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Crennel likely to get another year
By Patrick McManamon
Crennel likely to get another year

Romeo Crennel's future as coach of the Browns is anything but certain as the team heads into the finale of a dismal season.

Circumstances, though, seem to indicate that Crennel will return for 2007.

That's because his future does not depend on how the team plays in this game.

It depends more on the fact that the Browns can't go ready-fire-aim again.

If they are to replace their coach, the team has to know who they will hire as the next coach.

The most recent two times the team hired a coach, they fired theirs and then conducted a search that resulted in the hiring of Butch Davis and Crennel.

The Browns now know that if Crennel is replaced, the team needs an experienced NFL coach with winning credentials.

No repeat of the college experiment, which had brief success before crashing and burning.

No repeat of the assistant promotion, which resulted in two struggling years and the lack of patience to see things through.

This time, the Browns would hire a particular type: a coach with NFL experience, a guy who has shown he knows how to win, a guy who would bring credibility from his resume.

Two names fit perfectly. Neither is available.

Bill Cowher appears ready to retire from the Pittsburgh Steelers after the season.

He has Cleveland connections and he knows the AFC North. If Cowher leaves the Steelers, however, he can't coach for another team in 2007 without permission from the Steelers because he is under contract through 2008.

It's hard to see the Rooney family letting their coach leave for their rival.

Jeff Fisher of the Tennessee Titans also comes to mind.

Fisher has been one of the league's best for years, and he's proving it again this season the way he's handling rookie quarterback Vince Young.

The Titans, though, have an option on Fisher for 2007, and reports from Nashville indicate that they will exercise that option.

The Titans then will try to work out a long-term deal with Fisher next year.

``Jeff isn't going anywhere,'' owner Bud Adams told The Tennessean earlier this month. ``We will have a deal with him.''

They'd be nuts not to have one.

Take those two perfect options off the board in 2007 and all that's left are what ifs.

As in, what if the Krafts really are disillusioned with Bill Belichick for his divorce, and and what if they let him go?

But if they do, how many other teams will fall over themselves to get him?

Is Dennis Green worth a shot? Would Jim Fassel change things?

If, if, if.

The Browns have to ask themselves: If there's nowhere to turn, why change?

And the other question they must ask: If there's no talent on the team, does it help to bring in a reputable coach who has no chance to win?

The consensus in Berea is that neither Vince Lombardi nor Chuck Noll could have done a lot more with the team this season. Injuries and circumstance took too much of a toll.

Some players have not produced the same way they did last season -- such as running back Reuben Droughns. Others have produced but been a mess (see Edwards, Braylon).

No matter, the team has very little talent.

So does it do any good to hire an experienced coach who has no chance to win, or do the Browns try to improve the talent and give Crennel one more year to see if he can pull things together?

If that works, the team is better.

If that doesn't work, then Fisher might be a free agent. Cowher will be one, and his next job might come down to Randy Lerner's dollars vs. Dan Snyder's in Washington.

Too, with more talent on hand, the Browns' job might be more attractive to a more experienced coach, if one is needed.

So while Crennel coaches the last game of the second season in his five-year contract, his future appears to be with the Browns in 2007.

But nothing is certain.

What's that?

How can Crennel be in trouble if the talent level is so low? Fair question.

The reason isn't the won-loss record, which has pleased nobody (duh).

The reason is that a coach who came with a reputation for being a disciplinarian has seemed like anything but, and the Browns present themselves as a team out of control, a team where the inmates run the asylum.

And it upsets players as well as management.

Crennel, for example, had many chances to make a statement with Edwards, most notably when he returned late from the Ohio State-Michigan game after being strongly advised not to go.

Nothing visible happened until Game 15, when Edwards' error had to be egregious. Even then, it only cost him 25 minutes of playing time.

Crennel could have put his proverbial foot up someone's proverbial you-know-what and stopped some of the nonsense early.

It's surprising that a man who grew up in a military family has not brought more visible discipline.

Crennel was asked if he should have brought ``the hammer'' down sooner this season.

``If you look around -- you make it sound like we're the only team talking about some of that stuff,'' Crennel said. ``That's not the case, and there are other guys who have similar problems they are dealing with.

``Like I told you before, every situation is different. The coach handles it the way that he thinks is best for his team.''

A half-full glass

The Baltimore Ravens said the Browns are not far away from being a good team.

The Ravens can say that because they know how fast a team can turn around. They were 6-10 a year ago and lost to the Browns. They're now 11-3 and heading to a first-round bye.

``They were ready to fire their coach,'' Crennel said. ``Now, they might go to the Super Bowl. It can happen in this league. As a coach, you coach the best you can and the hardest you can to get your guys to play the best they can and the hardest they can.''

I dont think Cowher would come here even if allowed to.

That is a large part of why I said what I did.

Bill Cower is a Steeler. He isn't a Brown any longer. People need to forget that connection.

this proves that the coach does not matter... two words..

JOE GIBBS!!!

are the redskins making the playoffs? NO!

ITS THE PLAYERS... NOT THE COACHES!!

Some time back, I wanted Romeo to get another year. Now with all that has transpired and said, I honestly think we will be better served to wash our hands and make the move ASAP.

The 3-4 defense is the biggest snag. If RAC were to be fired, the process of going back to the 4-3 would be rough.

Everybody knows where we were two years ago talent wise, Were are those players now....

Cowher??? lol thats funny that people are suggesting that...as if yeah he would give up a team that is one year away from the SB to come here and manage this quagmire we are trying to pull out of an expansion muck.

I am convinced RAC will get another year, so complaining isn't going to do me any good.