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Browns Let Grantham Explore Elsewhere

Is anyone else bummed that we'll have to say "Progressive Field" instead of "Jacobs Field" from now on (pfft...like that'll stop me from calling it "the Jake")?

What's that? This is Dawgs By Nature, not Let's Go Tribe? Very true, but there was actually a point to me bringing up the opening statement; to ask a contrasting question about some big news with the Cleveland Browns.

Is anyone else bummed that we'll have to look at a new defensive coordinator on the sidelines next season? After the misery our defense suffered this season, I certainly can't complain about the decision. If you haven't figured it out by now, reports have come out today that the Browns will decide to let Todd Grantham explore other options, ending his three-year stay with the team. Nothing harmed Grantham more than Derek Anderson and the Browns' offense taking off this season. The past several years, the biggest questions were "why can't we get a good quarterback" or "why does our offensive coordinator call such dumb plays"?

Those questions didn't exist this year. Consequentially, the questions shifted to the defensive side of the ball. "Why isn't Kamerion Wimbley getting to the quarterback enough?" "Why aren't our linebackers adapting to the 3-4 system effectively yet?" "Why does our defensive line still blow?" The Browns front office still had to make a bold decision to let go of the man they just gave a two-year contract extension to in June, and the man that many fans once hoped would be the successor to Romeo Crennel.

The Browns' defense allowed 402 points this season, an average of over 25 points per game. You don't know how annoying it was to see that we were the 32nd ranked defense in the league when I typed up the gameday previews each week. However, you should know how annoying it was to hear analysts and commentators constantly state "the Browns have the league's worst ranked defense." Most importantly, you should know how annoying it was to watch the product we were putting on the field.

Here's how I see it: the Browns brought in a new offensive coordinator last season, who worked very well with the talent he had and the free agents that were brought in. Now, it's time to take the same approach with the defensive side of the ball: get someone new calling the plays, and give him some big-named to mediocre free agents to work with. Maybe we'll strike gold again.

According to the Plain Dealer, defensive backs coach Mel Tucker Jr. is a frontrunner to take over for Grantham, but outside candidates may be considered for the job too. It's hard for me to comment on Tucker; overall I think he's done a good job with the defensive backs he's worked with the past two years. We saw the improved play from the safety position, and despite injuries at cornerback, youngsters like Brandon McDonald and Eric Wright filled in nicely. That shows that Tucker knows how to make adjustments in the secondary.

Unfortunately, the secondary hasn't been our weak link the past two seasons. Can Tucker make adjustments to the defensive line and our linebackers? Only time will tell (if he gets the job).

By the way, I'd also like to close off on a statement I felt was well written by the OBR's Barry McBride. It relates to the fact that Grantham was not "fired", as so many media sources were so willing to jump out and report:

There were all kinds of people saying Grantham was gone. There were also all kinds of people saying he wasn't. For folks who don't have very high standards about this sort of thing, you can easily toss out there "he's gone". It wasn't true, based on what we know. They were trying to allow him to leave with dignity. That's why we wrestled so much with how to present this story. We could have run something out there a week ago... actually a week ago Wednesday evening I spent a while with John and Lane talking about this story throughout the evening. As long as people were telling us that he was still a member of the organization, we were not going throw a story out there saying he had been fired. But now, thanks to the race for "scoops", there's probably no stopping it. I think this is the case of rumors and so forth forcing something. The team has to clarify Grantham's status now. It was within the locker room that he wouldn't be around, and now that it's out there in the media they'll be forced to do something. Who's hurt? Not us. Not WKNR. Not Pro Football Talk. Todd Grantham, who a lot of people hold in high regard now has his name out there all over the place as having been fired. For every employee marched to the front door by a security guard, hundreds of people are "let go", and allowed weeks or months to find a new job on their own terms. Their companies don't say they were fired. I guess NFL coaches are not allowed the same luxury. I guess we need to throw this stuff out there the second we hear it, or we get scooped. - Barry, link

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Re: Browns Let Grantham Explore Elsewhere
Coaches in the NFL get fired, it happens.  Bill Belichick was fired from the Ravens, Norv Turner has been fired numerous times, Marty Schottenhiemer was fired two-three times as well.

  Its unfortunate, but I'm not going to shed too many tears.  He will get another job soon enough, and he got payed a lot of money to coach in the NFL.  I wish him luck because he's a Hokie and a Brown, but he failed miserably this year, and he needed to fix this defense, and he failed.

by Estonianzulu on Jan 11, 2008 9:04 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Re: Browns Let Grantham Explore Elsewhere
The D got alot better toward the end of the season I wonder how much of that was Romeos doing.

by vegasbrown on Jan 12, 2008 10:25 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Re: Browns Let Grantham Explore Elsewhere
From reading different accounts, it seems like Romeo was at odds iwth Grantham's defensive play-calling and was a much more active participant in the defense toward the end of the year.

by Roger Dorn on Jan 12, 2008 12:41 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Re: Browns Let Grantham Explore Elsewhere
My personal opinion on DA, "strike while the iron is hot."  What happens if we find out next year that this year was just a fluke year for him and he becomes a waste.  He has a tendency to throw the INT, especially when he is flustered.

I see Quinn as the future so why wait another year.

With Grantham, I was just waiting for that to happen, to go from a decent Def. to a HORRIBLE Defense...It was just bound to happen.

They've given Tucker a chance and now we will see what he has in store.

www.clevelandbrowns.contentquake.com

by brownsfan76 on Jan 12, 2008 6:54 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Re: Browns Let Grantham Explore Elsewhere
We really need to stay with the 3-4 system. Do we know if Tucker Jr. is a proponent? It seems that we have most of the players in place now, it would be hard to go back to the 4-3.
At least I wasn't born in Denver

by fwembt on Jan 12, 2008 8:46 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Re: Browns Let Grantham Explore Elsewhere
Dennis Northcutt just dropped a sure fire touchdown on 3rd and ten.

 Sound familiar?

by Estonianzulu on Jan 12, 2008 10:08 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

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