat is our S & C coach. Remember all the love he was getting when he came here. My, my.......how things change so quickly. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

That's the DUMBEST [censored] thing you've ever said...

"----One more thing. One of the coaches on the hot seat is our S & C coach. Remember all the love he was getting when he came here. My, my.......how things change so quickly."

Its been two years.
I always wonderd about that.Some called him the best in the business.How can you measure whether or not an S&C is successful?Lack of injuries?Strength,conditioning?The Browns sucked at all of them.Is it that guys fault,or do we just have a bunch of injury-prone,weaklings who smoke.

I don't know if the guy is a good or bad S&C coach. The players aren't really blaming him. It's just that he would be another scapegoat because of all the injuries the Browns have suffered.

This part is speculation: The hope is all the changes will once again pacify the fans and media. Then, they can fire RAC when we suck next year, which will once again pacify the fans and media.

I'm curious about that too.. lets take a look at the injury list and the IR list..

Which of these injuries is the S & C Coach's fault?

Injuries

Player Status Injury
J. Andruzzi G Doubtful Knee
J. Jurevicius WR Doubtful Concussion
D. Northcutt WR Questionable Quadricep
A. McKinley DT Doubtful Shoulder
A. Davis LB Out Concussion
C. Thompson LB Probable Thumb
N. Eason DT Probable Foot
M. Unck LB Questionable Groin
L. Bodden CB Doubtful Ankle
K. Winslow TE Questionable Knee
C. Frye QB Questionable Right wrist

Injured Reserve
Player Status Injury
L. Bentley C IR Knee
J. LeSueur S IR
S. Mayer S IR Ankle
D. Minter CB IR Knee
D. McCutcheon CB IR Knee
G. Baxter CB IR
E. Kelley DT IR
O. Roye DT IR Knee
B. Russell S IR Elbow
D. Jackson LB IR Toe
J. Wright RB IR Knee
K. Butler T IR Broken foot
D. Anderson QB IR Right shoulder
J. Parker DT IR Ankle
C. Coleman G IR Ankle

,," Oh, and the BS about Mo is just that. "

When are you going to let it go my friend ? You stand against the whole football world and tell them their " ALL " wrong .. The guy just didn't have it , period !

Good....the guy is a goofball.

Look at Cribbs...the guy is too beefy now.

I can see teams having someone to supervise the weightroom, but I don't think you need full time people.

They get all hung up on charts and set all these crazy optimum numbers that beef these guys up into piano stringed freaks.

No wonder many of these guys can't bend their arms or legs to normal limits without ripping something.

I agree that strenght is important, but to a limit. I think it would be better to have weight lifting in a supervised manner and hire some yoga chick full time to teach stretching and mind control rather than some no-neck who's only idea of improvement is being able to work reps with an additional 45 lbs.

It irks me to read your "Mr. Negativity", "I know everything", "I told you so posts". You claim to be a true Browns fan, but all you do is bitch.



No he wasn't a terrible pick. He is what he is. A talent with superstaar potential with the right person on his ass to motivate him. Some people are just built that way. No matter how much you want him to be self motivated, some people respond better with someone on their back. As far as the Leon thing. You've had your fun with it. I thought it was disrespectful when it was first posted a couple of years ago, and now it's just old. He is a Cleveland Brown whether you like him or not. Constantly bashing him and refering to him as a character out of a commercial just shows what kind of fan you truely are. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />



RAC isn't going anywhere this year and probably not next. We have to give him time to work this out. Injuries are a problem on every team, but didn't just lose a player here and there we lost upwards of 10 starters.

As far as Cowher. Love his intensity. Respect him greatly as a coach, but he would not be welcomed here. For all intensive purposes is now forever the enemy.



What's this BS about. You are already giving up on next years team. Injured players coming back, another year to draft and pickup free agents who fit into RAC's system, another year for the players to feel more comfortable with the system. There are only positives to look at. It can't be worse!



This is retarded. Strength and Conditioning is just that. John Lott IS one of the best in the game, period. He knows what he is talking about and he is a motivator. I understand that strength and flexibility help to decrease the probability of some muscular injuries, but I don't see how it has any effect on joints that are forced to bend in a direction that they are not intended to bend and the supporting ligaments and/or tendons failing. When I see that players are just dragging ass when they just play the average amount of snaps then that may fall on conditioning. Our offense doesn't seem to have a conditioning problem. People like to point at the defense. They are forced to play 50% more snaps than the offense because we can't run the ball to control the clock. That's John Lotts fault too. Come on.

We need more positive posters instead of negative ones such as youself. If you really hate everything about the team, find another team to root for and go frustrate their fans on their message board.

I think the whole organization ( That seems to be an oxymoron ) is a mess .. From top to bottom .. No direction , one more time ! <img src="/images/graemlins/plthumbsdown.gif" alt="" />

No matter what happens we have a few coaches that the Browns will do their best to retain.

One is the strength and condition coach John Lott.

Special teams coach Jerry Rosburg, he is the best at what he does period.

DB coach Mel Tucker has done a lot with very little. Russell, Jones, Pool, Bodden, holly and even Ralph Brown have shown improvement under Tucker.

Mike Haluchak has done a phenominal job with Chaun, Wimbley, Leon Williams, even Dra played his most disciplined season as a linebacker. D'Qwell Jackson is slowly becoming the player we thought he would be.

Grantham we would probaly try to keep but he wants to be a HC and we may look for a longer term DC. Honestly I dont think he is a great DC but he is a leader and he may be a better HC than DC.

Roaddawg, I agree with many of your points but it's tough to tell another fan how to post and what to think. Especially versatile. lol.

.. " One is the strength and condition coach John Lott. "

........ WHY .... ???

I knew I crossed the proverbial line with that one, but posters like that are just frustrating to deal with. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but the constant negativity is very old. I'm sure there have been plenty, but I don't recall a post by Vers that was full of positives and encouraging thoughts. They all seem to be of negative and discouraging content.

The truth isn't always positive.

Should he lie about things to make you feel better?

I think lott is ok, because he's still highly regarded in the league. you can't blame all the terrible knee injuries on him.

I know you have a big beef with savage about how we've drafted, I agree with some of what you've been saying, however, we really have to hope they give opie more time, perhaps give him a mentor type to give him some guidance. we can't afford to do a complete breakdown now.

one thing in the article that bothered me was this:



I'm guessing that 'some' translates into braby.

this is one thing that troubles me about romeo, he should of been sending them to time out for this kind of crap. Joe J is a vet who knows the game and knows the position, to blow him off is madding.

You look at the injuries most have either been due to age or just freak injuries.

Baxter's pec tears were poor technique in tackling. His 2 blown out knees were freak injuries. Bentley I still dont know what happened with that one.

Then you have Andruzzi, Tucker, Roye is just age. JJ has never played a full season. Cutch I dont know that he wants to play anymore. Edwards knee was just landing wrong. Minter was hurt when we drafted him. Droughns shoulder was just sheer impact bad enough to end Pollack's career most likely.

The only type of preventative injury that i see with this team is Bodden and i still say those types of reoccuring foot injuries are the result of wearing the wrong shoes. He should go to a specialist and have shoes made. A lot of NBA players have learned this and you see guys like Tayshawn Prince go from always playing hurt to never missing a game.

j/c:

RoadDawg: [censored] you, too. You don't like it, don't read it.

The rest of it:

---water:I wasn't defending Mo........I was talking about Pluto's comment that RAC not firing Mo earlier was one of the reasons his job was in jeopardy.

---I've never said I wanted Savage fired. In fact, I don't want him fired.

---I wasn't bad-mouthing Lott. All I said was that there is some question on whether to bring him back or not. Sheesh!

I think most of the Mo comments stem from most of the media and fans wanting him gone last year. Then you add in a lot of the players comments and some cheap shots thrown in by Davidson. It is one thing that I dont think is fair to RAC but it balances out because I thought Mo was doing a good job of playcalling until RAC started making a lot of those calls.

Yes some people do, and some people have tons of talent, yet they never respond at all because they are to full of themsleves to listen to anybody. Which one is BE ????? only time will tell <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

psssttt Terry you should be very <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> by that comment

-" --water:I wasn't defending Mo........I was talking about Pluto's comment that RAC not firing Mo earlier was one of the reasons his job was in jeopardy. "

I stand corrected ! <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

are you kidding me?

I know it's censored but seriously... even if you are joking how are we going to attract new posters to this board if they see this garbage? I don't want to read this stuff... and I'm sure no one else does either. Also, how are you going to act when some new 12 year old 2 post rookie tells you to [censored] off! Are you going to ask for him to get banned?

I made a post that was about the topic. RoadDawg responded to me. Here are a few of his comments directed toward me:

[color:"white"] It irks me to read your "Mr. Negativity", "I know everything", "I told you so posts". You claim to be a true Browns fan, but all you do is bitch.

This is retarded.

We need more positive posters instead of negative ones such as youself. If you really hate everything about the team, find another team to root for and go frustrate their fans on their message board. [/color]

Looks like a personal attack to me.



No, I don't ask for anyone to get banned. I'll leave that for guys like you. <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" />

IMO I think Rac didn't just want to fire Mo to make it look like PRESSURE from within..but it was viewed that way..
Edwards..yes Rac is reaping the arrows for him..however don't BE SHOCKED about anything we see about Leon is handled after ttoday..thats all I say about him fpr now....I'm waiting to see myself..

[color:"white"]
You've got that all wrong.

If Cowher came here, he'd be embraced like the long lost son. All you'd read from the media is how he was a jock-strap holder here for a season back when some of the fans on this board weren't even born. The entire fan base would view him as the savior and put Fathead's of him on their walls.

He'd be the best thing coaching wise that this team will have had in 25 years, and everyone would embrace it.

The REAL question is whether or not he'd be willing to alienate himself to what he did in Pittsburgh. [/color]