Browns fire Chudzinski

[Maynard]

that dam bellicheck tree sucks. the only person it works for is bill himself...everyone else has been an epic fail. and lombardi is still bills boy after all these years

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Judging by the Browns' second-half collapse followed by yesterday's head coaching news, it may have been a fair comparison.

Speaking to the media one day after firing first-year head coach Rob Chudzinski, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner were asked, poignantly, “Can you assure the fans that you don't have the three stooges running this operation?”

A local TV reporter asked the question after he had recited some of the fans' piercing reactions following Chudzinski's dismissal. He was referring to Haslam, Banner and GM Mike Lombardi, who has curiously been absent at press conferences this season, including Monday's.

It was the most blatant attack on the Browns' front office that handpicked Chudzinski last year, sold him as their guy and an intriguing young football mind, and then abandoned him after injuries decimated the Browns' year. Not to mention, one of the Browns' integral offensive pieces was traded early in the season (Trent Richardson) for draft picks, leaving a gaping hole in Cleveland's backfield. Still, the team, which declined to use all of its cap space, abandoned ship.

The team does however owe the departing Chudzinski $10.5 million, on top of having to reset the organization, again.

Just last month, with the Browns at 4-5, Haslam said: “I'd be hard-pressed to think that in nine weeks, a first time head coach can do any better or any more than he's doing,” he said on Nov. 13. “All of the measurables that you'd look to come up with, if you even wanted to create a yardstick of measuring at this moment, I just think he's doing an outstanding job.”

So what gave?

“As the season developed, it was our feeling that as a team, we were not getting better,” Haslam said. The Browns lost 10 of their last 11 games, including six by double-digits.

"We understand why there might be some skepticism. We also understand the importance of getting it right," he said.

“We still feel that way [about the importance of continuity]. We understand there are going to be some skeptics. … Candidly, we deserve it,” he added later. Haslam also admitted that a federal probe into an alleged rebate fraud scheme by his company, Pilot Flying J, has been a distraction, which isn't exactly a surprise.

Haslam continued: “It galls me when people write, ‘Same old Browns.' I think the key message needs to be that we're going to work hard to get this right.”

But why would any top coach want to take the reins of a team whose ownership won't stand behind them? Haslam preaches continuity but doesn't practice it. Names such as Josh McDaniels and Broncos OC Adam Gase have already popped up as potential replacements, but why come to a team with such instability?

Nothing quite sums up the Browns' plight as much as this stat.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...-owner-haslam-if-team-is-run-by-three-stooges

The stat referenced at the end is that the last four coaches fired in the AFC North were Browns coaches.

I feel for Cleveland fans, you guys deserve better.

 

[Maynard]

they have reached out to seattle to interview their DC...bye Ray Horton
and Josh McD

 

[Maynard]

The club submitted requests to interview Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, and Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, the former Browns secondary coach.

Bowles, who's also being pursued by the Vikings and Lions, will satisfy the Rooney Rule for the Browns if he interviews here. The rule states that teams must interview at least one minority candidate before making a hire.

The Browns are also believed to be interested in fired Lions coach Jim Schwartz, who worked with Browns general manager Mike Lombardi here in the early 1990s under Bill Belichick. Penn State coach Bill O'Brien was on the Browns' radar again -- he interviewed with them last year -- but he's believed to be closing in on a deal with the Texans.

 

[Maynard]

rumor today is that Bob Stoops has been offered the job and its his if he wants it

 

[buckeye]

rumor today is that Bob Stoops has been offered the job and its his if he wants it

Can't really see Stoops leaving Oklahoma. On the other hand, how much more does he think he can accomplish that he already hasn't?

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[wr50l]

I thought Cleveland had a decent rebuilding season. They made a good decision cutting shit Trent Richardson and got a fantastic return for that matter, got some spark from a potential star going forward in Josh Gordon, and their defence showed some resilience and in terms of yards was one of the league's best. They did all this on a pretty tough schedule. In one of the more equal divisions, they also had to play against healthy Rodgers, Cutler and the Lions prior to their collapse, they had to go to Arrowhead and remember they got fucking jobbed by the refs in New England too.

I don't think it's fair to assess a coach negatively on one year like this, and as a result it looks like the rebuild starts again in Cleveland.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

I thought Cleveland had a decent rebuilding season. They made a good decision cutting shit Trent Richardson and got a fantastic return for that matter, got some spark from a potential star going forward in Josh Gordon, and their defence showed some resilience and in terms of yards was one of the league's best. They did all this on a pretty tough schedule. In one of the more equal divisions, they also had to play against healthy Rodgers, Cutler and the Lions prior to their collapse, they had to go to Arrowhead and remember they got fucking jobbed by the refs in New England too.

I don't think it's fair to assess a coach negatively on one year like this, and as a result it looks like the rebuild starts again in Cleveland.

That's why there has to be something else behind this. I thought the Browns were set to finally get their operations together when Haslam came on board. An owner who should have known how to run an organization coming out of Pittsburgh, a great executive in Joe Banner and a very good hire in Chudzinski who brought in two great coordinators to help him. I don't know how all of this came down to him being fired.