Striving to get it right

Jimmy Haslam III held his annual mea culpa in front of the Cleveland media Thursday and did not guarantee he was going to get it right with regard to the Browns’ immediate future.

In the midst of the club’s hunt for a new head coach and general manager following the dismissals of Freddie Kitchens and John Dorsey in the waning days of the year, the beleaguered owner declined to ensure Browns Nation it’ll be different this time.

“There is no guarantee,” he said. “Let’s be honest, there is no guarantee. I think we have learned a tremendous amount the hard way, a very painful way, and I think we have a clear vision and expectation of exactly what we are looking for in both positions.”

At the same time, Haslam all but apologized for the extremely disappointing 2019 season, one that began with hopes of moving in a direction this franchise has not experienced for two decades.

“We (he and his wife Dee) feel terrible about what has happened,” he said, “and we’re more determined to get it right. And I mean that sincerely.” (Snark alert) Beware of people who profess sincerity. (End snark alert)

The final decisions on both positions will be made by the Haslams “but not in a vacuum,” said Haslam. “We will make it with input from Paul (Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta) . . . and various other people in the organization who . . . meet and deal with the candidates.”

Haslam labeled DePodesta, who leads the selection committee, “very smart, very strategic and very disciplined in the decision-making process. He has been a good thought partner for us.”

DePodesta’s choices for the last two head coaches, Sean McDermott and Kevin Stefanski, were overruled by the Haslams in favor of Hue Jackson and Kitchens. McDermott is now the successful head coach with Buffalo and Stefanski the offensive coordinator in Minnesota.

Haslam has determined the new coach will be named before a new GM and both will report to him, a process anathema to the arrangement between Kitchens and Dorsey with the coach reporting to his general manager only.

After his selection, the new coach will suggest to the committee a new GM with whom he feels comfortable working, a move that most likely will act as a rubber stamp for whomever he favors.

(From a historical standpoint, this will be the third time the Browns will name a new head coach before a new general manager. Romeo Crennel preceded Phil Savage in 2005 and Eric Mangini handpicked George Kokinis four years later.)

Haslam was asked in light of the mercurial way he hires and fires his football people, how much of a commitment he was willing to give the new selections. “We are (committed), but every situation is different,” he replied. “There has to be progress on the field and behind the scenes off the field.”

And then he said something strange. “I hope we get it right,” he mused, “and I hope our head coach is here10 to 15 years and our general manager is here 10 to 15 years also. It is a heck of a lot easier on all of us.”

He doesn’t sound too sure he’ll get it right this time, either. Fans don’t want to hear that. They want to hear something more positive, more reassuring. Maybe it’s the accumulated battle scars of the last eight seasons talking.

Coaching and managing this dysfunctional team has become less, for lack of a better word, glamorous considering the owner’s quick trigger finger on his coaches and general managers. Let’s blow it up and start all over every two years or so seems to be the club’s credo.

Countered Haslam, “I think maybe despite all of the changes we have made, it is a very attractive job. Everybody in the NFL knows how important football is in this area.”

He has squandered numerous opportunities to take advantage of that. And thus, his reputation as one of the worst owners in then NFL precedes him. One of these times, he just might get it right.

Browns Nation is counting on it.