Tag Archives: Josh McDaniels

IF I WERE IN CHARGE OF…….

Posted: Jan 6, 2014 by . Filed under Feature Articles | 40 Comments

If I were in charge of the Cleveland Browns I would inquire with every  former NFL coach who’s won a Super Bowl, every hot NFL coordinator and every top college coach and ask what would it take for them to come and coach the Cleveland Browns. Money is obviously no object, as Jimmy Haslam is paying Rob Chudzinski over $10 million dollars not to coach.

Jimmy Haslam Photo

(courtesy of sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

So yes I would reach out to Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick and Tony Dungy just to hear them tell me they’re not interested.

I would then call all the so-called hot coordinators like Dan Quinn the defensive coordinator of the Seahawks(he’s already interviewed with the Browns), Josh McDaniels the offensive coordinator of the Patriots(the Browns have already talked to him as well), Ken Wisenhunt the offensive coordinator of the Chargers and Adam Gase the Broncos offensive coordinator.

After I talked with all of them, I would then get in touch with the top college guys like Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, Jim Tressel, Gus Malzahn from Auburn, James Franklin from Vanderbilt, Nick Saban at Alabama, Urban Meyer at Ohio State and whoever else is considered a top coach. I would leave no stone unturned if I were Haslam, Banner and Lombardi, you can’t afford to. Your franchise is a joke right now. You admittedly screwed up last year by hiring Chud, so you better go out and find the savior to coach this team and turn it around in a hurry.

Then I would find the top three guys who have an interest in the job and see what it would take for them to quit their current job and come to Cleveland. Whoever showed the most interest and had the best resume of the bunch, I would offer him the job and get him on the next plane to Cleveland to start helping turn this franchise around.

This is the most important off season in Browns history as you’re trying to find the right coach; you have 10 high draft picks and a boatload of money to spend in free agency to better your talent. You better get all three phases right or the Browns will continue to be at the bottom of the AFC North, fan apathy will start to set in and you will continue to be the punch line for all NFL football jokes and yes Jimmy Haslam, whether you want to believe it or not, just “THE SAME OLD BROWNS”!

RODA REPORT 1-2-14

Posted: Jan 2, 2014 by . Filed under Feature Articles | 40 Comments

Either Urban Meyer/Ohio State and David Shaw/Stanford didn’t respect Michigan State’s defense, both are too stubborn for their own good, or they just had a major brain cramp by calling the plays they called in late game situations against the Spartans defense in the Big Ten title game and the Rose Bowl.  Why play to the strength of Michigan State’s defense in those short yardage situations? Stupid coaching decision by two of the very best coaches in college football!

Speaking of stupid, you could argue the Browns front office is just that after firing head coach Rob Chudzinski after only one year on the job. From everything that was said all season long and even before that, in last year’s off season, the team was supposedly building for 2014 and trying to establish continuity and stability. Instead Chud gets canned after one season and Jimmy Haslam, Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi are back to drawing board of yet another coaching search.  In order to fire Chud, this next coach they hire better be the second coming of Bill Belichick and what scares me is that the guy they reportedly have the most interest in, Josh McDaniels, they feel is the second coming of Belichick. Only time will tell if getting rid of Chud was a good move or if indeed the “Three Stooges” are running the Browns!

I have a bad feeling that after winning 24 games in a row, Ohio State is on the verge of losing its second game in a row in the Orange Bowl versus Clemson. The Buckeyes defense, which gave up a combined 75 points and over 1,000 yards in its last two games to Michigan and Michigan State, will be without two of their best defenders against the Tigers in cornerback Bradly Roby and defensive end Noah Spence.  How is that defense supposed to stop Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins if they couldn’t shut down the less explosive Wolverines and Spartans with a healthier defense? Add to that Braxton Miller has been very pedestrian in throwing the football in his last four games and this has the makings of another BCS Bowl disappointment for OSU. I expect it to be a shoot-out and the team that has the ball last will probably win the game, so let’s hope it’s the Buckeyes have the pigskin last.

If Johnny Manziel and Blake Bortles join Teddy Bridgewater in this year’s NFL draft, it’ll be interesting to see who is ranked highest on the QB list by the media and more importantly by NFL teams.  I don’t see a slam dunk in any of those three like I did with Andrew Luck. Will Manziel’s backyard, crazy legs style fly in the NFL? While Bortles has the size, does he have the experience and the smarts? Bridgewater looks to be the most complete of the three, but the lack of competition he played against in college; does that move him down in the rankings? I want to see these guys at the combine, hear about their interviews and see them with Jon Gruden at his quarterback school before I give my final rankings, but for now I have it 1) Bridgewater 2) Bortles and 3) Manziel.

Here’s the dilemma the Cavs have right now after a (10-21) start. If they make a trade for a player like Pau Gasol will that really impact their chances of making the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference this year and how much will that benefit them in the long run? On the flip side, if this season is headed in the wrong direction and it’s going to take another year for this team to be a legit playoff team, would it benefit them more if they ended up in the lottery one more time for what is considered to be one of the deepest NBA Drafts in recent history?   That’s the decision owner Dan Gilbert and G.M. Chris Grant have to make. The team has been healthy all season and with the off season moves of Bynum and jack they are still a lottery team as of today. Would adding Pau Gasol via a trade with the Lakers really make that much of a difference and gain them valuable playoff experience or would they be better suited to take their chances back in the lottery and maybe land so-called future stars like Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle or others?