DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns hire Pat Shurmur

Welcome aboard, Pat!

I'm glad to see an O-coordinator hired as head coach. I'm tired of the flow of D-orientated coaches that haven't made it.

Please bring us a Lombardi Trophy. Doesn't have to be next year. I'll give you two years.

I'll drink a toast to your toast, Tulsa.

As for the new coach, put me down in "Meh" column. Wasn't quite what I had in mind, but the Walrus didn't ask my opinion, so I'll just hope for the best and see how it goes.

Just please, no more 4 year plans.

How much demand is there to coach in Cleveland when the new guy knows he won't be in charge? Holmgren is in charge and will be making all of the decisions. How much demand is there for a coach when they won't give you time to develop or improve the team? Holmgren/Heckert are making the draft and trade decisions and the coach is just the scape goat.
How much demand when the fans and press want a winner and are impatient?
Nobody gives our coaches time to learn and since we will not be getting Paul Brown back we must give them time.

The big question is when will we ever have a winning team....maybe never. What chance is there that we just find the right combination? What chance is there that we give the right combination support and the full backing of the team to fail and learn? Next year is a long time to wait.

I am really ok with this hiring. I am tired of the Browns trying to make a big splash. Butch Davis was a hot college HC coming from the U. Romeo Crennell was the hot commodity DC that helped the Pats win super bowls. Mangini (I never understood), had NFL HC experience, was considered a genius and we swooped in and hired him a week after the Jets fired him.

No one had heard of Mike Tomlin when he got hired. He has done ok as Steelers HC.

Being a hot name means little to me. The organization has been in flux since 1999. Our President, GM, and HC are all of the same belief/thought process. I hope this helps us finally turn the corner.

J/C

Like many of you, I wasn't thrilled at first. But, let's figure this out. Holmgren has had a year to evaluate this team. Holmgren knows the personalities, and ability of every member of this team. In my opinion, at the end of last season Holmgren completed his evaluation of the team, and said to himself that this team is good, but it could be a lot better with a different head coach. Holmgren then evaluated head coaching candidates and came to the conclusion that this team needed a coach with a background in offense. He also realized that he wanted a coach who was open to suggestion, and who was willing to listen and evolve with Tom Heckert, and Mike Holmgren.
There are no former head coaches, offensive or defensive, that would be as open to suggestions from Mike Holmgren as Shurmur will be. - This would clog communication, and would lead to finger pointing when the team failed.

In essence, I claim that Shurmur makes the most sense as our next head coach because:

- He will listen and learn under Mike Holmgren
- He will be able to get maximum results from players that Heckert drafts
- He is the perfect fit for a team that wants to utilize Mike Holmgren's and Tom Heckert's vast football experience.
- He has extensive experience guiding the west coast offense.
- He knows how to develop young players.

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Browns hire Pat Shurmur

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YAWN

Not sure what else to say....It's kind of like when the Browns drafted David Veinkune...you're like "really, there's no one better?"....gotta just hope he works out

J/C

Man, I just read this whole thread and now I realize why many of the "original" posters are no longer here. Talk about knee jerk responses.

My opinion is that Holmgren found a guy who had his core beliefs. This is a good thing in my eyes, as I feel MH is very intelligent and knows this game very well. His resume is all the proof I need of that, speaking of MH here.
Most of you bashing this guy probably have no idea who he even is. Using your ignorance about the man as a reason to convince yourself he will be a flop is foolish.

Those using St.Louis's offensive stats to judge this guys head coaching ability is hilarious. He may have the same approach to offense as MH, but I'm pretty sure the OC will be running the offense.

His coaching ability seems to have some merit, as both McNabb and Kolb seem to be solid players. Now IMO talented players will make a coach look good, so a grain of salt is needed here. Also Bradford is a stud player, and it did seem that this coach used him properly.

I'm looking at this a little differently then it seems many above have. I have to believe that Holmgren has been thinking about this hire way longer than any of us would know. Maybe not this guy in particular, but the head coaching job. I would like to believe that with his experience, in both coaching and hiring coaches, that his opinion of this guy has to be pretty high. Reading some of the crap above, I tend to believe many of you actually think that Holmgren is willing to tarnish his legacy with petty nepotism, and even more laughable, to please his agent.

Holmgren is a man of integrity, and always has been. Just because you don't like his choice, doesn't mean it is not the right one. Only time will tell that story. Lerner hired him and put him in a position to revive a once proud franchise. So far his hires have been very good, quality people. I remember many of the same whiners above questioning Heckert's hiring. I recall statements like " Reid was the guy picking the players", "He was a pawn for Andy Reid". Well it seems to me that Heckert was more than just a "puppet" for Reid.

Weidemayer(spelling), is another top quality hire. Thinking that Holmgren would take the position he has a blow it by making decisions determined by who the hires agent is is hilarious. The man didn't earn the respect he has in the league doing such juvenile things.

I want all those crying about MH's process and decisions to put yourself in his place. You have many successful years coaching in this league. Many of the coaches you hired have gone on to have their own success, many even thought of as some of the better coaches in the league. Now you have to hire someone to fill the top spot. Would you not go to those who you are familiar with? Ones that you know will lead in the fashion that you would? Or would you trust the opinion of fans and media talking heads?

Too many here think they have all the answers. While almost all here actually have no clue. Who here can actually say what kind of a coach this guy will be? How many have even heard of this guy before? How many have even one iota of an idea what Holmgren knows about this guy, Heckert also?

My point in all of this is that many of you will whine and moan. Many will nit pick every thing from here on out. And many will relish the thought of the guy failing just so they can think they were the smartest guy on the boards. But the bottom line is, this guy was hired by a person with tons of experience and clout in the NFL. Noone on here has either of those things.

We all have opinions, and some turn out right. I have no clue about this guy, but I do have a clue about the guys that hired him. With that said, I feel that they must see the intangibles, and I will trust them in this decision. I wonder how many would have whined if a couple years ago Todd Haley, KC's head coach, was hired here? What about if Tomlin was here instead of RAC?

Shurmur is now our head coach. He was hired by "football" experts. He has experience with successful organizations, and has the confidence of Holmgren and Heckert. He may well fail, but I refuse to join in this infantile bashing of the guy, at least until he has coached an actual game.

Welcome coach Shurmur, and good luck to you. And good luck to us fans, maybe this time it actually will be the right choice.

Nothing like a Sheldon Brown quote to ease the trepidation in your soul.

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Browns CB Sheldon Brown

"As a rookie coming into the National Football League (in 2002), he was our quarterbacks coach in Philadelphia. I knew he demanded a lot of respect, for one, Donovan McNabb was the guy that was already established there and Donovan had the utmost respect for Coach Shurmur. He is a sharp guy. He always took notes in meetings and he was one of those guys that (Eagles head coach) Andy (Reid) could depend on to get the guys ready to play, motivate and do well on game days. That's what you are looking for when you are looking for a coach.”

Link

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The dude takes notes in meetings, what a novel idea! If he can read a clock, I'd down with this guy!

well said erzye...


The more i look at it, i get the feeling that Holmgren will mentor this man...and thats not a bad thing at all. He will set up Shurmur with EVERY possible thing that he needs to be successful.

He sees a team that is now going to need the talent to make sure Shurmur has every chance to succeed...thats where Heckert will be on the hook for getting us talent, which he will.

Then...He will help Shurmur out as much as possible to make sure that he does the right things for this football team.




I am now 100% of the mindset that if Pat Shurmur can be a good gameday coach then we're golden. It's like having Holmgren Jr as a HC...Holmgren cant make the gameday decisions...so if Shurmur can do that...then we will be incredibly successful.

IDK how else to look at it. it seems to be the way this will have to go. Holmgren isnt going to hire him and then just disappear and say here ya go bud...sink or swim its up to you. Not gonna happen.

He will mentor Pat to the point of success, and if shurmur can make good gameday decisions, then he will have the respect of the players, the coaches, the FO, and the fans...and we will win.



the biggest question i have...will Holmgren's style be successful in the AFCN? thats the 4-year multi-million dollar question

I'll stand my my original thoughts, he wanted a puppet. His casting a wide net comment was BS.

I won't call for the guy's head, but I have to say that it's hard to get excited about this guy.

FWIW, from the main page:

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/arti...16-5b0f685ab28d

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT PAT SHURMUR (PART II)

Browns Cornerback Sheldon Brown

"As a rookie coming into the National Football League (in 2002), he was our quarterbacks coach in Philadelphia. I knew he demanded a lot of respect, for one, Donovan McNabb was the guy that was already established there and Donovan had the utmost respect for Coach Shurmur. He is a sharp guy. He always took notes in meetings and he was one of those guys that (Eagles head coach) Andy (Reid) could depend on to get the guys ready to play, motivate and do well on gamedays. That's what you are looking for when you are looking for a coach. He kind of reminds me of a guy like (Baltimore Ravens head coach) John Harbaugh, who took a lot of notes, never had enough knowledge and always wanted to learn more. I had a lot of respect for him. He is a hard working guy and I think he will do well."

Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid

"I'm extremely proud of and happy for Pat Shurmur and his family. He is a proven commodity in the NFL and has paid his dues as a successful assistant coach. Pat is smart, very well organized and has a great command and great feel for the ins and outs of the business of pro football. I believe, to a man, all of the players and coaches that have worked with and for Pat Shurmur have the utmost respect for him as a person and as a coach. And I'm right at the top of that list. He'll do a great job for the city of Cleveland as their head football coach."

Redskins Quarterback Donovan McNabb

“I think it is a great choice for the Cleveland Browns. Pat Shurmur is a hard-working, dedicated and determined individual who demands perfection from all his players. The team will love playing for him.”

I look forward to the vast improvement in coaching

o gosh... are the redskins cutting McNabb.. not that he would be horrible here, but with the Heckert/ Shurmur connection, they know McNabb very well... Makes me say hmmm... Although I think they will give Colt McCoy a shot.

If they think that McCoy "could" be the guy, then I see no way they bring in a guy who could poison the waters, so to speak. They probably want a competent backup, but not a star who will have players questioning if the other guy would be better, an have fans screaming for him the 1st time anything goes wrong.

McNabb may not be a star anymore ..... but he has that star name. Tread carefully.

Get it done, Shurmur.
Welcome to the Browns and please turn us into a winner.

I'm wait-and-see on this one. Too early to criticize the hire, or to praise it.

Holmgren did say though that he didn't want any tough competition for his starter, so he wouldn't have to look over his shoulders.

So McNabb is probably a no go.

I sure hope so, every big name old qb we have signed as a band-aid since 99 has been a disaster

give Colt the keys this year and see what he has.

In reaction to us hiring Pat Shurmur I simply stated:

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Sometimes, you gotta roll the hard six.

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Good Luck Coach Shurmur and you better win more than 5 games next year.

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and you better win more than 5 games next year.

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He'll have more talent and a significantly weaker schedule... if he doesn't he should be axed before the last game is played.

Don't forget 4 of those games next year will be against team with losing records and which he faced 12 times in the past 2 years.

At this point I trust H&H and if they want this guy, I want this guy. While not a sexy or popular pick, I'm assuming they did their due diligence and both were onboard with this decision.

I'm expecting .500.

I agree this isn't some big splash. There isn't a whole lot to get excited about with this hire. That said I don't see a reason for all the negative posts either. Every great HC in history had to get his start somewhere. I'm to the point where I no longer get overly excited about the new HC but I'm also not going to jump up and down telling everyone how horrible the new guy is.


Truth is I don't know anything about Shurmer other than what I've been able to read and hear about on the TV. Therefor how can I have any notion of what to expect from the guy? This isn't like the retread HC where you've seen what he can bring to the table so you have a preconceived notion about them. I'm sure that most of the posters on here know the same amount about Pat that I do. Since none of us know a whole lot about him how can any of you think he is going to be a bad HC?


All of the negative posts seem far too premature and silly to me.

Welcome to Cleveland Pat...

I am approaching this with an open mind and no predisposition.

I suggest that others may be served well by taking the same approach.

We have had a run of defensive coaches, and a terrible offense, maybe the games will be more interesting now.

Who wants to bet that now we have an Offensive HC, our Defense gets better?

The old Brian Billick effect...

I'm in the same boat with you and ttimothygman.... I have an open mind and hope for the best.

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All of the negative posts seem far too premature and silly to me.

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We're hitting Reset and starting over... again, and the guy that's been picked smacks more of nepotism in his selection and "who ya know" than "he's the most qualified".

There isn't a whole lot to be positive about.

and two of those three I wanted no part of.

This post did two things, immediately:

1. It breathed the breath of common sense into the thread
2. It saved everyone else from reading a long-winded post from me saying many of the same things.

Y'all should thank Our Boy eryze.

Excellent post, Dawg. Spot-on.

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the biggest question i have...will Holmgren's style be successful in the AFCN? thats the 4-year multi-million dollar question

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It's my take that ANY style, properly executed and manned with good players can win in ANY division.

There have been a plethora of styles, approaches and hybrids that have netted championships from ALL divisions.

Good management, coaching and personnel are much more important than 'approach' or 'philosophy,' imho.

i dont disagree...there are styles that just dont matchup well against smashmouth style football and we play 4 games a year against it...if we cant handle smashmouth football...we start at 12-4 right off the bat. which is not good.

hopefully we have a good approach that can handle it

I am undecided on Shumur...face it..this is first time being a Head coach...he is the guy now so we have to give the guy a fair chance.

hopefully it works out...all we can do is watch and see

I agree.

It's hard to bash a guy who you know almost nothing about.

Although some people try real hard to bash him.