Tag Archives: Rob Chudzinski

UNSTABLE BROWNS NOT A PREMIUM DESTINATION

Posted: Jan 9, 2014 by . Filed under Feature Articles | 38 Comments

A friend and media source of mine said something to me this morning that sums up the Browns head coaching search in a nutshell. He said, “If you’re looking for stability for you and your family, then don’t take the Cleveland Browns head coaching job.” He’s so right.

Think about it. Rob Chudzinski got one year to prove what he could do as a first time ever NFL head coach. That’s not normal in the NFL. In that one year he dealt with a front office that traded his starting running back after two games, selected only five players in the draft because of trades for next year, still had roughly $20 million dollars under the cap to spend on free agents, the owner was, and still is being investigated by the FBI and the IRS and the team openly admitted that they were focusing on the 2014 season. How many first year coaches would perform well in that situation?

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I’m not saying Chud was blameless. He made some bad in game decisions and other mistakes I’m sure, but how is he supposed to grasp what it takes to be a head coach if he doesn’t get the chance to learn from his mistakes. And you as a front office had to expect there would be some growing pains when you hired him and gushed about his potential, even though he had never been a head coach at any level before.

Jimmy Haslam came from an organization that’s had three head coaches since 1969. That stability is why the Pittsburgh Steelers are considered one of the model franchises in the NFL. The Browns, if someone takes the job, will have hired their seventh different head coach in the last sixteen years. It will be their third head coach in a little over a year. Couple that lack of stability, with a front office who’s “Q” rating isn’t very high in NFL circles (Mike Lombardi’s score is lower than Joe Banner’s) and you can see why over the last twelve months a lot of big name coaches talked to the Browns, but none of them took the job.

It’s looking again like the Browns will have to settle for their head coach. Settle for their third or fourth choice. Settle for a guy who is so eager to get a head coaching job he’ll even take the Browns gig. Or settle for a guy who’s looking to prove that his failure the first time around as an NFL head coach was not a true representation of what he is capable of doing or that he has learned from his mistakes. Either way once again, the Browns aren’t going to get the guy they really wanted no matter what they tell you later.

This all started in 1999 when their first choice Brian Billick told them no and went to Baltimore and won a Super Bowl. Last year they really wanted Chip Kelly and he too said no and went to Philadelphia and led them to the playoffs. Now solid candidates like Bill O’Brien and Lovie Smith have already taken other NFL  jobs.  Josh McDaniels, told the Browns no and according to Albert Breer from the NFL Network, the primary reason McDaniels returned to Foxboro was “Creating stability for his family. He has 4 young kids and he knows his job is secure there.” Vanderbilt’s James Franklin, a reported Browns candidate, looks like he’ll take the Penn State job over the one here in Cleveland. Smart move on all their parts.

Here’s hoping the guy that ends up taking the Browns head coaching job isn’t looking for stability, but instead he’s just looking for a chance to prove himself. If so, he better do it in a hurry, because based on past history here in Cleveland you don’t get much time to show what you can do.

RODA REPORT 1-2-14

Posted: Jan 2, 2014 by . Filed under Feature Articles | 41 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?

THE MONDAY MORNING DUMP

Posted: Dec 2, 2013 by . Filed under Feature Articles | 149 Comments

So who’s guilty for the Browns 32-28 to the Jaguars? There are plenty of suspects:

Quarterback Brandon Weeden – Yes he threw for 370 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he also threw 2 interceptions and fumbled once and those all happened in the final 2:47 of the first half turning a 14-7 Browns lead into a 20-14 deficit at halftime. Oh yeah, let’s not forget he was also playing with a concussion that he didn’t tell anybody about until after the game.

Cornerback  Joe Haden – He’s the one guy on this defense that has all-pro capability and the one guy you thought for sure you could count on with the game on the line, so much for that. On one of the most routine plays a cornerback should make, Haden fell for the old banana in the tailpipe trick and bit on in-fake on 3rd and 9 around the Browns 11 yard line and gave up the game winning touchdown to Cecil Shorts  who said, “We studied film and we knew Joe likes to jump those routes so we ran the play and he did just that.”

Center Alex Mack – The normally reliable Mack sailed a shot game snap over Brandon Weeden’s head from the Browns 14 yard line that ended up in the end zone and Weeden was forced to kick it out of the end zone for a safety.  That also led to a free kick and another possession for the Jags and they turned that into a field goal. So Jacksonville went from being down 21-20 to leading 25-21 in the 4th quarter.

Head Coach Rob Chudzinski –  With the game tied at 14 and only 1:19 left before halftime and your quarterback just threw an interception on the previous possession, do you really want to try and be aggressive there? “K-Y-P” – Know Your Personnel!  The fact that Weeden had just thrown a pick to allow the Jags to tie the game at 14, swallow your pride and be happy going into the locker room tied 14-14. Make some adjustments and know that you’re getting the ball to start the second half and be aggressive on the first series of the 3rd quarter. Instead Weeden turned it over two more times and Jacksonville added 6 more points to take a 20-14 lead into the break! That’s just BAD COACHING!

There are others for sure who contributed to the embarrassing 32-28 loss to the lowly Jaguars, but those seem to be the main culprits. The Browns have now lost 3 in a row and 6 of their last 7 to fall to (4-8) and are headed to another potential top 5 draft pick with 3 of their remaining 4 games left on the road. So thank god for the Ohio State Buckeyes!