Fix the Cleveland Browns by Hiring Bill Cowher
I have the solution for the Cleveland Browns to fix all of their problems. Unfortunately, given the Browns most recent history, I don’t know that it could ever work out this way. But, here goes nothing.
The Browns need to cut Romeo Crennel loose. Not that I really want the team to fire another coach, but his press conferences are embarassing. They are chock full of quotes like, “I don’t know. I am going to have to try to figure that out.” Crennel was given the benefit of the doubt multiple times, and he has indicted himself in almost every circumstance. This is especially difficult because unlike other coaches in Cleveland, fans don’t seem to dislike Romeo Crennel. Browns fans everywhere have been pulling for him because he seems like a nice guy who has put in his football dues as a defensive coordinator.
Crennel might end up being a good head coach, but it would be nice if Cleveland would stop being a first-time-head-coach training ground. The Browns seem to have the knack of giving all these guys their first shot at the job. Chris Palmer was the coach in 1999 after being a career offensive coordinator. And even Butch Davis was a first time head coach because all his prior head coaching experience had occurred in the college game. And if you want to go to the pre-expansion Browns, Bill Belichick got all his screw-ups out of his system as a first-time head coach of the Browns from 1991-1995 before going on to become the bad-fashion-boy-genius in New England.
It is time to stop that trend. The Browns need to make Bill Cowher the highest paid head coach in the NFL. There has been talk all season about Cowher’s contract situation, and whether or not he is going to come back to coaching next season at all. While I am inclined to believe that Cowher will be taking a year off if he isn’t coaching the Steelers, this would represent the ultimate opportunity for the Cleveland Browns to resurrect their franchise.
Cowher is a player’s coach, but he governs his teams with “atta-boys” and his famous dirty looks. He makes his players want to perform for him. Sure he will get angry and berate a guy occasionally, but he is never short on praise either.
This is exactly what the Browns need. They need someone who knows how to coach a defense. They need a coach who can figure out how to establish a running game. They need someone to keep the special teams players well-coached and motivated to run through a brick wall. They need someone who can use auxiliary players like Josh Cribbs, who could easily become the Browns’ version of Antawn Randle El.
Most importantly, they need someone to provide an identity to the team. Bill Cowher can do that, while reviving one of the NFL’s most storied (and recently uncompetitive) rivalries. The Browns finally get a coach who has been there before. They get a guy who gained a substantial portion of his football experience in Cleveland as both a player (1980-82) as well as his first coaching job (1985-88) under Marty Schottenheimer. It would be a homecoming of sorts, but it would also be a significant blow against a divisional rival.
This is why the Browns need this to happen. They need to MAKE this happen. It is perfect. There is no other way.
In fact, it is so perfect that I am sure Cowher’s contract extension with the Steelers will come across the newswire any second now.
dittoHeston Said,
December 11, 2006 @ 10:07 am
EVIL! Evil suggestion. And the idea that it would revive one of the NFL’s most storied rivalries is even questionable. One of the greatest things about the rivalry is that it’s a (usually) Friendly Competition. If Cowher defects to Cleveland, any good will Steeler fans hold for the Browns will be right out the window.
It will be bad enough when Cowher comes out of “retirement” to coach some punk expansion team. The thought of him coaching the Browns is too much of a betrayal for even casual Steeler fans to stomach.
FilteringCraig Said,
December 11, 2006 @ 10:39 am
You call it a betrayal. I call it a homecoming!
Chris D Said,
December 14, 2006 @ 12:36 am
Craig,
How bout you worry about getting a QB first. Vince Lombardi would be 6-10 with Charlie Frye.
Chris D.
PS Want Pennington?
FilteringCraig Said,
December 14, 2006 @ 6:30 am
How about an offensive line? Namath would be shit behind our offensive line.