DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Mike Pettine..continued !

Sometimes things just a take a while to run its' course. I expect that you did not intend that to be a cheap shot at eo...

sometimes common sense is called for, sometimes... erll most time when someone is screwed that bad it just doesnt get straightend out untill one or the other are gone

It seems rather late in the year for anything related to "textgate" to be still having an impact on the team or makeup of the front office.

The timing leads me to believe that there was some other kind of incidence that led to him being asked to go ...... but I cannot prove that. However, why they would wait till not to fire the guy in the middle of such a thing, if he was, makes little sense. I would think that he would have been the 1st to go.

very simple. sucker pettine thought things were fixed. but farmer had other ideas of what fixed is.

this is all speculation as to why he was let go. It could just as easily be that they didnt feel he was doing his job with these rookies. With the job he did last year, cant believe he lasted this long. Gordon, Manziel, Gilbert, West, Tate and probably a ton more that we didnt hear about.

You should have started this out..."Once Upon a Time"

true enough. cant make this stuff up. its like a fairy tale. or a nightmare......

This is likely the end of the story; not a big deal. It pales in comparison to Deflategate and the "crowd noise" down south...

It's never been a big deal...the hang-wringing over a text or a hundred texts is laughable. As if other FOs don't "illegally" communicate down to the field during a game.

Darn near everyone was new in their jobs last year...of course there will be some screw-ups.

The league has addressed it...the organization has addressed it...and the guys involved have addressed it.

This isn't old news...it's never-was news.

Than why was Farmer suspended for four games by the NFL?

It's been kinda cool reading all the excuses and justifications from the "open minded" posters.

Man, you get angry about the silliest things.

Common sense? It seems sensible to at least consider the timing of Northcutt's firing, or would having an open mind disallow a person from considering the timing of the firing because it interferes w/the open-minded mindset of everything is perfect in Berea?

JMHO, textgate= two ballers, Farmer & Pet, new their jobs want to win...Farmer feels his oats will do ANYTHING to get his views know..textgate has many parts AND no one knows what happened really except those involved...Grossi..press always stirs the pot, especially during the dog days of summer, everything we read is FACT, right....Farmer looks like fool, took his medicine and gets to watch four games...another story will be IF he can really do it, or does he somehow get his views in with another goofer...as I stated already, the Player personnel guy stunk, timing, who really cares, he should have been let go...every Organization has ego and internal interaction issues, people involved, what's new...even the Pats, world champs, have issues....hope one day we have issues like where to put the Lombardi trophy.....GO Browns!!!

Because he broke a rule by sending a frickin text...whoop-de-doo. How open-minded must someone be to believe that?

A text...really? Next time he can just walk down to the actual playing filed ala Jerry Jones and no one will give a crap.

No one was hurt...no one lost money...he has not whined about his punishment or asked for a review by the league. He owned up to his action...will accept his beating...and move on. It never was a story...still isn't.

Where do you see excuses or justification from me? It's just meaningless and is only news for those media types who can't do their job the right way because that would require some actual work.

He sent a text during the game which is against the rules...a text...over six months ago. Oh the horror. You'd think the guy deflated footballs or pumped in artificial crowd noise or something.

That is impossible to answer since there is no proof that Northcutt was the one Farmer was texting. I have heard a few names mentioned as to who he was texting but nobody has said for sure who it was.

Northcutt couldn't even hold Aaron's jock strap let alone do the job Aaron was doing. Like I said on the day they canned Aaron.... huge mistake

GM
I really did not understand the value of the position until we replaced Shea and then we started having so much of this off the field stuff going on. The piece on the relationship between Shea and Gordon was especially alarming at Shea's replacement. Huge mistake on the Browns part.

I agree with you, I think its much more likely that he's just not getting it done with this years crop of rookies.

Any involvement he may have had in Textgate wouldn't be all too relevant now, unless the texting started up again, or he tried to do something equally knuckleheaded.

Since this happened between OTA and the start of rookie camp, it really has me thinking something took place with these rookies as well during OTA's with the rookies.

My guess is there is another suspension that will be announced.

Do you know something we don't?

j/c

Exclusive sit-down interview with Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine

Browns head coach hits on numerous, hot-button topics as he previews training camp

Our exclusive question-and-answer session Friday with Browns coach Mike Pettine went well beyond the three questions we provided in our sneak peek.

The rest can be found right here in a full transcript from the 25-minute session with the Cleveland head coach, who will open his second training camp Thursday at the Cleveland Browns Training Facility.

CB.com: How much is yours and general manager Ray Farmer's vision apparent in the current makeup of this roster?

Pettine: A big part. I don't know what the exact numbers are but if you take the roster from the day he became the General Manager, which was about less than a month after I became the head coach, the roster changes from then until now, it's significant. That's why I laugh when people say we're not on the same page. We share a vision for what we want this team to look like. Every move we've made -- we haven't batted 1,000 -- but we'd like to think that batting average is pretty high between last year's draft and this year's draft, especially. The 12 guys we brought in this year, we feel real good about coming out of the spring that every single one of them has shown us at some point that, 'hey, this is why we brought him here.' Some guys are going to show up better in pads than others. You're always looking forward to that. You play a lot of touch football in spring and sometimes you get a false sense of where you are. That's why we're looking forward to it being real football. I just feel the roster has changed. The biggest thing you can look at is we've improved our depth, especially this offseason. I don't look at the roster and say, 'wow, if we get dinged up there or have some issues there, we're pretty thin.' I'd like to feel we've really bolstered our depth and we're going to have to make some tough decisions come cut time. That's when you know you're building it right.

CB.com: Does that cohesion between you and Ray help formulate an on-field identity for this team?

Pettine: Absolutely. We haven't been very secretive about our identity. Let's build on toughness, mentally and physically. You have to in this division. The guys we've brought in we think embody that. A lot of the guys we've brought in, we talk about Play Like a Brown, that's line No. 1 of their evaluation. 'Hey, this guy plays like a Brown.' You've got tough guys that are smart that love football, you're really maximizing your chances to be successful.

CB.com: Which of the free agents have really made an impact on the field and within the walls of their postion group meetings?

Pettine: Tramon Williams has been tremendous for us and defensively we feel real good about where he is and what he's been able to bring to that room. His football ability, first and foremost, and then all that other stuff that comes with being a savvy veteran that's seen a lot and played in a lot of playoff games, played in some big games. I think he's the perfect complement to Joe (Haden). I think he'll be great for the young guys in that room and that's why we felt that was important to bring a guy with his experience, so Joe wasn't kind of the senior citizen in the wrong.

Offensively, you look to Josh McCown. Just the presence he's brought into that quarterback room, and not just the quarterback room, but how that's spread to the offense and how he's been able to interact with the coaching staff and relate with the rest of the guys in the room. I couldn't be more pleased with what he's brought to the table. We want to do everything we can to make him successful. It's important for us to put all of our quarterbacks in good situations. That's how you're successful is you minimize the amount of stress you put on that position. When you force them time and time again to convert a second-and-long, to convert a third-and-long, to bring you back from two scores down late, the odds are against you. The players are too good in this league. You have to put your quarterback in situations where you're asking them to play smart and protect the football. Let's not lose the game first before we put you in a situation where you have to go out and win it. Take the ball out of his hands to some extent and to get it to other guys that can make plays for us, whether it's running the football or shorter passing game. At the same time, still stress defenses down the field. He proved this spring he still has the arm strength to be able to throw it deep.

CB.com: Were you surprised at all with his on-field performance at OTAs and mini-camp? Does he really look like a 35-year-old quarterback?

Pettine: It's hard to believe he's that age because he doesn't act it and he certainly doesn't look it. He's very much young at heart, he's enthusiastic. For what he's gone through in some places, you could see where there might be some negativity there and there's not at all. His outlook is great. Especially when it's coming from a place of leadership, that's infectious. He likes it here and he's very confident in what we've built on the offensive side not just for him, but for the other quarterbacks as well. That's one of the reasons we're quietly optimistic about this offense.

CB.com: How much will it benefit the team to have clarity at quarterback when camp opens?

Pettine: There's no substitute for reps, reps together. You can put a group of really good players together but it will take some time before they start to know where he's going to be, 'I know what he likes to do and this is good here but not good here.' It takes some time to build that cohesion and chemistry. Last year, it would have been difficult. We felt Johnny (Manziel) was worthy of having that opportunity to compete and Brian (Hoyer) clearly won the job. Given the circumstances of this offseason and how everything played out, I didn't want to do that again. We felt we had a veteran guy that had proven he could be a starter in this league in Josh. Johnny's in a situation where he can learn from him and the circumstances play out where he needs to play or elevates his level of play, Johnny does, and can be out there, then so be it. For us, it's all about winning. There's no other agenda here. It's what 11 players we put on the field that gives us the best opportunity to be successful.

CB.com: You said during OTAs that we'd end up forgetting that Danny Shelton missed them in order to graduate. Has that proven to be true?

Pettine: Mentally, he's been on top of it from the beginning. He didn't miss any padded work. The defensive line, they're usually the group that ends up with the most individual time that coach (Anthony) Weaver has to kind of do some walk-through stuff with them so their workloads aren't too high during practice. I'm very confident he'll be ready to go for the opener. It was for good reason but it's unfortunate that that was the hand we were dealt but I don't think it will affect much, especially when we get to the end of camp.

CB.com: Is the competition along the offensive line something you want settled early in order for the first-team to develop chemistry together?

Pettine: I've been in situations where you can have six guys. As much as you want to put five out there and just have them play, if you have a guy that's a sixth, and I'm not sure who that sixth is, we feel we have six quality linemen and we're confident they'll all be able to play for us. Even beyond the six, whether it's a Michael Bowie or Andrew McDonald, guys that have really had good offseasons for us. Karim Barton, Vinston Painter, that's one of the areas from a depth standpoint we feel so much better about this year than a year ago. That's one I think we all look forward to seeing how it plays out. It's well-documented we'll give Joe Thomas days off, so when that happens it's a good opportunity to kind of jumble the lineup a little bit and give guys some work at different positions with a different combination. Even Alex (Mack) coming off his injury, we'll potentially give him some time off as well during camp. We feel it's the cornerstone of our offense and we're looking forward to looking at some different combinations.

CB.com: How much will it benefit the offense to have Alex Mack back at full capacity?

Pettine: When you see him, and (Joel) Bitonio and Joe Thomas next to each other, and that's not a slight on (John) Greco or Cam (Erving) or even Mitchell (Schwartz). To see those three guys, potential Pro Bowl type players out there, that's a heck of a starting point. The anchor of our offense, you feel like you're in great hands with those guys out there.

CB.com: How much has the depth been improved at wide receiver?

Pettine: It is. It really is. We had some guys last year that contributed for us in different ways that will be hard to keep off the field. We're bringing in Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline, draft Vince Mayle and then look at (Andrew Hawkins) and (Taylor) Gabriel had a great spring for us. Hawk's coming off a career year. Then you have Travis (Benjamin), who everybody just kind of looked at and said 'hey, this guy's a returner coming off a knee, what is he?' Next thing you know he's making huge plays for us on offense and giving us that speed element that you need to be able to keep defenses honest. You look at some of the guys beyond that. Bringing in a Terrelle Pryor. I think everyone's very interested seeing how he's going to look adjusting to a new position. Josh Lenz is a guy that all he's done is get open and catch the ball. He's a guy that I think a lot of people looked at and said, 'wow, if he didn't get hurt in the spring, he might have had the best spring of any of those receivers.' It falls back to the depth thing. You start doing the math on who's going to make the 53 and who are the 10 guys that are maybe for practice squad and then you start to think about game day, you know you're building your roster right when a lot of those decisions are going to be very difficult ones.

CB.com: Pryor's signing has certainly generated excitement among fans. What intrigued you about him?

Pettine: He's just an explosive athlete and that's what the NFL's all about. I never wanted to feel like we had a system, that I was a system coach, that 'this position has to be this, or this height, this weight, this speed' and kind of get locked into give us all explosive athletes we can find and it's on us as coaches to be creative. He is going to go ahead and make that transition to wideout. I was around Brad Smith, who was a college quarterback and I see a lot of parallels there as a college quarterback, and he's still in the league, was very productive for us in New York and ended up going to Buffalo. I see some similarities there, explosive athlete that made the transition and was able to help out the team in a lot of different ways.

CB.com: How important will versatility of roles, chemistry be important when paring down the defensive line?

Pettine: It's very different from offensive line. We're always looking to kind of roll a defensive line. That's where the toughest decision will be for us is who makes it for us and who's up on game time and working those reps as far rolling guys through. We have tremendous depth in the secondary. We feel like we've bolstered the depth at outside linebacker. We feel like we have four quality -- and even then some beyond that -- four guys that played a lot of inside backer for us when you look at the depth Craig (Robertson), Christian (Kirksey) and Tank (Carder) give us alongside Karlos (Dansby). Again, all great problems to have. I see the D-line kind of playing out the same. There's no better motivator than competition. Guys are going to look around and say, 'wow, I'm going to have a hard time making this roster, I'm going to have a hard time earning playing time if I'm not bringing my A game every day.'

CB.com: What does a player have to do to stand out to you at training camp?

Pettine: Football's about making plays. It is. You want guys to be productive. Potential only gets you so far, height, weight. We're playing the game. We're not out there running races or lifting weights. We're playing football. Who's doing their job? Who can make plays but also who can make plays within the structure of the offense or defense, guys that aren't coming out of structure and going outlaw, as we call it, to try to stand out. We tell our guys, do your job and good things will happen. If they go out every day of a mindset of 'I'm going to fill my gradesheet with plusses,' there's that trust factor with coaches that 'hey, here's a guy that all he does is go out and does his job.' Those are the guys that, you have your superstars that are going to make plays for you, but that next tier of guys you want to be solid, dependable, trustworthy and go out and do their job every time. If everybody goes out and gets a plus, if we've structured the offense or defense right as coaches, we'll have a positive result.

CB.com: Does it help to have a standout moment or simply be consistent all of the time?

Pettine: It's a little bit of both. We want our guys to be consistent. We don't want guys that are making the splash play and unbelievable play and then turn around and fumble the ball or giving up a touchdown. It's about being consistent. We'd rather have the guy that's much more even keel with a spike now and again with a big play as opposed to all over the map, a guy that's going to make plays and maybe make a name for himself but at the same time put that side of the ball at risk too many times during games. So it's a fine line. Guys have to understand that consistency is a critical part of earning a lot of reps.

CB.com: Any off-the-radar players that have your attention heading into training camp?

Pettine: You look back at last year, you've got those five guys that made it. (E.J.) Bibbs is a guy we've been impressed with and the (Kevin) Haplea kid, both of them, we feel we have two quality guys that have a chance.

CB.com: Has Duke Johnson shown he can do even more than you initially expected?

Pettine: He's got a long way to go but he has shown us that he's more than capable. The mismatch ability is kind of the element that we were missing, that we can split a back out or get a back out in space. Those guys had solid years last year, but that's one thing from a defensive standpoint when you start going down the checklist of, 'who are we defending this week,' all those questions you ask, 'is the quarterback a runner,' one of the questions that come up is 'can the running back mismatch our linebackers in coverage?' When that happens, that drives your game plan a certain way, that you have to make sure that 'hey, we can't put our inside backer one-on-one in coverage against this guy,' or, 'if they spread him out, they go empty backfield and they put him out as a wide receiver, who's covering him?' He's already shown the ability to take a short pass and turn it into a long gain. He's also shown the ability to line up in the backfield and be a true running back, as he showed in college. To come out of The U and be the leading rusher, that says something with the parade of backs that have gone through there.

CB.com: Have Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell embraced the possibility of catching more passes out of the backfield?

Pettine: They have. And I never thought they were poor in the pass game. I just think the circumstances worked out that they were rookies and had some issues with protection and weren't getting out quick enough because they were cautious. I think they'll be more confident in what they're doing this year in Year 2. When Crow catches the ball, it doesn't look natural but he doesn't drop a lot of footballs. It just looks funny. And I've always thought Terrance has really good hands, so we feel really good about it. The other two guys in that room, Glenn Winston and Shaun Draughn, are both guys that can catch the ball and run it as well. That's another competition that we're looking forward to and we know we'll have to make some tough decisions.

CB.com: Do the kickers come into training camp with a clean sheet, or did their performance at OTAs affect their standing?

Pettine: It's part of it. The nice thing about now is they'll be in more pressurized situations. That's what being a kicker is all about. They've been at the driving range all spring and now they're getting ready to walk out in front of a gallery and in front of their teammates and have to make pressure kicks. That's what the NFL is all about is making pressure kicks, being accurate. We'll see and we'll work with those guys and try to simulate as much pressure situations in practice. When we go down to Columbus, we'll have a kicking competition at halftime in front of a big crowd. I know (special teams coordinator Chris Tabor) is going to take them down to the stadium some and get them some work down there.

CB.com: How much can the large crowd at the Orange and Brown scrimmage help you in your evaluation of the players?

Pettine: I think it's just a credit to Browns fans across the state. Columbus is a great football town. It didn't surprise any of us that tickets went that quickly. It will be good. We've got a bunch of Ohio State guys on the team and it will be a good homecoming for some. It will be a great environment. We can only do so much to create that pressure type atmosphere out here. To be able to put them in front of 60,000 ... you find out very quickly some guys will rise to that occasion and other guys shrink away from it. The more we can have those opportunities, I'll just look at it as 'hey, we're giving ourselves an advantage of a very controlled but essentially a fifth preseason game.'

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/arti...c3-6edf0565a9ad

Great info, Pit. Thanks for posting it.

I was happy to. At this time of the year it's hard to find anything coming from the horses mouth and I like Pettines outlook and attitude.

Yeah, Pettine really doesn't sugar coat much, does he?

- Pretty much assumes McCown will start but leaves door open for Manziel to surprise.

- Says he and Farmer don't agree on everything but situation is not as bad as projected in recent TG article.

- I think he, the coaches, and FO really like Duke Johnson.

- Looks at players like McCown and Tramon Williams to provide leadership in film room as well as on the field. Equally as important to players who had high expectations but failed last year-- Gilbert and Manziel.

At least that's what I got out of it.

We may see things a little differently. I saw it as a HC talking up his players overall. Giving them the message that he believes in them and expects a lot out of them. To the fan base he gave us a look at his confidence in the team. He gave us a look at our HC's positive attitude and belief in success.

You see, for players and fans to believe, the message must come from the top that there is reason to believe. Since our veteran aren't even in camp yet, the message Pettine delivered is an important one. He is behind them and he believes in them.

I believe one must realize that this article was done by the Browns, for the Browns. That's how corporations operate. Now I don't want anyone to infer that I believe that is a bad thing. It's not.

I believe this is absolutely the best possible message that Pettine could send right now. I enjoyed reading it.

this should end all debates about MP and RF.

"That's why I laugh when people say we're not on the same page."

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/133267...wns-starting-qb


BEREA, Ohio -- Johnny Manziel begins training camp as the Cleveland Browns' backup, but coach Mike Pettine said Manziel can still win the starting quarterback job based on performance.


Mike Pettine praised Johnny Manziel for his recent work with ESPN analyst and former NFL coach Jon Gruden in Tampa. Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports
Pettine added that it's still likely that Josh McCown will be the Browns' Week 1 starter against the New York Jets on Sept. 13.

"I don't think anything's changed," Pettine said as he discussed the team three days before training camp opens. "The repetitions will be handled that way with Josh as the 1. I wouldn't say I'm guaranteeing today that Josh McCown is going to be the starter against the Jets. A lot can happen in preseason."

Pettine said, though, that there is clear separation between McCown and Manziel because of McCown's 12 years in the league.

"From an experience standpoint, he [McCown] is that much further ahead," Pettine said.

Pettine emphasized that his approach with McCown and Manziel is the same as with players at other positions. There is a designated starter heading into camp, but competition can change that order.

Pettine said it was tough to say whether Manziel made enough strides in the offseason to be the starter because he's learning a new system and football in the spring is different than the fall.

"I would say he did a heck of a lot more good things in the spring than he did bad things," Pettine said.

He also shrugged at the fact that Manziel was not active on social media during the past six weeks, the team's time off.

"I did not spend one day of my vacation, it never popped into my head, 'Gee, I wonder where Johnny is or what he's doing,'" Pettine said, adding the team would not hover over any player because it expects them to act professionally.

Pettine also praised Manziel for taking the initiative to spend a couple of days with ESPN analyst and former NFL coach Jon Gruden in Tampa.

"This was vacation time for a lot of guys, so the fact that he sought out Jon and went down there and worked with him and was thinking about football, to me I see that as nothing but a positive," Pettine said.

As for Terrelle Pryor, Pettine said he wants the former Ohio State quarterback to concentrate "1,000 percent" on wide receiver as camp opens.

Pryor will be attempting to change positions after being under center during college and his previous three NFL seasons. Pettine acknowledged Pryor could fill a slash/multiposition role if he makes the team, but said it's way too early to think about those options.

"I don't want to put the cart before the horse with him," Pettine said. "He's got to make the roster."

Thanks for the article and it sure beats reading all the other garbage that's out there.

I like Pet, but this comment kinda bugs me. It made me question the validity of what he had to say during the rest of the article.



Sure didn't seem like Gilbert and Manziel played tough, loved the game, were smart, and played like a Brown. One could even argue that even West and Crow had their issues.

The latest draft really can't be analyzed yet, since they haven't played a game.

Super post, Pit! Liking Pett the more I see of him. This camp seems worlds ahead of last year's.

Go, Browns!

j/c:

Recently, discussion of a ‘rift’ or ‘tug of war’ in the Cleveland Browns front office has been making the rounds. The combination of a dead week in sports and the timing of a ‘mutual parting’ with Dr. Jamil Douglas as Director of Player Engagement provided Tony Grossi to produce an article that posed questions about the relationship between General Manager Ray Farmer and Head Coach Mike Pettine. Tug of war might be the most applicable analogy while still delivering a salacious headline but it feels far less a struggle for power as it does a head coach getting the control he should have had from the start.

The big problem with this report from Grossi is the issue is about eight months old and not a huge secret. While being almost entirely on the same page in terms of personnel and the roster, there were issues in terms of player usage and play calling which ultimately to a head publicly with ‘Textgate’ resulting in a 4-game suspension for Ray Farmer this coming season.

After Jimmy Haslam announced the removal of President Joe Banner and then GM Mike Lombardi, Ray Farmer was promoted to GM with a substantial amount of power and influence with Haslam. After a lengthy coaching search, the Browns opted to hire their 57th choice (or so it felt) in Mike Pettine Despite having a better resumé than several of the candidates the Browns did not hire and trying to put the best face on the hiring at the time, in some respects, Haslam treated Pettine like the 57th choice.

Pettine was allowed to hire his own defensive staff but he was handed his offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, the second generation offensive prodigy. Going into the coaching search, Haslam is believed to have wanted to get a star with a ton of buzz and when Pettine did not deliver the attention he sought, he got the next best thing in handing him an offensive coordinator that was equal parts buzz and training wheels for the first time head coach.

The Browns interviewed their now offensive coordinator John DeFilippo and Pettine wanted to hire him last year, but the front office insisted on giving him Shanahan, who then was allowed to hire his own offensive staff. Pettine was tasked with the defense and the overall scope of the team in terms of message and mentality but had next to zero input in the offense and did not attend meetings. This is something that has changed this year.

Additionally, Haslam gave Farmer a substantial amount of power to hire staff both on the business and football ops sides of the organization, giving Farmer the oversight to try to limit the responsibility Pettine in an attempt to try to ensure success or at least make them an attractive target for their next head coach.

There was a little push and pull with a few areas, most notably quarterback as Farmer was empowered by the owner in the preseason. When the Browns came out and had more success than most critics expected during the regular, everything was pretty much fine as winning is an incredible cure-all and issues that arose were pushed to the back burner.

After the injury to Alex Mack, when the offense went into a nose dive scoring almost 12 points less per game, old arguments resurfaced and the front office pushed for Manziel to get playing time, likely from the owner through Farmer. The coaching staff resisted until Brian Hoyer forced the coaching staff to relent and give in with extremely poor play, who then got a punch in the stomach when Manziel embarrassed the organization with his performance on the field and just how unprepared he was, which almost got him removed from the team and landed him in rehab.

Additionally, the front office was reeling from internal issues with their handpicked offensive coordinator as it was becoming clearer that the choice of Kyle Shanahan was a mistake. Despite some impressive results in play calling (especially the opening script of games) and overachieving early in the season, Shanahan proved unable to work with team officials and certain players. Combining that with the fact that Farmer let the owner bully him on selecting Johnny Manziel in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft while Pettine was changing the culture in the locker room and there was a change in where the organizational structure was going to go after the season.

The Browns, despite getting next to nothing out of Farmer’s top 2 picks in the draft (though worth noting Pettine wanted Justin Gilbert) and the crippling injury to Alex Mack, were able to get to 7-9, avoiding another double-digit losing season, which was a substantial moral victory for the organization. Both Farmer and Pettine deserve credit for the rest of their draft and free agency, but due to the problems with the top two picks, Pettine seemed to receive more of the credit from the general public than Farmer.

After the season, Pettine rightfully felt empowered by his obvious handle of the job was not afraid to take what he felt was his. Shanahan left (before he was fired) and Pettine was able to hire the offensive coordinator he wanted the previous year in Flip in a symbolic gesture noting that Pettine was in full control of the football ops (as a head coach should be). Meanwhile, Farmer was tasked with cleaning up the business side of the operation along with Alec Scheiner, who is overseeing stadium construction and the financial aspects of the organization that are not player related. The Douglas departure falls in line with that effort.

While this may feel like some elaborate struggle for power, it is mostly a situation where the owner learned what everyone hopes is some valuable lessons in how to run his operation while the head coach and general manager were in charge of what they are supposed to be. Free agency and the draft were far more football oriented and less concerned with splashy star power, headed by picking arguably the two most boring (though extremely important) positions in nose tackle and offensive line.

There may still be some issues that need to be resolved but the issues being discussed now mostly fall under the category of “asked and answered”. Grossi’s article paints the Browns as a dysfunctional organization (a popular and easy theme), but the ‘damage’ is done. Pettine has far more power in the building but both he and Farmer appreciate their fates are tied together and they need each other to lead this team to success as clearly illustrated by their two-year run of talent acquisition.

The most notable aspect of this whole issue might be that Jimmy Haslam is finally learning to let the people he hired do their jobs and stop trying to meddle after another series of ‘rookie mistakes’. It remains to be seen if that will stick, but Pettine has his ear more than in the previous year and Haslam has to be affected by what he was able to do on the field. The early returns have resulted in the quietest offseason since the team came back in 1999 in terms of negative headlines.

Media and critics will continue to paint this as a struggle for power, rift, or whatever title that can deliver clicks and ratings, but it is far more accurate to say the organization was adjusted to look like a typical NFL team; let coaches coach the team and the front office take care of the business side of the operation. Not as salacious or as fun, but a far more reasonable explanation of how things went down in Berea and the evidence may be in the fact that the article and discussions about this issue have struggled to gain traction like they would have in years past.

http://www.footballsavages.com/browns-pettine-v-farmer-power-struggle-in-berea/

Great stuff, MemphisB. Didn't know this before. Seems like Pettine has his feet under him and is working his own plans more. It is still muddy at the top in the FO, but politics will always be part of the job. Our HC seems focused and planning some contingencies. Looking for better season.

Thanks for the read Memphis

Shanny may not have worked out but I feel he may be the ultimate catalyst to the Browns success. From the OL and OC coach he brought in to his part in the texting issue that has led to Pet having a bit more power.

Solid read.

Looking at the incredible change in the roster under Pett & Farmer, I am really looking forward to seeing what this team looks like in years 3 & 4 under these guys.

Either I am dead wrong about this, or this reporter is trying to mislead his readership. I could have sworn Pet was hire before Banner left and that Banner was the main guy who wanted Pet. I thought there was talk of how Haslam was intrigued w/Schiano and Banner wanted no part of him.

My recollection is slightly different. Haslam really wanted Pettine, and Pettine also forced the Browns hand by saying he wasn't going to wait around until after the playoffs so the Browns could interview Quinn. So the Browns moved on Pettine.

Banner, in a quite embarrassing fashion, expressed regret that they couldn't interview Quinn AFTER we hired Pettine. It was quite awkward.

In either case, I believe the author is wrong. Actually, I think much of his article was complete trash. Assumptions without any basis to back them up.

This is correct. Lombardi was the push behind Schiano (both are Belichick fanboys). It was rumored that a schism developed between Lombardi and Banner after Lombardi backed Schiano.

I think the confusion is the writer's fault. Not necessarily what he says but where he says it. For example:



I would have switched these two sentences. Nothing he says is wrong, IIRC, but mentioning Farmer being hired and then starting the next sentence 'After a lengthly coaching search..." confuses readers to think one happened after another. Which it didn't. There was a very lengthy coaching search but it was before Banner and Lombardi were fired.

I don't think the intent was to create a timline of events but rather start at a higher position and work down..GM--> HC--> OC/DC. The flow then trickles down to the coordinators selection. That I think is a mistake and he should have stuck with the timeline.