So, I’m here to beat a dead horse.
If the Browns have any intention of being successful anytime in the not-too-distant future, Pat Shurmur cannot and will not be part of that plan. That may not come as news to many of us, especially those who anticipated this fate for Pat on Day 1. There wasn’t anything to suggest that this hiring held water as anything more than nepotism combined with a wing and a prayer.
I wasn’t so quick to jump on that particular bandwagon. I’d had enough of the coaching carousel, the arm-chair GM, and more than anything, the perpetual re-build of the Browns. I didn’t think they had to win the press conference, and knew by the beginning of Shurmur’s tenure that there is no formula. They simply had to hire the right guy for the job, a guy that was on the same page as the front office, but more importantly, they needed someone capable of leading a winner.
The Browns had tried it all, the accomplished coordinator, the man who re-built a college program, the one with NFL head coaching experience (better known by cynics as the re-tread), but maybe this coordinator would be different. The winners of the last three Super Bowls were lead by young, up-and-coming Head Coaches with backgrounds as position coaches, and brief stints as coordinators or Assistant Head Coaches. Though Shurmur wasn’t as in-demand as McCarthy or Payton may have been, he fit the mold. Even if you try to pin it down to that detail that the Eagles and Rams weren’t wildly successful with Shurmur guiding the signal caller or coordinating the offense, Mike Tomlin and Mike McCarthy played very small coaching roles on the Super Bowl teams.
It certainly wasn’t the prettiest game you’ll ever see.
The Cleveland Browns and San Diego Chargers both come into Sunday’s game at Cleveland Browns Stadium off of disappointing losses.
Making my first Bet The Deed Guarantee of the year, I predict that there is no way the Bengals will lose their 4th game in a row this week. You'll find 1:1 odds on this at all the major gaming centers, place your bets while you still can.
Mike Holmgren is out as president of the Cleveland Browns, and Joe Banner is in. With that news, we look back on “The Holmgren Era,” which lasted from December, 2009 until October, 2012.