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Committed to Building the Right Way


By Fred Greetham
OBR Senior Browns Reporter
Posted Jul 24, 2013



Only time will tell if Banner's vision for the Browns will pay off, but there's no question he has a plan.

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BEREA -- Browns CEO is very optimistic that the Browns are poised to turn things around for the long haul. In a meeting with the local media on the Browns practice field in Berea, Banner answered questions for over 20 minutes regarding the Browns this year and the future. He also talked about the lawsuits against Pilot Flying J and his perception on how that will affect Jimmy Haslam and the Browns moving forward.

Banner said he is excited as the Browns take the field to start training camp on Thursday at 4 p.m. for the first official practice of training camp, which is open to the public.

"I think it's the effort, the quality of the coaching staff, the caliber of the people we added," Banner said. "I think you start with the minicamp. There's a real pace, energy and work ethic and that makes a difference. That's the culture that Chud (Rob Chudzinski) has instilled, along with the scheme, those are the types of things that will help us."

Banner was asked about what type of season he thinks the Browns will have in 2013, but he didn't want to give a number of wins or losses, rather choosing to focus on the bigger picture.

"My focus is really on wanting to see the shift in the culture that we've talked about, the effort, wanting to see the schemes that the coaches are putting in," he said. "That the players get better as the season goes in what we're doing. Seeing the young players develop that we're talking about and hoping that they are all what we think they could be. That's really my focus, wanting to see the work ethic and the pace that you saw in the spring stay through the whole season. So I think if we see those things then we're on the right track."

Despite, the legal problems with Haslam and Pilot Flying J, Banner said he feels the Browns have been able make solid strides in the team's perception.

"We're about where we thought we'd be," he said. "It's been a little overlooked, but we got two free agents that a lot of teams were interested in. The fact that they chose to come here is an important message to our team and around the league. The fact that we signed John Greco yesterday and the fact that players don't sign early unless they are optimistic and it's a place they want to be. I think that was bigger than the fact that he was from here, although that helped. I think those things kind of feed on themselves and if you want to be a winning organization and a place where teams want to come to that means they feel good about the people who are going to coach them and that they are optimistic about winning. There is an economic component, as well, but those other factors are in there when you're competing for those types of players.

"I think that is a really good sign on how the league is adjusting their thinking about what it would be to come and play here or coach here," he said. "That's a thing that will help us in the long term."

Banner knows that regimes have come and gone with the Browns since 1999 and all have said they were going to turn things around. Banner was asked why he feels his regime will succeed.

"I don’t want this to sound the wrong way, but I think the key to the answer is the people leading the organization really have to sell that message and vision, and just sell it hard enough for people to believe us," Banner said. "I mean, I come from having a track record, worked with Andy Reid for 14 years. That’s about as long a partnership is during the league and had Howie Roseman, who’s the general manager there, 14 years.

"Don Smolenski, who became the president when I left, was there 14 years," he continued. "Our directors of revenue were there seven or eight years. One of them, Len Komoroski came here and became President of the Cavaliers.

I think the fact that they’ve seen that my belief, and it may be kind of cliché-ish, is you don’t want to have continuity until you’ve got the right people in place because that’s the fastest way to really (do it), but once you have the right people in place, continuity is the most important, valuable thing that you can do.

"We just have to sell that vision," he said. "We’ve got to get them to buy it and trust it. I think we’re in very good shape with that. We’re starting to re-sign some of our own players, the kind of people we brought in here helps with all that, but some of it is just they’re just going to have to see it in action."

Banner knows the Browns weren't able to address all of their needs in this past off-season.

"This is actually the hardest part of where we’re at," he said. "Because whether it’s Jimmy or Chud or myself, we’re really impatient and we’re really competitive. So to have the discipline to do this the way we think you’ve got to do it if you’re going to sustain success is really, really hard right now. We’re trying to stay very disciplined about taking steps forward as opposed to fooling ourselves into trying to do everything at once, frankly signing too many free agents that are hard to integrate.

"The track record on free agents, in terms of the success rate isn’t as high as you’d like, so you’ve got to be really selective and careful," he said. "I can’t wait till we get to the point where we go into a season feeling like we’ve at least got solid players at every position, and hopefully some really dynamic difference-makers at some positions. It takes a lot of discipline, but having studied the teams that have done this well, having been part of a turnaround in Philadelphia, it’s really clear that the teams that have done this and sustained the success have taken the approach where for the first year or two they go into it knowing there are still some things left to do in terms of the roster, but been willing to build it that way on the way in so once they get there they can keep it there."

Only time will tell if Banner's vision for the Browns will pay off, but there's no question he has a plan.

Other questions that Banner addressed:


Q: How have Haslam’s legal problems affected the Browns front office?:

Banner: "It really hasn’t affected us at all. We have a team we put together here of really, really good people, whether we’re talking the coaching staff, the business side, even our foundation. We’re really excited about the team we put together.

Jimmy really had a vision. He spoke hereabout what his priorities were around creating a phenomenal fan experience and being focused on winning fans again. He hired me. We put together a team on a day to day basis to accomplish that. We’re free and clear to do all that. Nothing has happened to impact our ability to do that or frankly given us any reason not to be successful.”


Q: Is there anything you can say to fans to re-assure them concerning the Browns stability?:

Banner: “I don’t know what we can say beyond what we’ve said. And I understand why that doesn’t give everybody total peace of mind, believe me. But I don’t know what we can say more than we’re operating the team exactly as we would whether this had happened or not. Jimmy is here and incredibly supportive and a huge asset to us. I think he’s made it clear and I’ve tried to make it clear without any ambiguity at all that he’s not going to sell the team. But I understand why until that actually happens and this thing plays itself out that it’s a legitimate question.”


Q: Has he talked to you about this and said anything differently?:

Banner: “We’ve certainly talked about it privately. He’s been extremely open with me and felt it was appropriate I knew what was going on and reinforce the very same messages he said publicly. We certainly discussed it, but I know him. I have a lot of confidence in him. I wouldn’t say I had to be reassured.”


Q: Is there uncertainty in the Browns building?:

Banner: “I think when it first started people had questions about it, but I think fairly quickly they got answers and felt comfortable. They know me. They know Jimmy. I think they trust what we told them and we’re right back focused on exactly what we’re doing.”


Q: What was your reaction when Pilot got raided?:

Banner: “It was a surprise. Obviously, it wasn’t anything anybody was anticipating, so I was surprised. But I got the chance to know Jimmy and we talked about how we were going to run the Browns. The focus of his was doing things the right way, doing things with integrity from the first moment I met him. It certainly wasn’t anything I anticipated, but I felt comfortable with his responses. And as I said, we’ve been free to operate the Browns exactly the same way whether this happened or not.”


Q: Do you have more responsibility now that Jimmy is dealing with the legal issues?:

Banner: "No, as I say, the plan was for him to create this vision, for him to be involved in it, but to trust myself and the team we were going to put together to kind of implement it on a day-to-day basis, so we've continued to do that and I hope well. And as I say, I don't think we're doing anything differently here than we would've been doing if this had never happened."


Q: The perception was that Jimmy was going to be a very hands on owner. Has that changed?:

Banner: "The vision he told me he had for how he wanted to be an owner, which included him talking about some of the other owners in the league that he respected and that he wanted to operate in a similar manner to, is exactly the way things have gone, so whatever terms may have been used in terms of being hands on, how he defined that to me and how we've operated are totally in synch."


Q: Do you see a scenario where the Browns could be sold?:

Banner: "I don't see that scenario."


Q: Thoughts on Brandon Weeden?:

Banner: "I don't know in terms of final answers, but we're excited he has come in and met with Chud extensively. He has worked extremely hard and has done everything he has been asked to do. He obviously did a lot of work in the spring at the position. I think everyone is encouraged on how hard he is working and how badly he wants to do well."


Q: Do you see all three quarterbacks here at the start of the season?:

Banner: "In terms of evaluating them and how they're going to be used and stuff like, I want to leave that stuff to Chud. In terms of roster, we'll see what happens and you're always looking for any chance to upgrade any position on the team, so we'll keep our eyes open, but I think we feel pretty good about those three guys."


Q: What's your assessment of Josh Gordon in light of his 2 game suspension?:

Banner: "He spent a fair amount of time talking to Chud and he’s got to do some work and he understands he’s going to be held accountable and he gets the rope that’s left isn’t long. In working with the coaches they need to see that commitment, that work ethic. Obviously, off the field he needs to make good choices."


Q: Has there been any hesitation on sponsors’ parts because of the investigation?:

Banner: “Not that they’ve expressed, and I don’t mean this to say the wrong way but we’ve sold more season tickets than the Browns have sold since at least the return here. This offseason, more suites, more club seats, more new marketing partnerships. So there’s a lot of optimism and positive feeling about where the franchise is heading and I think it started with him taking over, leading the team and the vision he had and the team we’ve put together to run it.”


Q: Do you think part of that was your decision to do away with PSLs?:

Banner: “I think it’s a combination of things. But we did that because we view that as something that was very friendly. I know some people misinterpreted and didn’t get that, but it is actually a very fan-friendly decision. So it did open the door for some people. But I also think there’s a lot of energy, even increased energy and optimism about what things we’re doing now and where the franchise is headed. I think that’s the main reason you see that happening.”


Q: What is the renewal of last year's season ticket holders?:

Banner:
“I think we’re at 94 percent renewal rate. So season-ticket holders came back, which is an extraordinarily high number historically here. When I say that, a few percentage points actually makes a big difference. So that’s very exciting. Then as I say, we only direct back to 1999, and we’ve sold more new season tickets than has been sold in any year since 1999. For us, those are the tips of the iceberg where people are starting to feel optimistic and encouraged by what they’re seeing and wanting to be even more of a part of it than they’ve been.”


Q: Will cell phone service be better at the stadium this year?:

Banner: "Cell phones will work."



OBR

One thing I have liked is that we've been mitigating risk really well.

The new regime could flop flat on their face in terms of talent evaluation, and they still wouldn't be leaving that much of a mess behind contract-wise.

I agree. So far, it appears Banner has done an excellent job negotiating. I know he has always been perceived as a very competitive negotiator, which can often lead to impasses and bad feelings, but there are no red flags so far. It appears to be working when you look at the structure of things as they are now.

I agree. It's like he sees it as a puzzle and isn't going to force fit any of the pieces.

I'm not even reading this garbage. I've heard this with every single regime change, read the same boring, lifeless, garbage articles.

Show me.

I'm probably going to be the party pooper again, but the last dude that was tooting his horn so hard like Banner did in that piece was Mangini, who also talked about "culture change" and pimped himself constantly by quoting with what great names he accoimplished this and that (Mangini-Belly, Banner-Reid).

For once I'd like a FO/CEO/GM whatever that has his OWN vision instead of talking how he studied "succesful teams". Every regime we had said that and ran an old scheme because of it, because in this league you have to be the innovator not the copy cat, who implements a certain scheme when it is already inefficient or declining in effectiveness.

He's also back-paddling again trying to lower expectations and is close to say "Dear Browns Fan, take it and have faith for the next two years. Improvement is important, not winning", all that after shooting blame and constantly quoting the last regime's record as not being what they're looking at. The closer the season, the more it sounds as if it's ok though when his Browns collect a pair of 4-6 win seasons. Interesting. Attacking this, attacking that, talking big "culture change", but when it comes to the bottom line he is anything but aggressive, he becomes meekly. He definitely interviews "not to lose" here. The irony

I'm with BPG ... it's "show me" time. I've had my fill of these types of articles over the years. I care only about results ... wins. I don't care if these guys build themselves up to be the greatest thing ever or hide in the shadows never to be heard from ... I want the wins to be greater than the losses every single year.

I will say this, though. Mangini didn't have a clue and it was quite obvious. Banner at least appears to have a clue. Whether he showed a little insecurity or not ala Savage with pimping his own free agent moves, I don't really care. There are only so many ways to skin a cat in this league. Eventually we are going to hit on a winning formula, and I hope these guys are it.

I too, however, I'm not happy with the lowering of expectations. I've commented on this before, and it's really pissed me off. They came in here like gangbusters telling the fans how losing was unacceptable and we would be the ultimate competitors ... competing hard to win every game ... and as soon as Holmgren and Co. were gone that tune changed. Now they've got Browns fans ... some on this board ... singing that same tune. It's like brainwash city. I'm tired of hearing how changing coaches and schemes takes time. It's all about how you have improved compared to your peers. If we have improved better than our peers with our coaches and schemes and players it will show up on the field. These guys are doubting themselves and giving themselves an out. You have to go into every season expecting you'll be the last team standing. Because guess what? If you are playing for year 2 or 3 down the road, there are too many unknown variables between now and then that can have a major impact in what will happen ... including the improvement made by other teams.

I see no reason why we can't be SF from two years ago....none. But now the players know it's ok if that doesn't happen. All they have to do is listen to the FO.

like this?

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/03/22/one-on-one-with-mike-holmgren-how-to-rebuild-the-browns/

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FanHouse: How do you go about changing a culture of losing that has been ingrained with the Browns for 10 years?

Mike Holmgren:. You have to present a plan, a philosophy. And you have to make sure people listen. And you ask them to buy in. Not everyone is going to buy in. It's, 'Show me, I've been through this. Show me.' Then what you have to do is you have to have a little success. A little victory here, a little victory here. You take those steps and it happens.

FH: When you say 'they' have to buy in, who do you mean?

MH: Everybody. We work in the building, but the Cleveland Browns are Cleveland's team. It's a storied franchise. Everybody ... players, coaches, people who work there, fans, media. It's everybody. Because everyone has a vested interest. All those people somehow have a vested interest in how the Browns do. I don't care what they say. When you can build something up, everybody feels good about their contribution ... I've seen it work. It can happen. I don't care how many years people felt it's not been good or people have been frustrated. It can happen.

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boy that sounds familiar... must be page one of the new regime take over manual.

Lowering expectations? Not sure they can get any lowerfor me.. I have none.

One thing for sure if you keep playing for tomorrow, you will always be playing for tomorrow. It never comes.. it is always a day away....

I'm not trying to stick up for banner, because after all, I'm a hater, right?



But I'm really not sure we could expect him to say more. Let's look at the situation as it stands.

We all want Weeden to succeed, but do you have any more confidence in him than you did last year? And if so, do you honestly feel a system change will cure all of his shortcomings?

Do you feel there was a legit. QB in this draft we could have gotten that would have been a high % of solving the QB issue?

With TRiches injury history, do you feel confident we'll see a healthy TRich for 16 weeks?

I don't feel this FO or coaching staff feels we have all of the talent in place to take a big leap this year. I also feel they believe some of our young talent will progress, and some won't.

They had no real choice to find out than to give our young O a chance this year. But I believe even they know things won't operate on all cylinders. Yet again we see the Josh Gordon incident. Someone the O counts on, that as of now, really can't be counted on.

Their choices were wholesale roster changes, or letting a lot of it play out this year and seeing where they are by the seasons end. I believe they did the right thing. But do I feel they believe it will all be peaches and cream? Hardly.

And I actually never saw this FO tell us success would be immediate. H&H had three years with similar records. There was no steady progression in W's as time went on. So yes, to me that's unacceptable. If the same holds true for this group, I'll consider that unacceptable as well.

I don't believe you can take a roster someone else assembled and insert new schemes on both sides of the ball without growing pains.

I believe it's been far more members of this board who have in many cases fooled themselves into believing that, than anything said by this FO. People have insisted that Weeden will do much better in this system, yet it's some of his fundamentals that were lacking. A system doesn't fix that.

People have assumed our players will learn an entire new D scheme and will flourish in that system very quickly. While the new D system I believe is for the best long term, I believe there will be more growing pains this year than many anticipate from what I've read here.

Our secondary has question marks as we all know. As time has gone on, many have tried to portray that Skrine will turn from an ugly duckling into a swan. But really?



Actually I feel Banner is being quite realistic here. I really can't blame him because our fan base got overly optimistic and when they see reality, wish to blame others for their over optimistic expectations.

JMHO

Kind of like last year when Homie, in a irritated voice, said we were going to be a much better team?

We all know what is going to be said. I am still going to listen and be hopeful...that's what fans do IMO.... But....I have been at the point of "show me" for a long time now. I'll run with what they say and tell until the show doesn't equal the verbage.

I'm also at the show me stage.

I just feel that Banners comments about this season were realistic and some expected much more in their first season here than what I felt reality dictated.

We all hope for more, but under the circumstances, I felt expecting it in their first season was fairly unrealistic.

Sure, he's realistic and he's all his bases covered as would I if I were in his shoes.
I even applauded them for the "wait and let's see" approach on Offense, as I never expected them to be this patient.

My problem is that he attacked the last regime for their record but acknowledged that they improved, got younger and left over a marvelous cap situation (normally, when a GM starts it's the opposite, ask the Raiders or Jets GM), which enabled THEM to reap 2 of the best FAs on the market (and he has the guts to twist this into a "selling a philosophy" thing, lol...Yeah Joe, you had a million more philosophy than the other GM)...and now? He comes out and says that W-L don't matter only "more" improvement?

Banner pretty much continues Heckert's plan with new coaches and scheme, that's it. So if Heckert was still here, would you be ok with 5 wins? Hell no, we have the same players on O and 3/4 of the D is the same and the other 1/4 was severly upgraded. At this point, whatever we do, is 50% Heckert too, but the way Banner set it up is:

we continue to win only 4-6 = well, we had to find out what the idiots before us accumulated

we win 7+ = we are already better than the idiots that were here before us

That's what I meant with regards to his interview-"not to lose"-rhetoric. He's talking out of both sides here and there are a lot of contradicting "statements" made, so he can pick and choose after the season. He put himself in a win-win, but the truth is that he pretty much left the roster as is and anyone who saw the team last season knows that this same team can easily win 7 games just on natural progression/experience of the young talent alone. Then add two high priced FA signings to that and it's far from crazy to expect a .500 season.

Yet, here he is lowering expectations after coming out firing early in the process. Smart weasel, I'll give him that

It's hard to really feel like I'm at that point of SHOW ME.

This is a new regime...love it or hate it...it's a fresh start for a fresh group.

It's like breaking up with a bad girlfriend and when you meet the new one be like...you better be the one, i'm sick of bad gfs...we cant really do that and expect anything to be good.

That being said, this new girlfriend is off to the right start. We have good coordinators (that aren't afraid to go hard...Jauron and Childress were the most conservative of the conservative) and a visionary head coach. I see Chud as a Sean Payton type. Similar hype when brought in...the whole, well he did a great job with x, and y, and etc... but can he really get it done running a whole team?

This is a guy that was coming in to really just show he could be more than a TE coach in 07...and blew away the coaching staff with his preparation, and he did the same in Carolina, and he did the same in Cleveland a 2nd time. The guy knows how to prepare...and when you know how to prepare, you can and will succeed.

Chud will do that.

Do we need patience? Sure...will he make rookie mistakes? sure...but you can guarantee that his rookie mistakes aren't going to be punting down 6 will the ball at the 40.

For the first time in a while...and oh god I've said that before...but it feels different this time. I don't have questions as to why decisions were made.

With Mangini it was...are you sure? This guy blew it in NY...well, there was a reason...okay.
With Shurmur it was...is this the guy? Couldn't we have found better? Or tried harder? well...he has pedigree...okay.

This time it feels like...ya know what...good. We tried x, y, z, a, b, f...this is the best...good. Has he flamed out anywhere? Not really...our offense was bad in 08...but it got progressively worse after Chud left...so...not really.

He has been great everywhere, and will continue to get better. If not...he has a proven GOOD OC in Turner that has had historically good offenses, record setting offenses...and a DC that was a great player, has been a great DB coach, and a great DC.

Patience? Sure...bummer that we need it? sure...

But...this looks like a plan. It looks like a good plan. It looks like we can come out guns blazing. We're not waiting for someone else to draw, were entering the fight already firing off 3 shots. It's hard to not get behind that mentality. Screw you we're doing this.

I for one am excited

At least Banner has some positive track record of running a team. Holmgren was just a big name hired to placate a fan base.

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"I think it's the effort, the quality of the coaching staff, the caliber of the people we added," Banner said.

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The caliber of the people we've added?

Signed Desmond Bryant, he was arrested on 2/14 for criminal mischief
Signed Quentin Groves, he was arrested on 4/24 for solicitation
Drafted Armonty Bryant, he was arrested on 5/6 for DUI
Signed Ausar Walcott, he was arrested on 6/26 for attempted murder by punching a guy...

Yep, that's some seriously high caliber signings. There have been 31 NFL players arrested since the super bowl and the Browns account for 4 of them, all brought in under this regime... oh, and our best WR was suspended for the start of the season..... DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY ISN"T JUST A SLOGAN AROUND HERE.

At least they didn't kill anyone. . .

But seriously, Banner is talking about on the field.

Also, Gordon was drafted by Heckert and Holmgren. I don't see how that gets put on the new guys.

Ummmm, he didn't mention Gordon, did he?

DCDAWG did. He said:

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oh, and our best WR was suspended for the start of the season

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My problem is that he attacked the last regime for their record

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Where did he do this?

j/c:

Sheesh..........what a crock.

The same guys who preached about giving Holmgren and company a chance and defended every stupid move they did are now saying "show me."

I can even remember a guy on this thread who had "I'm becoming a Pat Shurmur enthusiast" as his sig before we even played a game. Now, he is saying, "show me."

You guys are looking for reasons to complain. Yet, you constantly defended the past regime. Yeah, I am taking you seriously.

I know you're talking about Spirit but I can't help but have the "Come at me" feeling.

I think there is some of that, but mostly I think people are just tired of sucking.

Not talking about you, bro..........and don't wave that finger in my face.

Quote:

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The caliber of the people we've added?

Signed Desmond Bryant, he was arrested on 2/14 for criminal mischief
Signed Quentin Groves, .........

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I believe he was talking about more than just the roster. The coaching staff, scouts, executives, etc, all contribute to an organization. I think Banner feels he's filled the building with quality people.

I don't think he's necessarily talking about caliber of person as a whole? I got a feel like caliber of person as a football player.

I get the idea, if youre not on the field youre of no value.

But...Bryant, and Groves can play. Bryant may be a player too. Walcott is gone.

We had a team with great character under Mangini and we got nothing back for it. I want players...

No I know...but you can take caliber the way that DC took it and he made a valid point. Just thought it was appropo.

I want to win and win with high character players too.

Aren't you referring to "character?" He said caliber. And I agree w/ddub that he was talking about the organization as a whole. No big deal, but I think you misinterpreted that remark.

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just wow. i cant remember a post with so much crap. you and mac in a contest?

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pbla...just what did Spirit say that was not true?...show us.

Gotta smack another gnat...

Gnats are bad this time of year !