Coaching Errors Nearly Cost Browns Victory

http://larrybrownsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mike-pettine-browns.jpg Thanksgiving week is upon us and Browns fans have a lot to be thankful for. Josh Gordon's BACK and looks great. The team is 7-4 and in the hunt for a playoff berth. Brian Hoyer has been much better than many expected and the rookie running backs made Ben Tate expendable. All is not right in Elf-land however. Injuries continue to pile up to the point where sooner or later, the wheels ARE going to fall off. Today we lost potential all-pro safety Tashaun Gipson to a potential serious knee injury. A win is a win...and I will gladly take this one over the Falcons...BUT the coaching staff really dropped the ball today on several fronts. WHY, right before halftime, after a 60-yard field goal attempt (that missed by a mile) was nullified by a Falcon time out, did the Browns try it again?? While we are at it, did NO ONE notice that Devon Hester was BACK there to try for a runback? Ala Auburn/Alabama ? Game ball to Joe Bitonio for saving the team's bacon with the HUGE hustle play to tackle him. WHY did we keep forcing the ball deep to Gordon when that has NEVER been Hoyer's game. They SAID pregame that they wouldn't force it,,,then went out and did just that. The picks were a direct result this. WHY, late in the 4th quarter, did we go away from the running game? Crowell was a STUD all day and might have been able help us avoid the need for another cardiac kids finish...I know, everyone is growing and learning, coaching staff included. But JEEZ...that was weak.

Coaching us to the Promised Land

JImmy Haslam wrote a letter to the fans...He says he is committed to bringing in a winner to coach our Browns. Someone who can take the youngest team in the NFL, has five Pro-Bowlers, tons on cap room AND great draft positioning to the promised land. I will let him speak for himself, "We have purposefully been very methodical in our approach. We believe it is very important to stay disciplined to this process and to interview all of the candidates on our list. We are strongly committed to finding the right person to coach the Cleveland Browns." Jimmy Haslam. Thorough and methodical sounds ok to me....SO why not at least SPEAK to Jim Tressel? He has won multiple national championships at two levels. He preaches solid fundamental football where you don't beat yourself with mental mistakes and penalties...AND he likes running the ball. As great as Gordon and Cameron appear to be...we all know you can't win in the AFC North in November and December if you can't run the ball. We are searching under rocks at this point to see what's squirming...and looking dangerously like we are placing all our eggs in the Gase basket. What if we interview him and its not a fit? Or even worse, if he declines an interview with our rather impatient front office? We better have something else lined up then an unknown coordinator at that point (like our last SEVERAL coaching hires) Talk to Tressel!! I bet they make Orange and brown sweater-vests somewhere. Hell I will KNIT him one myself. GO BROWNS!!

Credibility? Not So Much.

As our Browns version of the Three Stooges keep paddling the canoe around in circles in hopes of hiring a new coach, I have some observations to make... There is a perception that no self-respecting coach will come to the Factory of Sadness. This is wrong. I am sure there are coaches with enough self-confidence to believe that they can achieve where all others, in all other regimes since our rebirth have failed. It's called brash over-confidence, and lots of coaches have it. Don't worry the Stooges will beat it out of you inside of a year. Josh McDaniel is smarter than I thought...he decided to exercise patience and avoid our giant dumpster fire of a front office. We are once again in a position of "settling" for a young coordinator, yet another unproven commodity to pin our hopes on. Banner and Lombardi have exactly NO margin for error with the fans...this is it, last chance to fix it, if only because THEY sure didn't give Chud any votes of confidence, or chances to learn from his mistakes.. What goes around comes around. Haslam really wants to win. I do believe that. I just fear he doesn't have the front office personnel in place to help him do it. " Flatly denying any interest in the "Sweater Vest" or Stoops was short-sighted and very poor public relations. It allowed us no room to pursue them after McDaniel said thanks but no thanks...Lombardi has a egg the size of Texas on his face. His man crush on McDaniel was there for all to see. The ONLY way the Stooges can fix it is to make a HUGE, UNEXPECTED SPLASH with the new hire. Some one with a big name and instant respect in league circles. I'm talking Chuckie, Cowher, Tress, Stoops etc etc,,,they have PROVEN they will not allow a new coach time for on the job training and that the time to win is now. So go get a proven winner to fix it. They will NEVER do that...and in 2015 or 2016 we will be doing this all over again. The Factory is working three shifts at the moment... GO BROWNS!!