DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns' Mess Starts with Haslem

Well, to that end....there is this piece:

I saw this article from this tweet,



CBS's Jason La Canfora Has Vastly Changed Portrayal of Kyle Shanahan Since Last Season

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports dropped a hammer on the Browns organization yesterday. If you haven’t perused it yet, it’s well-worth checking out, for the breadth at which it portrays Jimmy Haslam (who, in the best case scenario, presided over but was somehow ignorant of massive, systematic defrauding of high-volume customers as head of Pilot Flying J) as an intolerable micromanager with a sizable gap between his football acumen and what he thinks he knows.

Haslam purportedly overrode organizational consensus in opting for Johnny Manziel over Teddy Bridgewater, and pushed for Manziel to start when nobody thought he was “close to ready.” He also vetoed a trade that would’ve fetched a second round pick for Josh Gordon before his last two suspensions. The piece confirmed everyone’s obvious suspicions that you’d only deign to work for the Browns if you had no other options. You’re not a rat if you flee that sunk ship.

Which brings us to departed offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, and La Canfora’s treatment of him as a subject:



That’s pretty flattering! Within the piece, La Canfora also calls Shanahan “the best coach on the team’s staff,” says he did “an outstanding job, bereft of talent,” and refers to him as the “hottest offensive coordinator candidate in the NFL.”

And it’s quite different from the end of last season, when La Canfora painted Shanahan as an entitled, petulant, insecure, inexperienced nepotism beneficiary in Washington:



In fairness, La Canfora concluded that piece by noting that Kyle Shanahan had a good run with Gary Kubiak in Houston … but … we’re supposed to believe that he was this petty brat in Washington, and just one year later “the lone bright spot on offense” when he was in charge of a dreadful unit and bailed? Did he really improve by leaps and bounds? A cynic may wonder whether Shanahan and/or his agent was a source of Wednesday’s story.

If you’ll recall, the day before Shanahan obtained his release, there was a story by Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com which was clearly planted and similarly presented him as a knight in shining armor suffering the fate of organizational incompetence. (As an aside, that piece included the first account of the front office texting coaches during games, which has since devolved into the quintessential dumb NFL scandal with the requisite -gate attached at the end.)

Shanahan didn’t exactly have tremendous pieces to work with in Cleveland, but it’s revisionist history to say the offense was ever any good, even though the team was 7-4. (Leading “the powerful AFC North for much of the season” are the words La Canfora used.) The decision to start Johnny Manziel is supposed to have been an edict from Haslam, but it’s not like they were benching someone remotely competent — in Weeks 10-14, Hoyer threw one touchdown and eight interceptions.

None of that is Shanahan’s fault? And he deserves no blame for failing to better prepare Manziel? Why does he get credit for the team’s marginal success, but no share in the accountability for a woeful collapse down the stretch? (Weirdly, Hoyer also evades much scrutiny: Gordon “made some blunders” that contributed to picks. Also: “The run game dried up and his options were few.”) All of this continues to beg the question of how we can be so sure that Shanahan was so toxic in Washington, but marvelous in Cleveland.

http://thebiglead.com/2015/02/05/cbss-ja...ce-last-season/

La Comfora is on a roll..

Kosar: 'Makes me want to throw up'

Updated: December 15, 2014, 11:02 PM ET

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/120344...field-struggles

i cant believe Jason LaCanfora held off as long as he did.

I contend that for half the year, Shanny was doing an OUTSTANDING JOB and the players were executing the plays he called. I don't think anyone would really argue that.

But suddenly, I'm supposed to accept that the last portion of the year is all on the players? gimme a break, For sure the players share in the blame, but they didn't just fall apart, something else had to happen to allow that.

If Shanny is such a good OC, how come he didn't figure out the problem and adjust things to get a better result?

That question will haunt me about him forever.

I'm not sure if anyone has brought this up but might it have been frustration with the offense that caused Farmer to feel as if he needed to text someone on the field?

Either way, it was a dumb move to do that. It's against the rules so he just shouldn't have done it.,

I can see that maybe Shanny didn't like being second guessed but you know, the Offense just went flat so maybe it was deserved.

I wouldn't have done it that way. I'd have taken him and the HC aside after the game or during the week or during game review to voice my opinions., Not during a game.,

JMO

Jason La Canfora: ‘Manziel Situation Is Beyond Troubling’

February 5, 2015 10:04 AM

There are some people who feel it’s a good thing that Johnny Manziel has entered rehab. They see it as someone trying to take control of his life and be a better player, a better teammate and a better man.

Not everyone, however, shares that view. No, some people see in Manziel a 22-year-old, first-round draft pick who isn’t taking his job – or his life – seriously. Even worse, he’s had no NFL success to speak of.

Learning a playbook? Reading defenses? Recognizing blitzes?

Shoot, the Browns are just hoping Manziel is sober on game day.

“No, it’s troubling,” CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora said on The DA Show. “It’s beyond troubling. All he’s got to do is get there. Just get there Saturday to treatment somehow. Just get there. And he couldn’t do it. They literally had to send team security people to try to find Johnny Manziel. And that was the week that began with him saying how it’s all different now, and he ends up basically being suspended for Week 17 because he couldn’t get to work on time on Saturday.

“I wish the kid well,” La Canfora continued. “I loved watching him play in college. You hope anyone, especially at that young age . . . can make sort of this determination and recalibration in their life. I wish him nothing but success. I hope it works out.”

But there’s no telling when – or even if – it will.

“You can’t put a timetable on sobriety,” La Canfora said. “So people who are out there saying, ‘Oh, well, he’ll probably be back by this date or that date or the start of OTAs’ – no one knows. Obviously he’s got things going on in his life above and beyond football right now. But it also has ramifications on the team. They got Connor Shaw right now. That’s it. I don’t think Brian Hoyer’s going back there, especially now with Kevin O’Connell being the quarterbacks coach. That’s another odd decision.”

O’Connell, a third-round draft pick in 2008, is just 29 years old. His offensive coordinator, John DeFilippo, is just 36. DeFilippo is replacing Kyle Shanahan, who replaced Norv Turner, who replaced Brad Childress.

None of those coaches lasted longer than a year in Cleveland.

“It’s hard for me to project a lot of success,” La Canfora said. “You look at that situation right now. There’s a reason why Kyle Shanahan got out and other people want to get out – and it’s that it looks like the (Jimmy) Haslam hammer will drop again in January of next year.”

To be sure, the Browns’ struggles go beyond Manziel and retaining coordinators. Frankly, the Browns need to make sure they can actually field a team next year.

“You got Josh Gordon, who’s out for a year,” La Canfora said. “You’ve got (Justin) Gilbert, who couldn’t even get to games on time. They give them until 11 o’clock to get there, and he’s rolling in at 11:45 – and they still have to keep him active because they’re short on numbers that week. They just hope they don’t have to play him. You’re talking about what should be your young, core nucleus. And now they’re all looking to some degree or another like lost causes only one year into this regime. It’s certainly troubling. Ben Tate was their big free-agent singing. He was waived twice this year. That side of the ball, I mean, good luck. Godspeed. I don’t know what they’re going to do.”

http://da.radio.cbssports.com/2015/02/05/jason-la-canfora-manziel-situation-is-beyond-troubling/

Thought about posting this in the Manziel thread, but because it had a bit of everything.. I put it here.. feel free to move it if need be.

Like I said, LaCanfora is trolling Browns fans and loving every minute of it. This is becoming his yearly ritual.

Bash Kyle one year but praise him when it suits his bias against Cleveland? Just go wherever the winds take you, I guess. Him and Grossi should be pals.

[quote=Halfback32]Jason La Canfora:... I don’t know what they’re going to do.”/quote]

Why not? You purport to know virtually everything else. Another LaCanfora article worthy of the pullet-zer prize. (And yes, it has everything to do with chickens).

That's valid. His quotes tend to lean in that direction.

Geez man,, What in the hell is stuck in La Confora's craw?

next thing you know, he'll report on the grounds keeper at the stadium having an affair with a police horse or how the Telephone operator at the Browns facility is drawing up plays in the dirt for the new OC to use.

His bias is obvious, no doubt. When he talked about the opportunity to trade Gordon for a 2nd, well, guess where that's coming from.

That said, you can't explain actual events in Berea away with the "bias-hammer". Textgate is real, so is the Gordon blow up, Manziel rehab, Shanny pulling out. It might be bias to string them together in an article, but then again, it's simply what has happened lately to the Browns. It's real, not fantasy

True, but statements like "being able to field a team" or some crap like that, that takes away from his message and lends credence to the fact he has become a troll and the equivalent of a literary shock jock.

I certainly hope it all works out too Tab. To me that has never been an issue between us. We both want to see the Browns succeed. And I believe my sig. says a lot too. I believe continuity is key in achieving that success.

And I certainly don't buy into everything La Confora has to say, but I will say I believe he knows some of the things that have gone on in the organization.

While I believe we both like Pettine as our HC, I do question how much power he is allowed. I do believe Haslam has a lot of say in the draft and as a result of that, I believe has much closer ties to Farmer than with Pettine.

So while we both hope that Pettine would have the power to take control and put his foot down with Farmer, I simply don't believe that's possible.

Cleveland Browns' Jimmy Haslam moving rapidly up list of NFL problem owners: Bill Livingston

updated February 05, 2015 at 4:01 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The big problem with the Browns wasn't even the quarterbacks, whom everyone was focused on.

The problem is Jimmy Haslam, "Hotspur" as I have called him for his recklessness and impatience. (No wonder he wanted Manziel in the draft! Neither has shown the ability to refrain from a bad impulse or to learn from his mistakes.)

The first time Haslam sat down with Plain Dealer editors and reporters shortly after buying the team, he spoke with admiration of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a superb businessman and brilliant marketer.

Jones has a reputation for interfering too much in the football side of the franchise. It was no surprise. He'd be involved, he said the day he bought the Cowboys, "from socks to jocks."

Compared to Hotspur, however, even Jerry Jones is closer to one of the patient, steady Rooneys in Pittsburgh, where Haslam was a minority owner. There, Haslam apparently learned none of the Steelers' lessons in successful stewardship of a franchise.

As for Jones, he has never fired a coach after only one season. Even Chan Gailey got two years. Barry Switzer got four after winning a Super Bowl with Jimmy Johnson's players, after which Switzer, an outsized personality, just like Jones, let discipline slide to the Josh 'n Johnny level of tomfoolery.

Haslam, an outsized personality, fired coach Pat Shurmur and the rest of the Mike Holmgren regime soon after he arrived. Vein throbbing in his forehead and the word "candidly" popping off his lips every few minutes, Haslam professed faith in Rob Chudzinski, even noting that he gave Joe Banner, his new team president, a nod of approval at their interview with Chudzinski.

Banner and another hand-picked Haslam hire, Mike Lombardi, would soon vanish into more smoke blown by the owner. Then Haslam fired Chud from his dream job after one injury-wracked season as head coach. "Candidly" appears to mean "callously" in HaslamSpeak.

Gone with Chudzinski was offended offensive coordinator and respected NFL play-caller Norv Turner. Norv had gotten two seasons, anyway, as head coach after Daniel Snyder, the infamously impatient owner of the Redskins, bought the team.

Even Snyder has fired only one coach after one season, Marty Schottenheimer. The head-strong Schottenheimer forced a showdown with the loose-cannon owner, which, actually, was an admirable stance by a football lifer like Marty.

It seems that Ray Farmer, promoted to the Browns' general manager's job, is not exactly a buffer between the marketing/business side of the franchise and the football operations, but rather, well, let's call Farmer a "conduit" for Hotspur's wishes.

A report by a writer with credibility, Jason La Canfora, asserts that Farmer actually sent text messages to the deposed quarterback coach, Dowell Loggains, during games. The texts were reportedly second-guessing personnel decisions. This casts Farmer as little more than a yes man for Haslam's Manziel fascination.

It's pretty easy to believe that was why offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, following the Turner precedent, jumped ship.

La Canfora's report is sort of like piling on a downed ball-carrier. The Browns are already toxic to any coach with a proven record. Such front-office shambles are why the Browns keep hiring first-timers such as Mike Pettine, who was on no other team's list for a head coaching job.

Jones, who has had seven coaches in 26 seasons, saw his Cowboys reach the playoffs and win a game in 2014. They had been eliminated from the playoffs in the last game for three straight seasons with 8-8 records.

The Browns dream of such near-misses.

Daniel Snyder has had eight coaches in 16 years with the Redskins. He has made the franchise, once one of the league's strongest, a laughing stock.

A quarter-century of consistent non-contention might not allow Hotspur to have such far-reaching consequences. The team, however, is in even worse shape than it was when Haslam took over.

If you wait a while with the Browns, the worst will usually happen. With Haslam, odds are you won't have to wait long. link

So..........you guys have concluded that the problem in Cleveland is the fault of Shanny and LaCanfora?



Y'all never cease to amaze me.

All is wonderful in Cleveland!

LaCanfora is Lombardi's litle ass nugget. I did think it was cute how he credited the patriots superbowl win to Lombardi lol. It was so cute.

Farmer texting to Shanny about the playcall is a different issue and Farmer should be sent packing if he is creating that kind of atmosphere.

well ofcourse!!!!!!!

Go down the list of events that started the day before the season ended:

Manziel and Gordon did not show for work that day. Manziel was fined, Gordon suspended. Gilbert also was essentially suspended (coach Mike Pettine's words) for missing a meeting at the team hotel.
Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan convinced the owner -- with 32 items of complaint, per reports -- to let him out of his contract. He gives up two years of salary to do it.

The quarterbacks coach is fired because, one would assume, Manziel was not ready to play.

The wide receivers coach, Mike McDaniel, joined several players and Gordon on the flight to Vegas that led to Gordon's yearlong suspension.

The wide receivers coach is let go quietly.

The ticket price increase is announced.

John DeFilippo, an offensive coordinator who has never called plays in the NFL, is hired. So is a quarterbacks coach, Kevin O'Connell, who has never coached with a team at any level. (These moves can work, mind you, but those are facts.)

Manziel appears in party shots in Miami Beach, Houston and, with Gordon, Aspen.

Manziel puts himself into rehab.

Gordon is suspended for the season.

Word breaks that the GM is being investigated for violating league rules by texting the assistant coaches during games.

stupid LaCanfora making all that happen!!!!!!!!

That yellow journalism is easier than objectivity and fairness, you know?

And if he can be this horrible in perfect hindsight, and a stone-slinging agenda as unfair as I found this, what a challenge a REAL story must prove to be.

"Critics are legless men who teach running." Read LaCan't.

Exactly. These guys are ignoring the facts. They ignoring the terrible decisions. They are ignoring the breaking of a league rule. They are ignoring how freaking STUPID it is for a GM to be texting plays down during a freaking game. They are ignoring the instability of the organization. They are ignoring the what a piece of crap Haslam is turning out be.

Nah.........it's all about LaCanfora being a Brown's hater and Shanny being a rat. Oh yeah, and let's blame Banner for these events, too.

Are you guys freaking kidding me?!?!

In my opinion, the only member of the Browns organization during the span of the last two regimes who doesn't look bad is Pettine.

And I guess, Norv Turner, too.

They are making terrible decisions. The texting thing was a stupid thing to do. Almost everyone has said it was. It's an obvious rule violation. Who is ignoring the instability of the organization?



Who are "you guys?"

I actually feel sorry for Pettine. I think he is trying his best to hold things together, but man, it's gotta be rough w/all that interference.

I think he did a good job as a first year coach. Heck, it looks even better now considering what he had to deal with.

I really feel that many posters are making their evaluations on regime wars rather than logical thinking. If you liked Mangini, you hated H and H and S, loved Banner/Lombardi and Chud, and hate Farmer/Pettine. If you hated Mangini, you loved H, H, and S.........and so on.

Not everyone is like that, but you can certainly see how many posters are that way when you see them completely ignoring the facts of the matter and blaming a reporter and an OC who wanted out.

I am not playing that game. I looked at this regime w/out much of an opinion. Farmer has lost my support. Pettine, Shanny, the WR coach, the RB coach, the OL coach, the LBer coach, and the secondary coach all won my support by doing good jobs. Not sure about the DL coach and the DC yet.

It's not about either loving or hating a regime no matter what they do like it is w/so many of these posters. It's about evaluating it properly.

Heck, I loved it when Haslam bought the team. I couldn't stand Junior. I thought Haslam had the perfect combination of passion, intelligence, and drive to get us to the promised land. He's turned out to be a buffoon. I was wrong about the guy. I can admit that.

steve, I always try to say "you guys" so I don't directly call out a poster. I don't really appreciate it when people post personal attacks on me, therefore, I try and not name the individual poster[s], even though I sometimes slip up.

I figure that when one reads one of my posts they can easily determine if they are one of those guys. And no, I don't think you were one of them, although I did question why you felt it was so important to post the LaCanfora/Lombardi pic.

Is it really relevant in regards to illegal texting?

Is it really relevant in regards to us drafting Manziel?
Playing Manziel? Having a team president breaking down film w/the coaching staff? Forcing personnel decisions on the coaching staff? Allowing Gilbert to get away w/so much? Not trading Gordon when they could? Having players and coaches wanting out?

Those things are relevant, steve...........not who reported them.

I agree completely, and I think it's especially unfortunate because I more or less expect him to get fired next year.

I think he held out on playing Manziel as long as he could. And despite Hoyer playing monumentally bad football, I think if it were up to Pettine, he still would've played Hoyer against Cincy.

I was listening to Cleveland A.M. radio a lot at that time, and heard so many frustrated callers talking with disdain about a favortism for Hoyer.

And I just shook my head...of course he did. He's a family man in his forties whose worked his whole life to get this gig. Who do you think he wants? The guy who works hard and takes it seriously, or the goofball hanging out with Floyd Mayweather?

He got veterans to buy in and step up, and he didn't hesitate to punish players who weren't living up to the standards of the system he was trying to build.

And if we win less than 7 or 8 games next year, I'd bet he's gone.

Seriously?

So, you see no problem w/them texting down plays DURING a game?

You don't think drafting Manziel was a mistake, especially when our personnel department had Teddy B ranked ahead of him?

You don't think forcing the coaches to play JM was a mistake?

You don't think not trading Gordon was a mistake?

You don't think that coaches and players wanting out is a problem?

You don't think that top coaches did not want to come here is a problem?

You don't think the poor first round picks were a mistake?

You don't think allowing Gilbert to get away w/being late over and over again is a problem?

You don't think the GM and team president breaking down film w/the coaching staff is stupid?

Nah mac, it's all the fault of Shanny, LaCanfora, Banner, and Lombardi.

steve, mac is one of those guys.

We are in complete agreement about all of that. That's pretty amazing.

We agree constantly.

I just think you're ridiculous.

IDK

I don't see many posters blaming LaCanfora for the browns woes... certainly there is no casual relationship.

To me it's his obvious personal bias in the reporting of those events and at time his interpretations of such.

Lets take one of his bullet points... Cameron wants out of Cleveland because of the toxic nature of the FO... I have not seen one snippet, quote or article directly attributed to Cameron that says that. Why is that?

We generally agree here; that he is a stand up guy and most have no issues with him, so is that the reason he has never come out and personally bad mouthed the Browns?

That could really be the only reason, right? Lets assume it is, he wants to leave on a positive note... so LaCanfora is saying Camero,. stand up guy that he is would not come out and say it directly, but would back door the Browns and complain to that unknown " team source"... isn't that the antithesis of stand up guy?
The rational is suspect.

This is not implying Cameron does not want to go, nor that Lacanfora is the reason he does, only that his reporting of dots being connected cause to effect is limited.

Then there are the over board statements like because of issues with JM, JG and Cameron the team should be concerned about fielding a team next year .. LMAO... really a handful of idiots will prevent a team from being fielded.. okay.

Now such statements can be dismissed as hyperbole, but to me they are more indicative of a writer with a personal agenda.

That agenda does not change the facts, nor excuse the actions of those being written about, what it does however is solidify that LaCanfora is not concerned about all the facts nor how one act effects another save how he slant those facts /actions to reflect the Browns in a bad light.

Such is his choice, but it will give some reason to pause and reflect on his words in a jaded way.

Again this in no way absolves the actions of Farmer, Gordon, JM or anyone else

OK, yeah I couldn't tell exactly how large of a group. I get that you don't want to single out. It's tough to make a point without calling specific people out.

I posted the LaCanfora/Lombardi picture specifically because a question was asked why he was writing this about the Browns and not the Colts, who have their own chain of awful going on. I do not think that LaCanfora has anything to do with the terrible management/clown show that has being going on with the Browns, but I do think that is where his delight in it stems from. The Browns, "led" by Haslam, have brought this upon themselves. Some of the people they have left in their wake are getting a good belly laugh out of it.

tex, there was post after post after post that centered around LaCanfora and Shanny while not mentioning one thing about the screw-ups our FO.

Again, I certainly do NOT consider you one of those guys. You are not. You're an independent thinker w/no real alliances. I admire that.

I hear what you are saying, but I think I will stick to saying "you guys." Again, I think those posters know who they are. Hell, there is no reason for anyone to be offended if you aren't guilty of the accusation.

For example, I don't feel guilty when I hear people talk about racist behavior. I'm not racist and so I am not offended. I don't get offended when I hear stories of how men abuse women. I am a man, but I have never abused a woman, thus I don't feel included in the group that does.

mac, I did read your post. Perhaps you should read it???

You mentioned LaCanfora. You mentioned Shanny. You mentioned Banner. You mentioned Lombardi. You erroniously reported that Banner and LaCanfora were "old buddies." It was Lombardi and LaCanfora who worked together.

You did mention Haslam, but you ignored every point that I made in my first post to you.

None of those mattered to you. It was all about LaCanfora, Shanny, Banner, and Lombardi. That is deflection through deception.

LaCanfora is more often than not correct in his reports.

I don't think he's a particularly great writer, and there's certainly a slant to his pieces, but he's been a great source of information for over two years now.

Every time he paints the team as having a bleak outlook and being dysfunctional, people act as if it's some sort of character assassination or attempt to make Mike Lombardi look good, but...those portraits have been consistently accurate.

Not denying his reporting of the facts as they seem, only his delivery.

I see a personal bias to his reporting as previously explained, a bias that does not alter the facts, but leaves some of his conclusion, ...er... inconclusive?

Yeah, I agree with that completely.

LaCanfora has broken a fair amount of Browns stories over the last two years, and he will often sensationalize, but for the most part his colleagues confirm the basic accuracy.

I wasn't necessarily speaking to you directly, either...LaCanfora has been widely disliked here ever since he wrote a piece painting a picture of a team that's going to lose games because they lacked talent...people went nuts. If you look back, it's somewhat amusing, as large chunks of the thread are people talking up Greg Little and Brandon Weeden.

LaCanfora is somewhere between tabloid writer and journalist, but he does have eyes and ears in the building. Grain of salt would be the correct phrase.

But beyond LaCanfora...the national and local media are all telling a version of the same story - Jimmy Rebate has no clue what he's doing but insists on doing it.

That's a pretty strong post.