j/c
From Peter King's MMQB
Let's not fit Pat Shurmur with a dunce cap
I start to seethe when I hear so many of the fans in Cleveland going crazy about the qualifications of Pat Shurmur to be the new head coach. Specifically, about how it's agent Bob LaMonte's hire, or that the fix was in because club president Mike Holmgren and Shurmur share the same agent, and LaMonte orchestrated the hire. Idiocy.
The Browns did what so many teams have done in the last five years: put a good franchise architect in place (or have a good franchise architect in place), then hire a coach to work with said architect. Let's examine the 27 changes that have been made with a classic GM/coach combination. I do not include teams with ownership having a major hand in personnel (Dallas, Oakland), or without a clearly defined decision-making GM (Minnesota). And let's see what the results have been.
Hired Team Coach GM or Football czar
2006 Green Bay Mike McCarthy Ted Thompson
Navigated perfectly through the Favre headache to 52 wins in five years.
2006 Houston Gary Kubiak Rick Smith
Texans 37-43, with zero playoff appearances in five seasons. So far, a failure.
2006 Detroit Rod Marinelli Matt Millen
Ten wins in three years. Debacle territory.
2006 New York Jets Eric Mangini Mike Tannenbaum
Just OK: One division title (spawning "Mangenius''), one crushing Favre season.
2006 New Orleans Sean Payton Mickey Loomis
Excellent. Made the playoff three times in five years. Won the Super Bowl last year.
2007 Pittsburgh Mike Tomlin Kevin Colbert
A brilliant hire: 48 wins and two Super Bowl appearances in four years.
2007 San Diego Norv Turner A.J. Smith
Three division titles in four years, but zero Super Bowls with talented roster.
2007 Arizona Ken Whisenhunt Rod Graves
Good hire. Though 36-34 in four years, Whisenhunt took Cards to Super Bowl.
2007 Atlanta Bobby Petrino Rich McKay
The most disastrous hire in recent history. Actually, worst since Ray Handley.
2008 Baltimore John Harbaugh Ozzie Newsome
Very good hire. Made the playoffs all three seasons. Won four playoff games.
2008 Atlanta Mike Smith Thomas Dimitroff
Very good also. First time franchise has had three consecutive winning seasons.
2008 Miami Tony Sparano Bill Parcells/Jeff Ireland
One division title, two disappointing seasons. A "C'' grade so far.
2009 Indianapolis Jim Caldwell Bill/Chris Polian
Caldwell's 26-10, which is great ... but playoff loss this year may haunt him.
2009 New York Jets Rex Ryan Mike Tannenbaum
A rollicking 24-14 two-year record, with four road playoff wins. Big success.
2009 Kansas City Todd Haley Scott Pioli
From the bottom of the league in 2009 to the AFC West title this year.
2009 Detroit Jim Schwartz Martin Mayhew
Not enough wins, but this is the first optimism Detroit's seen since the Mustang.
2009 Cleveland Eric Mangini George Kokinis
Semi-disaster. Mangini and Kokinis never meshed and got fired a year apart.
2009 St. Louis Steve Spagnuolo Billy Devaney
Got the right quarterback, a good defense and seem headed to Contenderville.
2009 Seattle Jim Mora Tim Ruskell
Knee-jerk firing after one rebuilding year, but 5-11's 5-11. A failure.
2009 Tampa Bay Raheem Morris Mark Dominik
When in doubt, take a job at rock bottom and rebuild. Excellent job here so far.
2010 Washington Mike Shanahan Bruce Allen
Inauspicious debut. Shanahan has to dig team out of McNabb mess to win.
2010 Seattle Pete Carroll John Schneider
Jury's out, but the Seahawks turned over roster, won division, won playoff game.
2010 Buffalo Chan Gailey Buddy Nix
Jury's out. Bills went 5-11 in first year under Nix/Gailey.
2011 San Francisco Jim Harbaugh Trent Baalke
Jury's out.
2011 Cleveland Pat Shurmur Tom Heckert/Mike Holmgren
Jury's out.
2011 Denver John Fox John Elway/Brian Xanders
Jury's out.
2011 Carolina Ron Rivera Marty Hurney
Jury's out.
Let's make some judgments, without using the hires in 2010 or 2011 ... too early to make definitive assessments on the newbies. Of the 20 coaches hired into classic coach/GM structures between 2006 and 2009, here's how I'd break them down:
Certain successes (8): Payton (Saints), Tomlin (Steelers), Caldwell (Colts), McCarthy (Packers), Harbaugh (Ravens), Mike Smith (Falcons), Ryan (Jets), Whisenhunt (Cards).
Making it (3): Haley (Chiefs), Morris (Bucs), Spagnuolo (Rams),
Middling (3): Schwartz (Lions), Turner (Chargers), Sparano (Dolphins)
Middling, but arrow pointing down (3): Mangini (Jets), Mangini (Browns), Kubiak (Texans).
Failed, whether it's fair to put it on the coach or not (2): Marinelli (Lions), Mora (Seahawks).
Disgraceful (1): Petrino (Falcons).
The tote board: 12 of the 20 coaches hired into classic structures from 2006 to '09 made the playoffs at least one; that's 60 percent. Nine of the 20 (45 percent) won at least one playoff game. Five of the 20 (25 percent) won a conference championship game or Super Bowl.
Shurmur's a smart, anonymous kid, on the same fame level as Mike Smith when the Falcons hired him. He might have the kind of accurate, smart kid who will make a good West Coast quarterback in Colt McCoy. I don't know how good a GM Tom Heckert will be; we'll see, but he has a good background in the game, the way Thomas Dimitroff had when he left the Patriots to run Atlanta. I know you've heard this before in Cleveland, but give the kid a chance, will you?
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