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Browns coach Mike Pettine cramming with flash cards, getting chops busted, but also relishing transition to offense

By Nate Ulrich
Beacon Journal sports writer
Updated: May 17, 2015 - 09:03 AM
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AURORA: Browns coach Mike Pettine has a doctorate in NFL defense, but he’s still working on his bachelor’s degree in offense.

As part of Pettine’s ongoing mission to become more involved with the offense, the second-year head coach is delving deep into the playbook of new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo and cramming this offseason.
“I have flash cards to help me learn a lot of the formations,” Pettine said Friday during the 16th annual Cleveland Browns Foundation Golf Tournament at Barrington Golf Club. “It was like being a rookie. Give me a book, and I’d learn it just like a first-year player would learn it.

“But it’s been great. I feel very rejuvenated as a coach.”

When the Browns hired DeFilippo as a first-time NFL coordinator in January to replace Kyle Shanahan, who resigned earlier in the month with two years remaining on his contract, Pettine vowed to stray from his expertise on the defensive side of the ball and focus on the offense. Now he finds himself in a “very different” role, as evidenced by his attendance in all of the offensive meetings this offseason.

“I’m with [DeFilippo] every step of the way as far as, ‘Here’s what we’re implementing today. Here’s what’s going in,’ ” Pettine said. “I sit in on the install meetings, and I carry a playbook around.”

Pettine also carries a target on his back in the offensive meetings. Sure, he’s the boss, but he’s also the new guy trying to fit in. After all, he’s been a defensive coach since he entered the league in 2002, eventually serving as a coordinator for the New York Jets from 2009-12 and the Buffalo Bills in 2013.

“I was not thrilled with [offensive line] coach [Andy] Moeller the other day,” Pettine said. “He was showing cut-ups and showed a film from when I was in Buffalo as the defensive coordinator, and we gave up a 30-yard touchdown run. The players were all getting after me. More so because I was wearing white pants on the sideline. I wear what they put in my locker.”

When he’s not getting his chops busted, Pettine is helping DeFilippo develop big-picture strategy.
“Flip and I are very much on the same page with where this offense is headed,” said Pettine, a former high school quarterback who played safety at the University of Virginia. “I’m real excited to be a part of it.”

He also plans to help game plan during the season.
“I still will be involved with the defense. But I want to be a part of the [offense’s] game planning as well just to give the defensive perspective of who they’re going against,” Pettine said. “I have a good feel for NFL defenses having studied a lot of them or knowing the coaching trees — and there’s different styles and different rules within those — and I think that’s where I can be beneficial to [the offense].”

He also could wield more influence over the offense on game days. Pettine explained he would sometimes suggest to Shanahan last season simply whether to run or pass, mainly for clock-management purposes. Now he can envision suggesting specific plays to DeFilippo.

“If I’m involved in the game planning, then I could certainly see that happening, getting a little bit more specific on game day,” Pettine said.

Pettine insisted he would have inundated himself with offense this year even if Shanahan had stuck around. His growing confidence in defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil is a factor.

“I would have taken a more active role in it,” Pettine said. “Especially now that I felt the defense was up and running and fully functional and that I felt that my time would have been better spent on the other side.”

The defense isn’t perfect, but it’s definitely considered the strength of the team because the Browns, who ranked 27th in points per game (18.7) and 23rd in yards per game (324.6) en route to finishing 7-9 last season, face many more challenges on offense.

The offensive line, when healthy, is probably among the best in the league, but questions at quarterback and a lack of skill players who’ll consistently strike fear into the heart of a defense is glaring.

Pettine has labeled veteran journeyman Josh McCown the favorite to enter the season as the starting quarterback partly because Johnny Manziel is coming off a stay lasting more than 10 weeks in an inpatient rehabilitation facility specializing in alcohol and drug addiction treatment.

Former All-Pro wide receiver Josh Gordon has been banished from the NFL until at least February 2016 for recurring violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy, and former Pro Bowl tight end Jordan Cameron left the Browns as a free agent in March.

All of which are reasons why Pettine has repeatedly stated he wants the offense to minimize the importance of the quarterback position.

“We want to run the football,” Pettine said. “That’s an important part. That’s going to be a cornerstone of what we do.”

Heavily relying on a ground-and-pound offense — the Browns have great expectations for their young running backs, Isaiah Crowell, Terrance West and rookie Duke Johnson — and a strong defense isn’t a common strategy in the pass-happy NFL, but it isn’t unprecedented, either.

The Jets advanced to the AFC Championship Game in 2009 and 2010 using the blueprint. With then-rookie Mark Sanchez starting at quarterback and DeFilippo working as the team’s assistant quarterbacks coach, the 2009 Jets ranked 31st in passing and first in rushing. In 2010, they finished 22nd in passing and fourth in rushing.

Pettine guiding the defense to rankings of first in 2009 and third in 2010 certainly helped the Jets’ cause, too.
“It’s not the most common path,” Pettine said. “People still try to be quarterback-driven. I’m not saying we’re going to be looking to win games 9-6. We still want to be explosive on offense. We just don’t want to put our quarterback in situations where the percentages aren’t there.

“We don’t want to be in third-and-long. We don’t want to be in second-and-long. We don’t want situations where our quarterback is getting hit a lot. When a quarterback is upright and he can get through his reads quick and get the ball out of his hands, he’s a lot better. If you get hit a lot early, now you’re kind of seeing ghosts late. You’re not as accurate. We want to make his life easier.”

So Pettine, flash cards and playbook in hand, has ventured into unfamiliar territory with the intent of helping the offense achieve an unconventional goal.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.

I wish he'd elaborate more on that. More specific in suggestions, or more specific as-in, "hey, here's what I want, call it in"?

Being a defensive guy, if he can be less focused on OUR defense on game day and more so what THEIR defense is running against our offense, perhaps he could be extremely beneficial to a nfl rookie coordinator in Flip in getting the right play dialed up.

However, this could lead to flops and getting the play called in late /delay of game penalty too. But we still don't know to what degree Pettine will be involved with the offense yet.

I just hope he doesn't overstep his bounds is all. After seeing his interaction with Shanahan on that one clip from last year, I have faith that he won't strong arm.

pettine has as much experience calling plays as any on the offence.

I took this to mean that where last year he would have told Shanahan in a certain circumstance, "I want to run the ball here and make sure we stay in bounds to keep the clock moving", this year he might say "I want to run Blue 73 or Orange 65 here".

Instead of just generally saying what he wants to accomplish in a specific situation, he will be able to give the OC a specific play instead.

I don't think that it will happen on every down, or even often, but rather in situations where the head coach makes the call.

With Ray-Ray Farmer's missteps, a power vacuum exists. Mike will do whatever to escape the end-of-year JH firings.

That's why they watch film bro. They look for tendencies its part of game planning. There is no secrets they do this in this situation you counter it with a play that takes advantage of the team your playings tendencies. Teams will be looking at our tendencies as well, thats why I think early at least I would toss the ball buck the tendencies. If we consistently run on 1st down teams will load up on us. It's why our run game went south last year, and it will happen again if we lean to heavy one way or the other.

The ground and pound sounds great until defenses load up for it. I think defenses can stop any running offense that doesn't display at least some balance. But we will see won't we?

I see what you're saying, but my feeling (hope) is that this won't be a repeat of the mess we had with Shurmur and Chilly... where Chilly would call a play, Shurmur would then decide if he was going to give it the ok or if we were going to run something else. IIRC neither Colt or Weeden ever had time to actually read the defense or make adjustments because they weren't even able to break the huddle until there was about 5 seconds left on then play clock.

While I think Pet certainly wants to have his influence on things (he should, he's the HC!), so far he hasn't come across at least to me as a micromanager.

Save for a decided athletic advantage ( ie an Alabama playing a James Madison) every defense has a weakness.

A defensive coach knows those weaknesses in his D and does what he can to hide and / or mitigate them.. by extension then it stands to reason a D coach will know the weaknesses in the D his offense is playing against.

Now most O coaches will know the opposing D's typical response to down and distance situations... say they like to walk a safety down in certain DND times... which makes them susceptible to be attacked over the top .. but a D coach may see further small nuances that say ... yeah they are weak over the top but that can be lessened by going to a cover 3, which if hidden before the snap will mean the O gong attempting to go deep down the slot is playing right into their hands.

The answer may then be run your TE down the seam, appear to be gong over the top, pull the safety deep and run a skinny post from your WR finding that gap 10-12 yards deep between the dropping ILB and the deep help.

Now this is a pretty simple example, but just used to highlight how having a D coach with some input into what he sees can be a good thing.

As far as micromanage... do not see that in Pet's DNA, he did not micro manage the D last year don't se why he would with the O now.

I think you forgot to answer me in th other thread, how long do you plan on trolling this board?

I hope we do enough offensive maneuvering to help us unload the box. Means we have to call things that can hurt a D if they stuff it and do that. Forcing D to adjust to your success helps you anticipate adjustments and capitalize on them.

I felt we got away from things that worked (rarely saw them again). IMO certain parts of the field were unattacked. A decent screen play variety can be destructive to a D. Old school: Don't leave a good thing that is working; we did, and the overloaded boxes killed us. Keep them more honest. Hope these two are thinking about dictating offense. Ground pound sounds good. Hope it works.

How do we achieve this with Josh McCown OR JFF?
The box will always be stacked, because we have ZERO, I repeat ZERO offensive threats. WTG "TEXT"!

Does it matter? I mean, he's the HC. If he wants it, it doesn't matter if he's involved or not, he'll tell the OC to call it and that's that!

As for whether or not he's capable, Just because he's been more defensive oriented doesn't mean that he can't call the O. Just means he's inexperienced.

JMO, but I have a sense about Pettine that says he won't step on Flips toes but will be there just like he was last year with his rookie DC. Once the DC showed he was capable, he let him fly on his own.

I'd like to think that's what he's doing with Flip. Also, he may be doing the "Broad Shoulders" routine. Meaning, I'll take the heat for Flip while he finds his sea legs (so to speak)

I certainly don't know that for sure, but that seems to be the kinda guy Pettine is.

We'll see I guess.

Well if he's calling in crap plays because he likely has never, ever called in a NFL play on offense, then yeah it'll matter.

Can you imagine Pat Shurmur calling in defensive plays? My motto is, you hire people of their professions to do their jobs, just gotta give them the chance to do that.

But again, we have no idea how "specific" Pettine will get on the offensive side, just stating some potential concerns.

I can appreciate him wanting to get his hands dirty a little bit and help contribute to the offense, but I hope this doesn't turn into a case like Pat Shurmer, where it was obvious he was in over his head and didn't know what he's doing. I'm really interested to see what this system we're running is going to look like. I loved Shanahan's zone blocking, play action heavy attack, hope we're running something similar.

And I'm certain he will call in a bad play.. Hell, the best OC's do from time to time.

In other words, I'm just not going to worry about it until it happens.

he's proven to be a pretty good coach so far, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

That's a pretty respectable opinion, one that I certainly hope turns out to be true!

+1

There is so many holes in that little theory, but whatever.

I see a few folks worrying about the "what if's" of Pettine being involved with the Offense.

Well, "What If" he gets involved the O turns it up big time and we score like crazy?

That is just as possible as a flop.

It could go either way and I think that's the point. We won't know until it plays out.

From one side, it sounds like a positive thing. Pettine knows defense so having someone making calls pre-emptively to counter the opposing D sounds great in theory.

It could also be seen as Pettine hired a yes man in Flip so he could dictate everything on the O and doesn't have the experience to be doing that.

I can see where both sides would draw their opinions from.

I'm doing a wait and see approach. I find it funny how so many can be all or nothing on Pettine. A rookie is a rookie be that a player or a HC. I do like the early returns of Pettine so far. But just like with a rookie player, it takes three years to know what you have. By no means is a player or HC with one year at the NFL level a finished product.

Everyone we have in major roles on this staff are in that category. From HC, to OC, to DC to GM. We have a staff of newbies and non finished products that are developing across the board. This could be a good thing or a total flop.

I feel it's far too early to draw any real conclusions from any of it.

Is the tug of war on between Browns GM and head coach?

One and done: The departure of Dr. Jamil Northcutt as Browns director of player engagement after 15 months won’t make a ripple with their football-starved fan base.

Northcutt was a nonentity to fans. A former college linebacker at the University of Mississippi, he didn’t make (or miss) a tackle, or directly influence what happened on game days.

But in the politics of Browns football, Northcutt was an inordinately major “player” in the 2014 season – a confidante of GM Ray Farmer and, it turned out, a thorn in the side of Mike Pettine’s coaching staff.

And Northcutt’s ouster – which the club is characterizing as a mutual parting – reflects a seeping rift between Pettine and the GM who is facing a four-game suspension for breaking NFL rules by texting, and badgering, coaches in the press box booth during games.

On game days, Northcutt had an undefined role on the sideline. Sources have told ESPN Cleveland that Northcutt was a recipient of Farmer’s in-game texting, and that he relayed messages from Farmer to the coaches. Another source said that was absolutely false.

There is a story of Northcutt having a confrontation with defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil during that horrible 23-7 loss to the Houston Texans on Nov. 16, in which nondescript Houston running backs Alfred Blue and Jonathan Grimes combined for 49 carries and 210 yards on the ground. O’Neil did not take kindly to Northcutt’s intrusion during the difficult day, sources said.

That unexpected loss, with the Browns sitting atop the AFC North at 6-3, was the beginning of the end of the 2014 season.

There is also a story of Northcutt having a “conversation” with offensive line coach Andy Moeller concerning the non-use of reserve guard Vinston Painter after the injury to center Alex Mack. According to a source, that was outside the boundaries of Northcutt’s job description.

The doctor is in: The position of “director of player engagement” or “director of player programs” continues to evolve with NFL teams. The job entails assisting players, particularly incoming rookies, in making the transition to life in the NFL and life after the NFL.

Mundane tasks like scheduling visits to the Ohio DMV and lining up real estate agents coincide with regular meetings to educate players on financial traps and NFL substance abuse and personal conduct policies. The position of “director of player engagement” has become a season-long extension of the ever-enlarging NFL Rookie Symposium program.

Many teams fill the position with former players, who have “been there, done that.” When Farmer replaced former Browns tight end Aaron Shea with Northcutt, he termed Northcutt’s appointment “a very important hire.”

Northcutt held three college degrees from Mississippi, including a doctorate in higher education earned in 2013.

Northcutt came to the Browns after six years as assistant athletics director for internal operations at Mississippi. Before that, he was with the Kansas City Chiefs as player development coordinator while Farmer was director of pro personnel director with the Chiefs.

While Northcutt was eminently qualified to deal with “player engagement,” the team had an unusually difficult year keeping some players “engaged” in their jobs.

Northcutt inherited the serially suspended Josh Gordon. But three rookies had particular trouble adapting from college life to the demands and challenges of professional football – cornerback Justin Gilbert, quarterback Johnny Manziel and running back Terrance West.

It may be unfair to tag Northcutt with the respective transgressions of the three rookies. Then again, it’s hard to recall a Browns’ rookie class that had more high-profile knuckleheadedness.

Going forward: I’m not saying that Northcutt’s departure represents a turning point in the relationship between Farmer and Pettine. Actually, that occurred when Farmer texted coaches in the booth during games, which was counter-productive to the team’s ability to win and compromised Farmer’s credibility with the coaches and, to a degree, the players.

But Northcutt’s departure is not insignificant, either.

Neither Farmer nor Pettine have the job security under owner Jimmy Haslam to pull a power play. In a way, each still needs the other to succeed.

But the tug of war appears to be on.

http://espncleveland.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=47411

Reading the "spin" on this one should be fun.

when we only win 3 games it will be both. farmer has a better chance of sticking though.

We're making the playoffs. No doubt.

I agree Eo. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that Farmer has been weakened to some degree since he is suspended the first 4 games. I think everybody with any say....Maybe just Haslam, decided that Farmer was worth keeping, and I agree.

I am not going to go do research on the deal, but Farmer was texting somebody on the sidelines. Possibly that somebody was Northcutt who was joking about play calls? In a earlier article it said he started questioning why Painter wasn't getting a look. Was that going out of bounds? I don't know. I would guess as player realtions rep, players might come to him with complaints, and then it is his job to relay the message. I just don't know how that works.

But in the end, I don't see any real power struggle. I see it as a natural evolution. I think any time a coach shows he is pretty darn good and the team responds to his wishes, that coach is always going to gain a slightly bigger say in matters. He is the face of the team in most cases.

No big deal here.

You'd probably have a little more credibility saying the above comment regarding a Tony Grossi article if you didn't bash everything he wrote about Banner and Co. when he was reporting issues that clearly existed. Talk about the spin you put on that stuff!!

Anyways....

My thoughts-- There is always a level of truth to these sort of articles. To the degree, it's matter of opinion. Several articles have been written about the disconnect between the GM and HC since the texting incident. I find it hard to believe that this didn't exist on some significant level. The question is whether or not it is worse or better since the texting incident, which was probably the height of the conflict. Many of the reported incidents in Grossi's article, if not all, happened last year. Nothing reported of late except for Northcutt's release from the team, which simply was made public. Who knows when actual transaction took place.

Murphy’s Law Report: Mike Pettine, Ray Farmer struggling for power in Cleveland

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2015, 10:24 AM EDT

Murphy’s Law stands for the notion that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. The Cleveland Browns version of that principle goes like this: Whatever goes, goes wrong.

Currently, what’s going wrong is the relationship between coach Mike Pettine and G.M. Ray Farmer. Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com points to the recent departure of Browns director of player engagement Dr. Jamil Northcutt as tangible evidence of a rift.

Northcutt, per Grossi, was a “major player” during the 2014 season, as both a confidante to Farmer and an irritant to Pettine. Multiple sources tell Grossi that Northcutt relayed Farmer’s notorious in-game text messages to the coaching staff, but at least one source told Grossi that was “absolutely false.”

Grossi also writes that Northcutt had a “confrontation” with defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil during a November loss to the Texans, and that Northcutt had a “conversation” with offensive line coach Andy Moeller regarding the decision not to use guard Vinston Painter after center Alex Mack suffered a broken leg.

Northcutt’s decision to stray beyond his normal job description could help explain why so many young players struggled last year, from receiver Josh Gordon (whose one-year suspension came because he drank alcohol on a plane after the regular-season finale, something he apparently didn’t know he wasn’t allowed to do) to quarterback Johnny Manziel (who had perhaps the most disastrous rookie season of any first-round quarterback since the merger) to cornerback Justin Gilbert (who dramatically underachieved as a rookie).

Grossi notes that the major damage to the coach-G.M. relationship occurred by virtue of the texting by Farmer to the sidelines, a transgression many still believe happened at the behest of owner Jimmy Haslam. (The Browns consistently have denied that.)

Regardless, the team hasn’t achieved enough success for either guy to try to parlay positive performance into more power. Any effort by one to attack the other at a time when the team continues to post losing records means that both will eventually lose their jobs.

And so the challenge becomes getting both guys joined at the hip for a three-legged race aimed at staving off Haslam’s next housecleaning. Having Northcutt out of the mix could be the first step toward getting Pettine and Farmer on the same page.

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JMHO, Pet involved with O, good...AND if he has PHD in D, he's got better than BA in O...cuz he's preparing for all of them...my biggest fear this year is schedule...looks tough...AND if results aren't what Has expects we clean house again....God forbid...I like Pet and his staff....hope for the best....GO Browns!!!

Farmer came in and learned under Banner for a season.

What was reported about Banner? That he wanted to have assistant coaches report directly to him. That he wanted more input into the on-field product.

Then Farmer takes a similar tact last year with the texting and now this.

It is a concern, because either Haslam is allowing it to happen, is pushing for it to happen, or has no idea what is going on with the GM he supposedly works so closely with, and attends games with.

If I am the owner, and am sitting with my GM during a game, and my GM starts texting, I am asking him what is so important that he is texting while he should be paying attention to the field, but his phone. It drives me nuts when I see people texting during important times, and a game would be an important time for a GM. (It also bugs the heck out of me when kids are texting during church. If you cannot show that much respect, then why even come to church?)

Anyway, one way or another, it comes back to Haslam. Haslam has to put an end to this kind of thing so that he does not lose a very good head coach with a ton of ability and who has a lot of the traits to potentially become be a great head coach.

blaming banner for texgate.

What's to "spin"? In neither article is there anything to support the claim that there is a "rift". It makes sense that if this guy Northcutt was on the other end of the texts, or was that annoying that he'd be let go. For all we know he was given a second chance and he blew it. The article doesn't even claim Farmer tried to retain him. Poor journalism at best, if its even supposed to be that.

The author may as well have said that there is a "rift" due to current race relations in America and Pet is white and Farmer is black.

+1....AND let us not forget Haslem might have just said, let's hold accountable our player personnel director for not communicating effectively the pro enviornment to THREE high draft picks....can't get rid of players this soon, but you can get rid of their babysitter....Go Browns!!!

I do not know how you made that leap ...

How the heck did you get that out of his post?