DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Play like a Brown

Who said anything about losing your cool? It's an emotional game played by emotional people.

Romeo was cool. Passive Pat was cool. How did that work out?

Look, you have to be your own self. There is no right or wrong way. All I know, is that I much preferred playing for emotional coaches rather than the Ice Kings. But, to each their own.

Here is a personal story. I was the starting point guard on our high school basketball team. We were playing in a three-way scrimmage w/Barberton and some other team I can't recall. Barberton was coached by the legendary Jack Greynolds. They had the Bodner twins who both later starred at Michigan and Carter Scott, who starred at Ohio State.

It was my job--as our best defender--to cover Scott. I checked him pretty good. He couldn't get squat off the dribble and his jump shot wasn't that great. However, he took me inside and even though I blocked him out perfectly, he jumped over me and got two offensive rebounds. It was humiliating. We lost that first scrimmage.

We go to the locker room afterwards while Barberton and the other team played the next quarter. My coach, a Bobby Knight type of guy, comes at me and grabs me by my jersey and pushes me into the lockers. He calls me a f...............p................. He's spitting on me while he is cussing me out.

I had three choices.

1. I could have cowered in submission and went home and told my parents. Pffftttt, my dad would have smacked me in the freaking head and said I was wrong to make my coach mad.

2. I could have hit him. I was a golden glove boxer and I knew I could have kicked his butt. However, I was raised to respect authority, and that was not even a real option.

I chose choice number:

3. I glared at him w/my chin up and vowed to myself I would show that son of a you know what who was tough and who wasn't. I went out and played the best ball of my life. I played great against the third team and then got the better of Scott in our rematch.

The little soccer peeps might think my coach was a goof. He wasn't. He knew what buttons to push w/me. He would never do that w/some other players, but he knew that is what worked w/me.

I do want to add that it doesn't always have to be confrontational. Most times, it is not. I was a emotional as a coach. But, most of the time, when I yelled, it was to pump my guys up. I would scream at them that they could kick number 78's butt. You have worked harder than they have. You are better than they are. Believe in yourself. Dig deep. Etc, etc.........

Some of you will think that is stupid and lame.

All I know is this.................my own children, who were younger and the reason I quit coaching.............tell me stories of how many of my players view me as the greatest influence in their life. I do know that my players still converse w/me. When I return to Ohio, we hook up. Some call me "dad."

No Ice King will ever get that return on their investment. I guarantee you that!

I think you've got me wrong. I was referring far more to sideline antics or "emotions". I don't think those are "necessary" for success. Each coach has his own style and can be successful. If you look at Tom Landry.

I bet Landry was a very tough coach. Yet on game day, he was focused on the job of coaching the team. He seemed poised and calm for the most part.

But I bet he wasn't calm in the locker room at half time. I bet he wasn't calm in practice. I bet he wasn't what we call today a "players coach". You mentioned two Browns coaches who well, couldn't coach!



I do want a tough coach. A coach who instills discipline and hard work. I simply believe there are coaches out there who can accomplish this without having fits on the sideline during games. I have nothing against that if that's a coaches style and it works for him. But I've seen very successful coaches who didn't feel the need to throw tantrums on the sidelines.

There's a difference in having passion and emotion, and losing it completely. I've seen a lot of fiery coaches who aren't in the NFL today as well.

I am thinking about Paul Brown. And my dad who was my coach. When the quiet ones blow up, you have something to deal with. You can be intense AND very focused without carrying on. You are the only one on the field as game manager overall. Lombardi could go wild, but seldom did. Just to throw them out as solid metrics.

Dad told me he felt there were two kinds of players and people. Fond of repeating we all need either a kick in the butt or a pat on the back. Trick to coaching is knowing who needs what and when they need it. Too many back-patters is part of the problem. Indiscriminate butt-kickers at every turn just to power binge are not any better if it is their only mode. FWIW.

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Look, you have to be your own self. There is no right or wrong way. All I know, is that I much preferred playing for emotional coaches rather than the Ice Kings. But, to each their own.

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That was Mangini's problem, he wasn't trying to be himself, he was trying to be Bill Belichick. Seems like that's the problem with most of the Bills former assistants that go on to HC gigs. There is only ONE Bill Belichick. He can't be imitated or duplicated.
Time and again we see guys try and fail at that.

As for Pettine, I am encouraged that he says the right things. He seems to want to work WITH Farmer to build a team. He seems to care more about results than his ego and gaining credit. I like that. But in the end, all that matters is how the team performs on the field. All the talk about how a "Brown" plays means nothing if they get blown out every Sunday.

He said rip down the rearview mirror and that's fine, but this team didn't always play like crap. We do have a history of winning. Ancient history, but it's still our history.
Pissed me off when the NFL Network did it's "Dynasty" series and left off the first dynasty. The Browns....
Every time I see "A football Life" I wonder when the hell will they do a show on one of the most important figures in league history... Paul Brown. The Browns were every bit as dominant as the Patriots under Belichick back in the 50's and early 60's. Putting aside the AAFL record, the Browns went to 6 NFL Championship games winning three. And much of what is thought of as routine in the modern NFL was a result of Paul Browns influence.

I hope Pettine and Farmer are the answer. I figure I've got maybe 20-25 years left(if I'm lucky and my youth doesn't catch up with me). So the clock is ticking and I really want to see a championship before I kick. The last one in 64 I was 2 so I didn't get to see that one. But it seems like the league doesn't remember football was played before the SB era. That's wrong.....