The official word on Jimmy Haslam begins as the NFL approved Haslam as the new owner of the Cleveland Browns yesterday.Haslam quickly announced that Mike Holmgren resigned as team president and former Philadelphia Eagles executive Joe Banner was in Holmgren's former position after a transition period.
Haslam announced that there would be no further changes in personnel until the season concludes,which means that Tom Heckert as general manager and Pat Shurmur as head coach are safe in their jobs for a few more months.
So,now the worrying and wondering begins on the changes in a few months for the Cleveland Browns.
Ranging from personnel on the field,to personnel in the front office,to uniforms,to domes over the stadium and who knows what other potential changes are on the mind of Jimmy Haslam?
As much as uniform changes are important (Keep the jerseys,move to orange pants),the top decision to be made has to be on the future of Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur.
Tom Heckert worked with Joe Banner with the Eagles,which could be a plus or a minus,but a undisclosed source reports that Heckert is "not optimistic" about being retained.
That would be unfortunate for Browns fans as I think Heckert has drafted very well and I think his record would be even better had Mike Holmgren not intervened in the draft twice to insist on quarterbacks being selected (Colt McCoy in the 3rd round in 2010 and Brandon Weeden in the last draft) when better players were available.
Heckert could do a better job in free agency,although that might have something to do with the budget/saving Randy Lerner's money,so I am even open to that possibility.
Pat Shurmur's future looks a bit grimmer.
As excited as Browns fans are about last weeks win over Cincinnati and a possible win this week against the Colts,the schedule then gets tougher for a while before weakening in December.
Shurmur's dull play calling makes one wonder if he will survive even with a few more victories.
Considering the lack of on field success,the less than fan friendly Shurmur has to wonder about his chances of returning as well!
Short of winning at least six of the last ten games,I would think that it is a foregone conclusion that Pat Shurmur will be terminated or I would hope someone would not be "Manginied",which is a term I just coined for being deluded that progress is being made for a few meaningless late season wins over mostly other bad teams.
If Shurmur goes and I believe that he will,the biggest question is this-Does Haslam make a huge splash with a big name coach that is proven as a winner? Or does he select another assistant like the Browns usually do?
That selection can either inflame the fan base as the Browns Backers can realize that change is finally here by the lake,or take away the enthusiasm that is being generated right now.
I like Tom Heckert and I think that he has done a good job,but not a great one as GM,but if landing a Jon Gruden or even a (Bleech) Bill Cowher type of winner means sacrificing Heckert,then I would be in favor of that,even reluctantly so.
Mike Holmgren leaves Cleveland as a failure.
Holmgren appeared to me to be disinterested (other than a few personnel decisions that he was involved in) and will be remembered mainly for rarely being seen along with his two major decisions-the retention of Eric Mangini despite the clear philosophical differences after the 2009 season and the hiring of Pat Shurmur.
Keeping Mangini,when it was clear that the two men's ideas for football were never going to mesh,was the worst decision that Holmgren could have made.
That decision lessened the excitement of Browns fans for Holmgren (Take note Mr.Haslam) and his ability to turn things around when hopes were still sky high.
The hiring of Shurmur after a lost season under Mangini was the knockout blow as it appeared that it was more important to hire a crony at lower cost than it was to hire someone with a winning background.
Those two decisions were the major calls of the Holmgren era and both proved to be wrong ones.
Jimmy Haslam has brought hope and excitement to Cleveland as the Browns now have an owner that will not tolerate mediocrity,let alone bad football.
Changes are inevitable for both good and bad,I am afraid under the new ownership.
Lets see how long this lasts for fans of the Cleveland Browns.
Photo Credit:Chuck Crow-Cleveland Plain Dealer
No comments:
Post a Comment