Of All Jobs Available, the Browns is the Best

by maryrose on Jan 6, 2009 12:03 AM EST

It constantly amuses me to hear national pundits and local Joe-the-plumbers talk about how great the Jets coaching job is, how great the Broncos job is, and how dysfunctional the Browns situation is. It's amazing, really, how absurd that is.

The NFL is not like college. t's not like comparing the Ohio State job with the Indiana job, where one team will line up every year with better talent at virtually every position. The NFL is the ultimate level playing field. The salary caps are all equal, facilities are all equal, ownership is relatively equal, strength and conditioning is equal, the acquisition of talent is equal, scheduling is equal, everything.

This means that turnaround can be instant. Tradition, both good and bad, can change in a hurry. How many times have we seen the woeful St. Louis Rams suddenly win a Super Bowl? The Dolphins barely won one game last year, and two days ago they were the three seed. The troubles you have in Cleveland pale in camparison to the folks in Atlanta, whose franchise was gutted by the shame of its icon centerpiece being led to prison. Look at them already.

These examples alone should prove that no franchise is a better coaching job than another, unless there are ownership issues. Working for a senile Al Davis could be problematic. Working for a meddlesome Jerry Jones could be a circus. Perhaps working for a thrifty Mike Brown could be argued. Randy Lerner is not only none of those, he is the Anti-Mike Brown. He is losing a boatload to make the changes he feels is necessary.

But the Cleveland job goes much deeper than all of that. In cities like Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Cleveland, the football fan base is not a casual sidestreet that complements some larger culture. Football is a passion that is burned into the fabric of the community. People in cities like ours are not transplants from some other geography The people in Cleveland are from Cleveland. So are their parents and grandparents. Being a Browns fan isn't some acquired taste. It is a right of passage, handed down from generation to generation through the umbilical cord.

In Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Cleveland, football is not another social diversion. It is religion. In fact, every Sunday there are two religions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This past weekend we witnessed two playoff games that were still blacked out the day before the game (Arizona and Minnesota). In Pittsburgh and Cleveland, a playoff stadium would have been sold out three times over. In fact, if the Steelers or Browns were playing the Cardinals or Vikings, there would have been no blackout discussion, We would have filled those stadiums from the road.

So tell me coach, where would you rather be? Do you want to be in New York where multiple media outlets compete with each other to see who can run you out of town first? Do you want to be in a town that can't sell out a playoff game? Do you want to work in a city where football is somewhere down the middle of the social food chain? Or would you like to coach in a place like Cleveland where people would name their children after you if you won a championship?

If I were the hottest commodity in the market right now, I know where I would go.

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Comments

I would agree with almost everything you said. A winning coach in Cleveland would be treated as a god. I too fail to see how this job isn’t the most appealing one out there right now. You didn’t even mention the fact that we have some pretty decent pieces to build around (Quinn, KW2, Edwards, Wright, Thomas, Rogers).
That being said, there must be something more going on that the NFL insiders know about. Maybe Lerner IS the problem. This recent business with mangini and kokinis may be a sign of something. Perhaps no one wants to work for him because of things they know and we don’t.

by Dawg Nuts on Jan 6, 2009 12:02 PM EST reply actions

I think your right. In the NFL there are a couple of positions that are key to fill.

QB, playmaking WR, LT, DE, DT, and DB.

If you look at the playoff teams left, most of them have players playing well at these positions.

Titans; Kerry Collins (not great but has played well), Mike Roos, KVB, Haynesworth, and Courtland Finnegan
Steelers; Big Ben, Hines, Harrison, and Troy (who I consider a CB/S hybrid.)
Ravens; Derrick Mason (has there ever been a more underrated WR in the NFL? Maybe Rod Smith or Jimmy Smith?), Suggs, Ngata and most important Reed.
Chargers; Rivers, Vincent Jackson, McNeal, Phillips, and Cromartie (who hasn’t been as good as he was last year).
Eagles; McNabb, Westbrook (he is probably the best WR they have!), Tra Thomas, Trent Cole, and Asante Samuel.
Giants; Eli, Plax (before the gunshot), Diehl, Justin Tuck and the entire D-Line, Aaron Ross.
Cardinals; Warner, Boldin and Fitz, Bertrand Berry and Adrian Wilson
Panthers; Delhome, S.Smith, Gross, Peppers and Gamble.

The Browns have some pieces in;
Brady Quinn, Braylon, Joe Thomas, Shaun Rogers and Eric Wright. It is a young group and has limitless potential. I agree that the Browns have talent in the correct places. these are the high priced positions and the Browns already have them filled. If a good HC comes in here and installs some discipline and consistency, this can be a very good team quickly.

by Bernie19Kosar on Jan 6, 2009 8:42 PM EST reply actions

Best GM job open

is easily Kansas City.

Loyal owner, lots of cap space, young team, select your own head coach, huge football town, low expectations next year…how does it get any better than that?

Arrowhead Pride

by Chris Thorman on Jan 7, 2009 1:03 PM EST reply actions

Let me throw in

That the Chiefs have a lot more draft picks than the Browns.

Arrowhead Pride

by Chris Thorman on Jan 7, 2009 2:41 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed

KC is the best. I wouldn’t say it’s by a long shot by any means, but it’s the best one out there for all the reasons Chris laid out.

by Joel Thorman on Jan 7, 2009 2:44 PM EST up reply actions

It isn’t simply because our SN blog recognizes the ultimate futility of the subject line.

by Brad D on Jan 7, 2009 3:28 PM EST up reply actions

One year of draft picks does not make a situation better. Truth is we have a franchise QB and LT. You may think you are okay with Yancey Thigpen, but you are not

by Roger Dorn on Jan 7, 2009 6:26 PM EST up reply actions

I’m not sold on KC. Bowe and Albert are two very nice pieces. I actually think Bowe is elite. I don’t know if Albert is a LT in this league, but he was decent this year. On defense Dorsey and DJ are quite nice. Carr and Flowers played well, but I don’t see build around pieces. Other than that who? Gonzo and LJ both want out. Jamal Charles looks like a nice sleeper and Thigpen put up sick numbers at the end of the year. Was that for real or are the Chiefs going QB in the draft?

So two unhappy Superstars, and four pieces to build around. Why is this any different than Detroit? (Calvin Johnson, Kevin Smith, Ernie Sims, and Gosder Cherilius). The picks are nice, but a team has to make those picks count. The Chiefs have a lot of questions to be answered.

by Bernie19Kosar on Jan 7, 2009 6:57 PM EST up reply actions

I guess we’ll see who got the better job when we do battle next season.

Dawgs By Nature - Find out why Pittsburgh still sucks.

by Chris Pokorny on Jan 7, 2009 10:48 PM EST up reply actions

I've lived in Kansas City and I've lived in Cleveland

There’s no comparison. There are die-hard fans in every town, don’t get me wrong. But Kansas City is a town where a decent percentage of the population consists of folks who moved there, or their parents did, to work in one of the many corporate headquarters located in the center of the country. The overall football passion is not close. The high school situation is not close. If the Chiefs lose, oh well.

I didn’t do a good job of getting my point across. The value of an NFL coaching job, from my perspective, is not about who has the best left tackle or outside linebackers. I am sure that the Dolphins weren’t real thrilled about their personnel last season. In the NFL, there is a real fine line between talent. A couple drafts mixed in with great coaching and some chemistry and you’ve got a great brew.

The value of an NFL coaching job, because of the ultimate level playing field, is about the love affair between community and football team. Yes, the Browns are down right now so things seem dull. But you all know as well as I do that if you hosted a playoff game, the entire area would be electrified. That is not so in Kansas City, so disrespect intended. People from Cleveland didn’t move there to take some corporate job, for the most part. They are deeply grounded in Cleveland and would embrace a winning coach like very few cities. You eat and breathe Browns football. That is what makes the Cleveland job the best available.

I was born in Pittsburgh, lived in leveland, Miami, Kansas City, Arizona, New Orleans and New York. I can tell you, there is something different about Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Cleveland.

Thoughtful discussion with a sense of history

by maryrose on Jan 7, 2009 7:58 PM EST reply actions

Are you sure you aren’t a closet Browns fan? ;)

by gahnki on Jan 7, 2009 9:47 PM EST up reply actions

I hate the Browns with unbridled passion

But I respect their fans. They are from the same industrial blue collar belt as Pittsburgh. The fact that the Steelers are on top at the moment in the cycle of things doesn’t make me any taller than you. We are all the same as fans, the best in the world. Back in the 50s and 60s I was no shorter than you. Maybe it’s just that I remember and respect those days.

Thoughtful discussion with a sense of history

by maryrose on Jan 7, 2009 11:14 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Well said

I can appreciate a Steelers fan who is level headed and well grounded. I live in Central PA, and I can tell you many of the Steeler fans are obnoxious, low-brow, frontrunners. As soon as the Steelers won the super bowl, the chest pounding and trash talk started. never heard anything all those years when they underachieved and came up short in the playoffs. I’m glad there are Steelers fans out there who love them even when things don’t go well, like us Browns fans. Even though you’ve had much less of that than us in recent memory…

by Dawg Nuts on Jan 8, 2009 9:49 AM EST up reply actions

I’m slightly disturbed at the thought of liking a Steelers fan. Seriously, it’s good to “meet” someone who cheers for another team but is capable of having a thoughtful discussion.

by Brad D on Jan 8, 2009 11:09 AM EST up reply actions

Yes, I agree. I have a friend who’s a Steelers fan and all he does is remind me of how often the Browns lose to the Steelers. It makes me wish I was alive in the 50’s and 60’s when the tables were turned.

The best thing probably is to hit [Grady] 2nd -- Jay

by Buckeye Brad on Jan 8, 2009 4:27 PM EST up reply actions

Also want to direct Ravens fans to this poster. This is how you come to an opposing teams’ website. Ravens fans are obnoxious and will be treated with the disrespect that we give them

by Roger Dorn on Jan 8, 2009 2:04 PM EST up reply actions

I think some of those same fans from earlier this season made some enemies at the Miami Dolphins SB Nation site last week :p If some of you like reading Steeler history, even as Browns fans, check out some of maryrose’s work at BTSC.

Dawgs By Nature - Find out why Pittsburgh still sucks.

by Chris Pokorny on Jan 9, 2009 11:57 AM EST up reply actions