tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Chudzinski: Strong Dynamic Leader?

Today's post was going to be about the pathetic baseball writers who vote on the Baseball Hall of Fame selections. However, while watching the Knicks game last night, I saw on Twitter that Chris Mortensen reported that the Cleveland Browns had hired Carolina Panthers Offensive Coordinator Rob Chudzinski as their new head coach. I was absolutely speechless.

Throughout the evening, I had heard that the Browns had interviewed Ken Whisenhunt for a second time. Whisenhunt had been my choice to lead the Browns. He was young, coached a team to the Super Bowl and was fully aware of the history between the Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was also reported that Cleveland was going to be interviewing Bruce Arians, who stepped in tremendously while filling in for Chuck Pagano. And then, at around 10:10pm on Twitter, the news broke on who the Browns had hired.

On New Year's Eve, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Browns President Joe Banner held a press conference to announce the dismissal of Pat Shurmur and Tom Heckert. In that press conference, both men indicated that they were going to hire the head coach first because they felt that they needed to get a "strong dynamic leader" who would have a big say on the roster. This proclamation had myself, and most Browns fans, thinking that for once the Browns were going to pull out all the stops and get an accomplished proven head coach. Thoughts of Gruden, Cowher and Saban danced in our heads. Then there was the dance with Chip Kelly, the hot college coach of the day. It was reported that its a done deal and that fell apart.

So after all of that, Browns fans are supposed to be excited about Rob Chudzinski. Chudzinski was offensive coordinator with the Browns for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. In 2007, the Browns offense was high-flying with Derek Anderson, Kellen Winslow Jr., Braylon Edwards and Jamal Lewis. However, how can we forget the game against Cincinnati where all the Browns had to do was win and they were in the playoffs. Instead, Derek Anderson threw 5 interceptions and the play-calling was called into question as a result of the very windy conditions. The following year, the Browns offense ranked last in the NFL. Man, am I excited.

As the night wore on, it was being reported that as a result of Chudzinski being hired the Browns would shift their defense to the 3-4. I went beserk!!! An area this team needs to strengthen defensively is at linebacker. The 3-4 failed when Eric Mangini was here because he didn't have the linebackers necessary for it to be effective. Nothing has changed. On top of that, many will agree that the Browns strength is on the defensive line where they developed a good rotation of 6 or 7 players. Who will play nose tackle? Rubin? Taylor? Does Jaball Sheard go to outside linebacker after he is developing into a good pass rushing defensive end??

It was being leaked that Norv Turner may be coming to Cleveland as the offensive coordinator. Somehow that's not getting me all warm and fuzzy. What really bothers me is that it appears that Banner's hand in controlling what goes on with this team's personnel will be strengthened immensely. Chudzinski is no Cowher, Gruden or Saban. Will he have the stones to stand up to Banner?? I doubt it. And forget about a strong GM. If Mike Lombardi gets named, you can bet that old Joe Banner will be running the show big time.

When it was announced that Jimmy Haslam bought the Browns I was excited. He had a passion for football and said all the right things. The dismissal of Mike Holmgren didn't bother me but the hiring of Banner did and it has been all down hill ever since. Haslam's garbage at the New Year's Eve press conference that the Browns job was the most attractive one out there was an insult to the fans. It is evident that it isn't by the fact that neither Gruden, Cowher or Saban wanted any part of Cleveland. This whole set up is reminding me of the old Carmen Policy days. Lot of flash and little results.

If the fact that Chudzinski was a Browns fan growing up and that he is from Ohio is supposed to keep me drinking the Haslam Kool-Aid, think again. This may be the straw that broke the camel's back. I have threatened for the last several seasons that I was done as a NFL Sunday Ticket subscriber. This may finally push me over the edge. I hope I'm wrong but more terrible football is on the horizon on the Lakefront and soon we will be told that there is another 5 year plan. This is so depressing. Maybe it would have been better off if the Browns never came back.