Wire

acta

The Indians' organization is out in full force for the next few days as the traveling caravan is hitting local malls in an effort to drum up support for the upcoming season, as much as that effort may be in earnest. Nevertheless, at the first stop of the “Tribe Tour”, Tribe GM Chris Antonetti hit on a couple of small items of note, all of which can be seen here and offered with comment heretofore.

 

After Antonetti weighed in and officially debunked the previously-debunked “Grady and Fausto to Washington” rumors (and, for the love of all things holy, can we institute some sort of filter on all of this noise?), the new Indians GM asserted that Grady would remain in CF because he's most comfortable there and because, Antonetti said, “talking to our medical people, center field is less demanding on his knee because, while he may have to cover more ground out there, he doesn't have to decelerate as quickly. In left and right field, you have to make a lot more quick stops."

 

While I'll neither pretend to be a medical expert nor an expert on what it takes to play different OF positions in MLB, that seems to make sense and if it helps protect Sizemore's knee, I can buy into that. Though a lot has been (justifiably) written about the Indians' youngsters this off-season and how they're being counted on to push the Indians back towards competition...then contention, the presence of a healthy Sizemore (at some level of production above that put forth by Trevor Crowe) in 2011 is going to go a long way towards taking some necessary steps.

 

There's some talk in the piece about lineups and where Grady hits that doesn't interest me at all so long as a healthy Sizemore is somewhere at the top of the lineup and justifying his place there. Acta said to the assembled crowd that "statistically, you have to score about 800 runs to make the postseason.  Last year, we lost the top five guys in our lineup to injuries. No one hitting eighth or ninth got hurt."

 

The team scored 646 runs last year...so let's hold off on the talk of 800 runs or postseason (as much as Acta can shine that light of optimism of his on the topic) and try to take some steps here, maybe back towards 800, if not quite to it.

 

As for adding other players to the mix, Antonetti said that they're still looking to add players and the piece mentions the Casey Kotchman rumor that makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. If we're talking about Millwood or Orlando Cabrera or, as was suggested to me by a reader, Willy Aybar on Minor League deals...come on down guys.

But Kotchman?

A scaled-down LH-version of Ryan Garko with a bit of a better glove?

To compete with LaPorta or platoon with him?

Those are just three question marks here, with the promise to add hundreds if they actually sign Kotchman, even if it is on a Minor League deal.

 

If the Indians are thinking about Kotchman (which would be more than a little disconcerting in terms of perceived production from LaPorta) seriously as an upgrade for what they have, then Antonetti – who said that he will be “disappointed” if the team is not contending this year – and Tribe fans are in for a year of disappointment.

Drayton4It's official. The long-rumored addition of Cleveland native Stan Drayton to Jim Tressel's Ohio State football coaching staff was announced today by the university. Drayton replaces Darrell Hazell, who was hired as the head coach at Kent State. From the official release...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Stan Drayton, one of the top offensive skill coaches in the nation, is joining the Ohio State football staff as an assistant coach working with the Buckeye wide receivers, Coach Jim Tressel announced today. Drayton will start his duties Feb. 1.

“Stan Drayton first and foremost is a fine person and family man. He is a Buckeye born and bred, and will add a tremendous dimension to our football family,” Tressel said. “We are fortunate to gain one of the finest coaches in America to serve our kids, school and community.”

Drayton comes to Ohio State from Florida, where he served as the Gators’ running backs coach and recruiting coordinator during the 2010 season; he also served as Florida’s running backs coach from 2005-07, and held the same position at SEC schools Tennessee (2008) and Mississippi State (2004).

Drayton has a great reputation as a recruiter, and as the Gators' recruiting coordinator for the 2010 recruiting class, had responsibility for a group considered (along with Texas) as the strongest in the nation.

Schlegel to Join S & C Staff - On Tuesday, the university also announced that former Buckeye player Anthony Schlegel would be joining the OSU staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. Schlegel played at linebacker for OSU from 2004-2005.

grady-sizemore

Certainly by know, you've seen or heard the report that the Nationals have had “conversations” with the Tribe regarding Grady and Fausto...and truthfully, I feel like I've addressed both situations to the point that I could recite their contract stipulations in my sleep. Nevertheless, let's take a look at the origin of that rumor and see how this looks like a big game of telephone as the text in the original story is that a “big league scout tells me he'd heard some "conversations" had taken place between the Nats and the Indians about starting pitcher Fausto Carmona and outfielder Grady Sizemore.”

 

So wait, let me catch up....a big league scout has “heard some 'conversations' had taken place” but has no direct knowledge of them, passed it along to this writer who connects some dots himself because the premise of the report is that “one pretty consistent source tells me that the Nationals are working on 'a number' of other trades, though didn't have enough specifics to flesh anything out.”

 

Sounds like a pretty big leap from the Nationals working on a number of trades with no “specifics to flesh anything out” to something that a scout told him that the scout had “heard some 'conversations' had taken place between the Nats and the Indians”...

 

Maybe there's fire to this smoke, but isn't this what happens in the off-season with teams talking about potential deals for specific players and seeing if they can get packages to line up?

 

As has been stated far too many times, the attractiveness of Carmona's deal makes him a valuable asset to the Indians going forward and any trade for Sizemore means that the club option becomes a player option. Let's say the Nats acquired Grady and found out that his knee is still a mess or that he simply isn't the same player he was prior to 2009...that doesn't matter to Grady and his agent, who would certainly exercise that $9M option for 2012 and whistle all the way to the bank.

 

Maybe the Tribe can get someone to overpay for either of these players and I wouldn't be all that opposed to dealing either depending upon the return (although it would be akin to dropping napalm on the PR crater at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario in terms of public perception), but this “rumor” strikes me as a convoluted game of telephone gone crazy in the world of Twitter and internet page hits.

Nothing makes an honor like playing in the Pro Bowl more special than having to sweat it out.  Fourth on the AFC Pro Bowl ballot, Alex Mack was cleared for Hawaii takeoff by the departure of two guys ahead of him, making him the de facto PB backup.

Maurkice Pouncey - the detestable Steelers Center - will not be able to make it due to a prior engagement at the Super Bowl.  And Nick Mangold - the former Buckeye Center playing for the Jets - was injured in Sunday's Conference Championship Game.

So... enter Alex Mack.

Despite "backing in", Mack is still excited about the honor.

"I jumped up and down and ran around the room a couple times," he told ClevelandBrowns.com. "I texted just about everyone that I knew. I called [my parents] this morning. They were really excited. They were fired up and I know my mom's going to try to get a plane ticket out."

Who wouldn't?  Especially if you live in Ohio and it's January.

Congratulations, Alex.  Keep up the pretty good work.

We were told that he changed.  We were told that he'd grown.  We were told that he'd turn over a new leaf.

 

There's a shih tzu named Muffin that would beg to differ.

 

Ace reporter Cristin Severance - best known for breaking the evidence-free second-hand story that became urban legend of the kid in the Jets jersey supposedly being tackled by a Browns fan - is on the trail again, this time with much more solid evidence:  A guy named Ray from her apartment building swears it's true.

 

Ray informed Ms. Severance that the hypothetically "reformed" Ben Roethlisberger was once again involved in a case of alleged sexual misconduct, this time with his neighbor's prized pet.

 

shih_tzuHarold and Sally McStuffin of Dreary Lane in Hampton, PA, have come forward with a disturbing tale, one that should bring pause to the torrent of national adoration currently being heaped on the former alleged rapist.

 

"We had to go out of town for a doily convention and Muffin couldn't come," stammered Sally, 48, a long time housewife.  "She doesn't like the pound, so we usually have someone watch her while we're away.  Just come over, let her out, give her a walk, feed her, play with her, read her a book... the usual."

 

"Well, that Ben seemed like such a nice boy, and so famous..."

 

"And so tall," her husband interjected.

 

"When we asked him if he could look in on our Muffin for a few days, we never imagined what would happen," she continued.  "How could we?"

 

The McStuffins have a high-tech security system installed in their home - Sally has a world-class collection of porcelain Disney figurines - and that includes video cameras in every room.

 

"When we got home, Muffin was acting strange," Sally continued, her voice breaking.  "She didn't run out to greet us, she didn't nip at Harold's leg, nothing.  She just laid on her cushion in her bedroom, sad, confused..."

 

Harold said that they just thought it was separation anxiety, something that Muffin had suffered from in the past.  But when her depression dragged on into the second day, he decided to look at the tapes.

 

"I just wanted to see if maybe something happened to her that might be causing her distress," he explained.  "And when we watched it, we knew what it was."

 

On the tape, in grainy black and white, was the evidence that Mr. Roethlisberger had had "relations" with their beloved pet.

 

"It was awful," moaned Sally.  "He was holding Muffin up in the air... you could tell from the look on her face that she didn't know what was going on."

 

When asked if maybe the sex was consensual, Sally was adamant in her reply.

 

"One bark means yes, two barks means no," she said.  "There were clearly two barks on that tape."

 

The McStuffins have now entered Muffin into counseling, and, although very angry, are still glad that things didn't go worse.

 

"Muffin is a pure bred, so, naturally, we were very relieved that the incident didn't result in conception.  She'll never be the same as is, but imagine if she also had a mongrel litter to support," said Sally.

 

"You've seen the guy," interjected Harold.  "He ain't winning no 'Best of Show', I can tell you that."

 

Unfortunately for the McStuffins, Harold accidentally recorded an episode of Dancing With The Stars over the evidence, but that does not lessen their outrage.  "We want this lunatic brought to justice!" proclaimed Harold.  "Or some money!"

 

When reached regarding the alleged misconduct, Mr. Roethlisberger was not in a receptive mood.  "I will not respond to these alleganations.  I did not have sex with that dog, and, if I did, it was consensual," he told Ms. Severance, who actually decided to try and maybe investigate the story before breaking it this time.

 

"This is ridiculous," said Humbert Humbert, one of Ben's bodyguards and a local police officer.  "Ben doesn't need to go around screwing dogs.  He can get any girl he wants."

 

"All we do is go to some dive, find the drunkest girl there, separate her from her friends, get her in some back room or restroom, and then Ben whips out his junk.  Works better than a bottle of Boone's and a fancy dinner at Golden Corral."

 

Ben's mother Beulah was mystified by the accusations.  "I don't know what the big deal is," she said.  "Ben's girlfriends have always been dogs."

 

Ben's father, Herman, explained the situation to her.  "No, honey, they mean an actual dog this time."

 

"A... dog?  A real dog?" Beulah exclaimed.

 

"Yes," Herman replied

 

Beulah shrugged.  "Well, that's new."

 

Except that it's not.  The Muffin Affair is just another of a long line of disturbing incidents that show a pattern of reckless and criminal behavior, behavior which has gone unpunished for far too long.  Mr. Roethlisberger says that he's humbled, that he's changed his ways, but no amount of crocodile tears can wash away his trail of shame.

 

It's time for the pound to come and take this hound away.

According to multiple sources (just check any major sports website), the Browns are set to make Dick Jauron their new Defensive Coordinator.  There was some speculation that he'd remain in Philly and jump up to their DC after the Eagles fired McDermott, but it appears that his relationship with Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert has swung his favor in the Browns'... uh... favor.

dick-jauronPer the PDIn an appearance on Pro Football Talk Live, [Paddy] Shurmur declined to confirm or deny Jauron's hiring. "I think it'lll become public and official from the Browns side very quickly," he said. "Obviously Dick's a very well respected guy in the profession, a guy I've known him a long, long time."

Sounds like "I can't confirm it, but, yes, it's true" to me.

Jauron - 60 - is an experienced defensive coach that was previously the Head Coach in Chicago and Buffalo (man, who hasn't been the HC of the Bills?).  Speculation runs rampant that he will convert the team to a 4-3 set, which would mean considerable turnover at a lot of the Front 7 positions (although, a lot of those positions need turned over regardless of the alignment).

Experts (OK, just me) feel that this is a solid hire by the Browns, giving the Coaching staff an experienced, respected coach to go along with rookie Head Coach/Playcaller Paddy Shurmur, an important aspect at the inception of this regime until Shurmur can grow into his role.

I'd make some snide comments, but this guy has saved me the trouble.  An excerpt:

lebroncartoon

So much for embracing the role of villain.  Looks like LeBron is going to try and repair his fractured reputation by starring in a Web-based animated series called “The LeBrons.”  The series will debut in the spring on James’ YouTube channel, as well as his personal website, www.lebronjames.com, and will feature LeBron voicing the many characters found in his popular Nike commercials.

That’s right—as if one animated LeBron wasn’t enough, you get a mess of them, including 16-year-old Kid LeBron, Business LeBron, the elderly Wise LeBron, Athlete LeBron, and judging from the picture, cute Asian girl LeBron, and token white kid LeBron, which, to me anyway, seems like a stretch for King James’ vocal talents.

Guess they left Narcissistic LeBron on the cutting room floor. That’s probably for the best.

Yeah, this will go over well with the kids, because if there’s anything I know about children, it’s that they really take to being taught life lessons by their favorite cartoons.  Big swing and a miss there.  Maybe the first episode of “The LeBrons” can focus on how not to alienate an entire city and its fanbase by humiliating them with an hour long, ego stroking television special so the whole world can watch you break their collective hearts in prime time.

I’m sure you could count Jim Gray in on that.

My favorite quote from the article is this:

“I’m mostly a kid at heart,” Mr. James said of these manifestations, “and I’m the athlete, of course, that everyone sees. But I also have a business side, a cool side, and I love antique stuff and classical music. I guess that’s the old man side of me.”

facepalm2

altAlthough Ejuan Price has been a Buckeye lean for quite some time, Ohio State received great news on the recruiting front with the commitment of the four star linebacker from Pennsylvania. Price is the third linebacker to commit in this year’s recruiting class, joining an already stellar group with Conner Crowell and Ryan Shazier.

It seems like a long time ago, but after the Buckeyes missed out on Troy DePriest (Ohio’s top rated linebacker), many of the recruiting services were worried about Ohio State’s chances to fill their lack of depth at the linebacker position. With the possible addition of Curtis Grant (the nation’s top middle linebacker), the Buckeyes could end up with the best group of linebackers in the country. Grant has cut his list of schools down to two -- Ohio State and Florida.

Price is the 21st member of Ohio State’s recruiting class. The Buckeyes have room for three to four more players, and with who’s left on the board, Ohio State will likely finish with one of the top five classes in the country.

For a team already struggling through what must be termed "Offensive Suck", it mystifies, well, everyone why the Miami Dolphins went and hired Brian Daboll.

You remember Daboll, right?  The architect of the innovative and unpredictable Browns Offensive juggernaut (ranked #32 and #29 the last 2 years)?  Well, the Offensively challenged Fins went and chose him as the guy that will pull them from their suck.

Why, you ask?  I don't know.  Maybe the Dolphins are trying to get the #1 overall pick (and thus Andrew Luck) next year.

Yes, this move is going over like masturbating on a plane down in South Beach (which deserves all the pain we can send them).  Here are some exerpts of the joy:

Can THIS GET ANY WORSE?

Hey ROSS! thanks for destorying our Fins season!!!

It feels like Tony Sparano just raped FIN FANS everywhere with this move.

TICKET SALES are plummeting as we speak.

Well, there goes the neighborhood. We should have a fan union, with VETO power. Aren't the Packers publically owned?  This is craaaaaaaaaaaaap.

If you watch the Youtube video Daboll looks about as dumb as Sparano.  He is acting like a freaking idiot after a field goal.

Please Steven Ross sell the dolphins right now.

This is the latest kick in the teeth for us long suffering fins fans.

Sad to say but, the best thing that can happen for the Dolphins in 2011 is if the season is canceled.

Sun Life Stadium should change to Dead In A Coffin Stadium.....where fish go to die!!!!

If I was a joke writer, this would be a godsend.

Welcome to Miami, Mr. PredictDaboll.  You are Cleveland's revenge for that LeBron thing.

cabrera

The streak lives…for now, as the Indians avoided arbitration with Asdrubal Cabrera, keeping their streak of 20 years since going to an arbitration panel intact.  While this time of the year always reminds the folks on the North Coast of Jerry Browne (as this seems to be his lasting impression as an Indian), the Indians have agreed to pay Cabrera $2.025M in 2011, which is his first year of arbitration eligibility.

After a 2009 season that saw him post a .799 OPS (114 OPS+) as a 23-year-old middle infielder, Asdrubal looked ripe for a contract extension that would buy up his arbitration years as well as perhaps some of his Free Agent years.  The Indians decided against it and were likely waiting to see what Cabrera put forth in 2010 before making any decision on long-term deals, a decision that looks prescient for now as Cabrera struggled to begin, sitting on a .699 OPS with just 8 extra-base hits (6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR) in the 33 games he played in prior to a broken forearm, caused by a collision with the former Tribe SS.

Still just 25 (he won’t be 26 until next November), Cabrera seems to have hit a plateau offensively and looks to have regressed in the field as the idea that he is a slick-fielding SS has given way to the idea that he is an average defender who makes a memorable play now and then.  That’s not to say that there isn’t room for Cabrera to grow (and I don’t mean around his waistline) as his .799 OPS in 2009 as a 23-year-old is higher than all but one of Omar Vizquel’s 22 seasons at the plate, but the time has come for Cabrera to reach for that ceiling that looked high in 2007 and again in 2009.

Perhaps the Indians’ reluctance to approach him about a long-term deal will provide that motivation, but whether it does or not, Cabrera is the Indians’ SS of the present and the future as he remains in the fold for $2.025, avoiding arbitration.

Whether the Indians will continue their avoidance of an arbitration panel remains to be seen as Chris F. Perez and some other guy from South Korea are still in the queue.

Here is the transcript from Paddy Shurmur's ("O'Shurmur" is too much a pain in the cheeks to keep up) introductory press conference.  Feel free to tear apart at will...

Mike Holmgren

(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody.  It’s with great excitement to introduce you to Pat Shurmur as the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns.  When we started the process a couple weeks ago we told you how we were going to conduct business.  I trust that we’ve been fair about that with you and we narrowed it down to three candidates Pat, Mike Mularkey and Perry Fewell.  I talked to both Mike and Perry yesterday, thanked them for their involvement, classy guys, good coaches. It’s my belief that they’ll be head coaches in this league but Pat emerged as the one that we think is the best man to take the Cleveland Browns where we hope to go.  Today is his day and it’s not so much about Tom (Heckert) and me, we’re kind of window dressing up here.  Pat Shurmur the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns.”

Pat Shurmur

(Opening statement)- “Thank you coach. This is obviously a great day in our lives as coaches, as educators, as teachers.  You dream of the opportunity to be a part of an organization such as this and then be able to provide the vision for a team with such great tradition.  With that being said, I’d like a couple of thank you’s.  Obviously, Mr. Lerner, President Holmgren, G.M. Tom Heckert, I’d like to thank Steve Spagnuolo, the people in St. Louis.  My two years there have been tremendous.  I’d also like to thank Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles. That was my introduction to pro football and I learned it from a man who learned it from this guy (Mike Holmgren). I think that helped build this collective view of how to win so I’d like to thank them.  Our years there were invaluable.  I’d also like to thank my wife Jennifer who’s here today, we’ve been friends now for over 25 years and we’re partners in this thing as well as our four kids who are home anxiously awaiting everything that is happening.  We are a family, I am a father, I’m a husband and we cannot wait to get to Cleveland and become a part of this community.  I was born and raised in the Detroit area and I know what this region is all about. I understand the thirst for winning, I think we have a collective view of how to get it done and we can’t wait to get to work and start that process.  I’m thrilled to be the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns and I cannot wait to basically get off of this podium and get to the task of assembling the staff that we want to all be proud of and then get to the point where we can work with the players.  There are a lot of outstanding people in the building and I’m now one of those that can help push us forward.  There are a lot of things I’d like to say.  I do know this, as you talk about our team and the goals for this team it’s very simple, we’re trying to win football games.  Our goal is to win the AFC North, to compete in the playoffs and win Super Bowls.  Anything thing that we talk about that doesn’t relate to winning then I think we’re getting ourselves distracted.  We will make all of our decisions based on winning so that will start and it’s actually started already this process as of yesterday.  With that being said, there’s a great amount of excitement.”

Pat Shurmur

(On what he is inheriting with this team)- “I think we have a team here with great tradition, there are a lot of pieces in place and it wouldn’t be fair for me to comment on any of the details.  Again, that will be a process that we actually started yesterday and as we move forward, we’re going to do the very best we can to build the very best team we can and win games and championships.”

Pat Shurmur

(On the advantage he has with his background with Tom Heckert and Mike Holmgren)- “I think the relationship that I have with Tom and Coach Holmgren is part of the strength of what we’re going to embark on.  I think we have a collective view of what it takes to win in this league and we’ll be able to put that into play.”

Pat Shurmur

(On if he is going to be hands on with Colt McCoy)- “The quarterback in this league is so, so important.  We had a structure that I learned under where the head coach, the offensive coordinator, the quarterback coach and then ultimately the quarterback there was a lot of communication but we found a way to get on the same page, to work with those players to do the very best that they could on Sunday.  I would anticipate the vision for this football team will be seen through the eyes of the quarterback.”

Pat Shurmur

(On if he will call the plays on offense)- “Yes, initially I will start out by calling the plays.  I think that’s an important piece, and that really is the fun part for an offensive coach to be able to do that.  In terms of hiring the coordinators, the staff in general, now that’s an ongoing process so we’re actively pursuing the guys that we want to come to Cleveland and help us get this thing done.  We are in the process right now in doing that.”

Mike Holmgren

(On the qualities Shurmur has that are necessary for a head coach)- “He could tell you but he’s a modest guy.  He is very bright, hard working, a team player.  He served his, I would say, apprenticeship to get to this point as a long time college assistant coach and professional coach and then he has coordinated the last couple of years. He has been able to talk to half the team a good portion of the time.  I like his personality, he’s a good man. Clearly his got a wonderful wife, wonderful family, he’s a good person and he’s a dedicated football coach.  He had all the characteristics that we kind of listed prior to this search.  Pat won’t talk about that so much but I’m happy to talk about it, we have a good man here, we’re very fortunate.”

Tom Heckert

(On when he saw the progression in Shurmur when they were together in Philadelphia)- “Andy (Reid) and I talked about it a lot, all the assistant coaches that we had. We went from Brad (Childress) he got a job and Marty (Mornhinweg) was back in there and Pat was there.  I thought we saw that right away.  The way he handled Donovan (McNabb) at the time, the way he handled the offense and the way he did things.  I think we could see that right away and Andy and I talked that quite a bit and I knew it was going to come. It was just a matter of time and luckily for me it happened here.”

Pat Shurmur

(On what scheme he will use on defense)- “There’s a defense (joking)?  Typically I don’t tell jokes but no we have talked about that.  We’ve talked about that to great length already but again as we move forward we’re going to do the things necessary to build a very, very fine defense.  That’s obviously a very, very important piece of what we need to get done.”

Pat Shurmur

(On if he is going to work with the players he has or if they are in a rebuilding phase)- “We’re trying to build the best team that we can and obviously we try to get the very best players that are available to us. There’s ways to do that, keep the players here, obviously you have free agency and the draft. With those three facets of player acquisition, we’re going to do the very best we can to build the very best team.  I think we have the pieces in place to evaluate that and then put it all together.”

Pat Shurmur

(On how much he learned from his uncle Fritz Shurmur)- “My uncle Fritz was a great inspiration to me especially in the profession. He was the one who helped encourage me to do it.  I would have to say the initial inspiration to do it came from home with my mother and my father.  I kind of always tended to be somewhat of an educator and a teacher and then my passion for the game of football they helped to obviously encourage that.  Uncle Fritz, he had a very unique way of simplifying very complex tasks and I think that’s the start as a teacher to be able to get very talented, very motivated guys to do the simply things and then put all the pieces together so that in total you got what you’re looking  for.”

Mike Holmgren

(On Fritz Shurmur)- “In fact I’ve got to tell you two quick stories.  The pedigree actually did factor into this a little bit.  First of all Fritz would come up to me before any game, shake my hand and say, ‘Mike, good luck, for the next 60 minutes neither one of us are responsible for what we say to one another.  That’s the first thing, the second thing is Pat bought me lunch yesterday.  Fritz, never bought me anything as long as we were together so there’s the difference.  It’s a great family, clearly.  I suspect Fritz is up there smiling down now on this thing.”

Mike Holmgren

(On if he remembers Pat Shurmur coming to Green Bay visiting his uncle)- “I remember him from those days and what I remember most was an eager, young guy who coaching was in his blood, in his genes if you will.  That was about it.  I’d like to tell you, ‘You know what I had this vision and I could see this day happening,’ I couldn’t tell you that.  Over the years now we’ve kept in contact and whether it was competing against one another or most recently prior to last year’s draft, we had an interesting conversation about the quarterbacks.  We’ve kept in contact over the years.”

Mike Holmgren

(On if he can share their conversation about the quarterbacks)- “No, sorry.”

Pat Shurmur

(On how everyone in the division kind of does the same thing on offense and the relevance the running game will have in his offense)- “I think the running game is very important.  When you talk about offense obviously it starts up front you have to have a gritty, well coordinated group of offensive linemen that either block the run or protect the passer so I’ve learned that at a young age in this profession that without that you have no chance.  From that standpoint the next most important guy would be the quarterback and how he operates, how he plays and how efficient he is.  That being said, I think it’s very important that we’re able to run the football but in the NFL you have to be able to efficiently and explosively through the ball and that’s something that we’re going to try and get done.”

Pat Shurmur

(On when he thought he was ready to be a head coach in the NFL)- “I think you always have to try to match your training with your ambition.  I’ve always somewhat believed that when the time was right it would happen.  For young energetic guys that have ambition to be able to piece that together with patience I think is an important thing.  I really do think the last two years in St. Louis were what I needed to make the final jump and now we’re here and I look forward to moving forward.”

Pat Shurmur

(On Colt McCoy)- “Obviously with last year’s choosing of a quarterback I got to know Colt very well.  I’m very impressed with Colt McCoy and I think he has the skill set, the skill and ability to be a fine player in this league.  I’m really looking forward to working with him.”

Tom Heckert

(On how they knew which coaching candidate had ‘it’)- “I was thinking about this a lot when this process was going on and fortunately I’ve been around some pretty good football coaches with coach (Don) Shula, Jimmy Johnson, Andy Reid and I did think a lot about that.  It’s obviously a little bit of a feeling because you don’t know the final answer, but whatever ‘it’ is, I saw it in those guys, you can tell after a while.  Then coach Holmgren being here with him for this past year but I think you have to just rely on what you’ve seen in the past and who you’ve worked with and who you’ve talked with in the league and after saying all that I think Pat has ‘it’.”

Mike Holmgren

“The honest answer to the question is, you’re not sure.  You’re not absolutely sure, there are no guarantees on anything so in your evaluation process you’re trying to be as sure as you can be.  I do know this, we cannot keep changing around here every two or three years.  You can’t do that and expect to be successful, you can’t do that.  My hope and why this was so important and why I’m very excited, I see these two men working together.  I can envision certain things where it’s a pretty good fit and my hope and prayer is that now the changes stop.  Now the growing and building begins.  I think we took some strides last year. My hope is this is the coach and this will be the coach for a long, long time.  That was part of the thinking.”

Mike Holmgren

(On if he is going to be more hands on with coaching since Shurmur doesn’t have head coaching experience at the NFL level)- “Pat and I were talking about that this morning.  As we speak our IT guys are creating a phone system where I am actually going to call the plays in the game (joking).  Here’s how I’d like this to work and again Pat and I have talked about this a lot, he is the head coach of this football team, I’m the president of the organization, I’ve coached a long time, my door is always open if he wants to come in and bounce things off of me, I hope he does that.  I know we’re going to have a great relationship but it’s his football team.  I don’t know how to make that any clearer.  Will I talk to him about stuff?  I hope so, I hope we create that type of feeling in the building but I’m not going to interfere, I hope to help.  That’s how I’m going to set it up.”

Pat Shurmur

(On if he is going to use Holmgren as a resource)- “I know this and we’ve talked about this quite a bit, I don’t know everything, one thing I learned early on is I do think I’m smart enough to know when there’s a problem or something that needs to get discussed to go find a resource.  In this building and running this organization, we have a guy that’s been to three Super Bowls and recently built two organizations.  The resources are remarkable and outstanding.  It would be silly for me to not ask coach Holmgren what he thinks about various issues from time to time and be able to bounce off ideas to talk about strategy and structure and all the things that are very important to an organization.  I intend to use those resources.”

Pat Shurmur

(On why working under Andy Reid makes so many coaches ready to be a head coach)- “My first introduction to pro football on a day to day basis was of course Andy Reid and he’s a tremendous teacher. He’s a man very comfortable in what he knows, he hires a staff of people to do a job and watches them to do it, encourages them to do it and then helps them do it.  A man that can be in a job as long as he has in an NFL franchise in a great city like Philadelphia, the test of time is a testimony to him and the job that he’s done.  I think when you look back on it, there’s a lot of people in the NFL that would like to hire a part of Andy Reid and I think to me is a strong statement.”

Pat Shurmur

(On his decision process for hiring a defensive coordinator)- “You hit on it and it is a process and at this time of year the season stops abruptly for most teams, and there’s a few teams in the playoffs so it is a process of hiring coaches.  From that standpoint I really don’t want to go beyond that.  Not trying to be secretive or skirt the question but we’re going to try to get the very best defensive coordinator that we can and put that to play with that players that are in place.”

Mike Holmgren

(On how close this team is to competing to win the division)- “Those types of answers are difficult.  We were in just about every game except the last one and that included the Pittsburgh game in my opinion and our two Baltimore games we were in.  Had chances to win a number of games this year, I thought we were that close. I thought we made strides.  Now a field goal here, a play here, or this and that there maybe our record would have been different.  A little bit closer to those fellas but they have set the bar in our division there’s no question about that.  For us to get where we want to get we have to get closer to them.  Are we making strides?  I believe we are.  Are we there yet?  We’ll see but I know our games this year, if those are any indication then we’re a little closer than we were two years ago.  As the building process continues, you take positive steps forward and hopefully that shows in the record because that’s what everyone sees and that’s what everyone understands.”

Mike Holmgren

(On if there is something to having a unique offense that division opponents do not see on a regular basis)- “I think so.  Pat touched on it and as he gets farther into the job, he’s going to talk about it more.  Because you’re going to look out at the Browns and perhaps see a little different style, please no one interpret that as we are going away from the run.  We got to running the ball pretty well and we have a couple of guys that, I think, can run the ball well and those types of things.  What has to improve is, I think, our ability to throw the ball and our utilization of our wide receivers.  Those things.  That’s built in to what you're going to see.  I don’t think you have to give up one to get the other.  I think it’s a blend, I think it’s a balance and all of those things.  The problem always will be with those two teams in our division, they’re both outstanding defensive ball clubs.  Actually, Cincinnati, I think is a pretty good team.  They see this offense enough when they are playing outside of the division.  They look at film and prepare for what they see on film.  While it might be a little bit different from what they normally see from what Cleveland has done in the past, execution will be the key, not so much fooling them with anything.”

Tom Heckert

(On if they think McCoy is the guy at quarterback going forward)- “We’ve talked about that.  I think he’s on the right track, let’s put it that way.  He had some good games for us this year, he showed poise and all of the things you’re looking for in a quarterback.  From my standpoint, I think he’s on the right track.  I think he’s proved that he belongs here and we will just have to wait and see.”

Pat Shurmur

(On how he relates to players and his relationships with them)- “I would say my relationship with players is very professional.  I really do think, and I’ve always believed this, that players are different and coaches are different.  You folks will determine what my style is, but I will say this, we have to do the very best we can to get the best out of the players that we have.  There are some men that don’t perform unless they are physically and emotionally challenged in a lot of ways.  I’m at peace with that.  There are some guys that a couple of quiet words is enough to get them to do their very best.  I think the key to being a coach at especially this level is to get to know your players as well as you can, understand what helps them perform at their best and then not use tactics, but basically communicate with them in those ways.  I think when I started coaching quarterbacks, I was an offensive lineman and believe me, I have a firm grasp of how to lose it.  I do think that when I became a quarterback coach, now you’re talking about a guy that’s dealing with a wide spectrum of emotions.  Being able to stay calm and talking to them about what they need at the right time became an important piece.  In terms of my style or how I motivate, I think part of it is how we are talking to the players that we are working with.”

Pat Shurmur

(On if he can comment on Dick Jauron and Mike McCoy being possible coordinator candidates)- “Because it’s an ongoing process, I’d rather not.  As I mentioned, there are a lot of things going on.  Information obviously spreads quickly, so I’m going to leave that be for right now.  I’m not trying to avoid the question, but again, the process is very, very important.”

Pat Shurmur

(On points that he used to coach Sam Bradford last year that might help him with McCoy this upcoming season)- “Obviously, you’re taking a guy that is very talented, which I think Colt is.  I was working with a guy that when he woke up in the morning, he gets it.  Whatever it is, he understands what life is all about and how to play the position.  He worked very hard, he hung on every word and every coaching point meant something to him.  Basically what we tried to do is present a consistent approach.  We taught him the skills necessary to play the position at this level, implemented the game plans and then worked with him in the normal way.  Working with Sam was a tremendous experience because I think he responded in ways that most rookies can’t.”

Tom Heckert

(On how much of a challenge it is going to be to play Shurmur’s style of football with the Browns’ current roster)- “It’s going to be a challenge, there’s no question.  There’s going to be some turnover here.  We knew that regardless of the situation that there was going to be turnover here.  We have some age on the team and obviously we have to get younger.  Pat and I will sit down and once we get everything in place, we will decide which way we are going to go in a lot of positions.  There’s going to be some change, there’s no question about it.”

Tom Heckert

(On if he thinks there is a core of the roster that will fit their needs)- “I really do.  It’s hard to say, but I do think we have the players, or at least have some players, that can fit whatever we are going to do.  The guys that we don’t, we are just going to have to go out and get.”

Pat Shurmur

(On if he will try to scientifically approach coaching with some of the things he has learned from Andy Reid or if he will just go about it however he feels is right)- “Scientifically approach it?  I don’t know.  I think what happens is you are around people and it’s amazing how many hours we spend (together).  I don’t think anybody knows until you go through it.  I think when you’re around people, you see them deal with situations and issues of the day that may not seem like a big deal.  You see how they handle things and you’d like to think with all of the guys that you work with, you take away the good and let the bad stay.  I feel like I did that with Coach Reid.  He has a unique way of handling things that can stand the test of time, and I think that’s strong compliment for him.  All of the guys I’ve worked for, I think, and all of the coaches in my past have been extremely influential on me.  From George Perles, who I played for and I coached with, Nick Saban, Tyrone Willingham, obviously Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo. I’m talking about a list of guys that are extremely well-rounded, extremely successful coaches.  I feel like I grabbed something good from all of them.”

Pat Shurmur

(On how he sees Peyton Hillis fitting in with his style of offense and his ability to catch the football well)- “I think Peyton Hillis is a tremendous running back.  It’s very important that a runner has the ability to catch the football.  Some short passes end up being like run plays at times.  We can get into the scheme a little bit later, but I think he’s a fantastic player, had an excellent year and I obviously look forward to working with him.”

Pat Shurmur

(On if it is daunting to come to an organization that has had so many head coaches in recent history)- “This is no big deal, this is like a normal day (joking).  We talked about when you’re ready to be a head coach.  We are all teachers and educators, I feel honored to be here.  I do feel as though I’m ready for this challenge and given the opportunity to be a head coach and to have the resources that we have here is just remarkable.  I think that the relationships that we have as we move forward, one of the overused phrases in football I think is ‘being on the same page,’ but I will use it and say it happened from day one here.  If there is a fatal flaw in an organization, we will not fall victim to that.”

Mike Holmgren

(On if he ever got in touch with Jon Gruden during his coaching search and how much his agent, Bob LaMonte, played a role in the search)- “I think it’s been documented in the last week, talked about certainly.  A couple of things, one I did talk to Jon.  I did talk to Bill Cower, I did talk to a number of people that didn’t appear in stories anywhere, but as part of the process to get to who we actually were going to interview with, it was important for me to hear from those fellas how interested they were in coaching again first of all.  As far as our relationship with Bob, Bob and I have been friends for over 30 years, we were high school teachers together and everybody knows the story.  Moving forward, I can honestly say this, he represents a lot of people in this business.  To think you are going to do any sort of hiring, either head coach or front office, without somehow his name popping up somewhere is unusual.  It seems to be.  I can honestly say when I first put Pat on the list, I did not know Bob represented Pat.  Then I was talking to Bob about something else and he said, “I’ve got Pat too.’  I said, ‘Well, that’s great.’  That’s the first thing.  The second thing is his responsibility as an agent, I think, to any of his clients, he is honest, he works very, very hard for them and when he’s dealing with an organization for anybody, he is representing that person with that organization.  He’s not representing Pat Shurmur to Mike Holmgren or to Tom Heckert, he’s representing Pat to the Cleveland Browns and he does his job very well.  At the same time, when I am talking to Pat, I am not really thinking about Bob.  If I’m talking to Tom, I’m not thinking about who represents him really.  I wanted to get who I felt was the best man for the job.  As it turns out, his representation was pretty familiar.  We feel very fortunate that we got it done.  Bob was not part of that process, he was certainly part of the contractual process, but that’s what he does.”

Mike Holmgren

(On how he narrowed it down to the final three candidates for the position)- “There was a committee that included Tom and myself, Bryan Wiedmeier, Gil Haskell and Matt Thomas, our football administration.  As I said, we started putting together lists of all of the things I told you we were going to do.  College coaches, coordinators, head coaches, coaches whose contracts were up and all of that kind of stuff.  Then we met daily and some guys knew this guy, some guys knew people that knew this guy, so we started gathering information and whittled it all down to, I’d say a finalist group of 10, like you would.  Then we took those 10 and did a little more digging and came to, what I thought, were the three.  I didn’t want to waste anybody else’s time, I wasn’t going to formally interview 10 guys.  I didn’t think that was necessary.  It would waste their time and our valuable time.  My charge to my committee was let’s find the three top candidates, in our opinion, and those were the guys we were going to talk to.  That’s how it happened.”

Pat Shurmur

(On how to convince NFL players that have not won yet at this level that they can)- “I think what we do is number one, there’s a huge piece to this called trust.  We went to St. Louis and won one game the first year.  This year, we won seven and were fighting to win the division when really at the beginning of the year, no one thought it could happen.  I think what happens is that’s build on a day to day basis.  I think it goes back to the relationships, it goes back to people working hard together and then you put your systems in place.  You put the people in place and you just trust that it’s going to happen.  I think there are people in this organization that have a pedigree in this profession that points to winning, so I think that’s the key piece.”

Mike Holmgren

(On if there are different characteristics that he looks for in assistant coaches than a head coach)- “I believe it’s different.  I think hiring your staff and hiring assistant coaches, you’re looking at certain things and certain specifics.  If I’m going to hire a linebackers coach, obviously the criteria there is a certain specific nature to the job.  When you’re hiring a head coach, there is a lot of stuff, as you might imagine.  There’s the football part of it, he wouldn’t be a candidate if he wasn’t a good football coach in some area, offensive coordinator or whatever it is.  Then the character of the person is hugely important to me.  Then a feeling, an instinct if you will, about how he will deal with the whole group, how he will present himself to the team standing up there, how he will get people to do sometimes some things that they want to do.  Just his presence, that’s kind of intuitive, I think, and it’s a little bit of a gut reaction, a little less scientific, if you will.”

Mike Holmgren

(On if the interview is focused on the candidate as a person)- “That’s what the interview is about, one of the big things of the interview.  I know Pat is a good football coach, I know he can line people up and get them to do stuff.  What’s important to me, there are a lot of things the head coach has to do.  To me, that was a big part of the interview process.  Then the other thing is you talk to people, you talk to people that have been with them.  I had an advantage because Tom and Pat had worked together for so many years, so we had a real good resource there.  You have to do that.  This is the first head coach I’ve ever hired, I trust it will be the last.  I don’t want to do it again.”

Pat Shurmur

(On if teaching plays a role in putting the system that he wants in place)- “I think it’s the foundation of what we do.  We take highly motivated, talented people and then we teach them to do very basic tasks, then we tie it all together.  Then we go out and let you folks evaluate it and try to have those tasks point to efficient football and winning.  The foundation of what we do is teach.  I think if we don’t start talking there, then we miss the key piece.”

Tom Heckert

(On how much the similarities between the three of them played into the hiring of Shurmur)- “I don’t think you can understate that.  Like Pat said, from the day he walked in the door, we were on the same page.  Everybody says they want the character and hard work and stuff, but we’ve been through it together and we’ve done it with getting those players.  We’ve won a lot of football games.  Unfortunately we didn’t win a Super Bowl in Philadelphia, but we did win an awful lot of football games.  I think we are on the same page when it comes to players and what we are looking for, and we’ve done it together before.  Like Pat said, from day one we were on the same page with what kind of players we are looking for and how we are going to acquire those players.  That can’t be a negative.”

Pat Shurmur

(On if any of the current assistant coaches have been ruled out at this point)- “I’m not trying to evade the question, but that’s a process that we are going through.  I think it will become very obvious, very quickly where we are going, in terms of the staff.  As I mentioned, you have resources for finding out that information.  To protect the process to some degree, we are just going to leave it at that.”

Mike Holmgren

(On if John Fox was included in the initial search)- “Yes, he was, absolutely.  John was just hired in Denver, so he was involved in some other things.  In whittling down, one of the big considerations was offense versus defense. John is a great coach and we have been friend a long time.  The hard part of this, it was like when I was coaching and hiring a staff, I probably have 4,000 guys I’ve worked with and friends of mine.  They all may have thought I was going to hire them, so now they’re all mad at me (joking).  You have to kind of push those things to the best of your ability aside and make the correct judgment to the best of your ability.  One of the big considerations was the offensive background Pat had.”

Pat Shurmur

(On him being a player in training camp in Green Bay coming out of college and if he was disappointed that he didn’t make it as a player)- “I think eventually, genetics catch up with all of us.  From a playing standpoint, that’s what happened.  I do know this, I am very fortunate to be involved in a profession that is my hobby.  I’m very passionate about the sport.  I had an opportunity to go back to Michigan State and be a graduate assistant and finish my MBA.  I initially thought I was going to rule the world on Wall Street, but when I got the taste of what coaching is really all about, then that kind of catapulted me into this profession.  From that standpoint, I’d say there are probably a lot of coaches that feel as though they couldn’t play any longer, so they try to stay as close to it as possible.  I probably am one of those guys.”

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