A different look

Observations, curmudgeonly or otherwise, after watching the Browns trot 

Andrew Berry, the new general manager and executive VP/football operations, in front of the Cleveland media the other day, along with new head coach Kevin Stefanski and Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta . . .

Berry sure is smooth, extremely poised, self-assured and more than ready for the next step of his life. The only question is can he handle it because his predecessors surely could not.

For the last two decades, 76 Lou Groza Blvd. in Berea has proven to be a wasteland for ambitious football executives who have proven the only constant for the Browns is failure.

Whether it’s players, coaches or front-office types, failure is generally the outcome. Without fail.

Until Berry, Stefanski and sometimes-there DePodesta prove otherwise in the coming seasons (assuming they last that long), that will not change.

The cupboard at the top of the football food chain has been emptied as owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam III and their daughter and son-in-law try for the umpteenth time to get it right with their billion-dollar investment.

“It will be distinctly different than before,” said Jimmy Haslam. Hmmmm, where have I heard that before? Rhetorical question.

So what can the perennially starved fans of Browns Nation expect from the new threesome, whose only alignment appears to be an analytical approach to the game of football?

“We will be a scouting-central front office,” Berry said, “because I have always believed and continue to believe scouting to be the lifeblood of roster building in the National Football League.”

Good start, but that falls in line with the philosophy of most of the general managers around the NFL. Nothing new there.

He needs now to prove it and maximize the human factor, not analytics, when it comes to crafting the 53-man roster for the 2020 season, which will be the most important aspect of his new job.

But when it came to discussing his control of that roster, the new GM dodged. “Listen,” he said, “every big decision is going to be collaborative.” Okay. But he was hired because he was given complete control of the roster and his word ostensibly is final.

He makes the ultimate decisions. Or does he? Not based on that reply. He’ll get help from Stefanski and, hold your breath, DePodesta, but Berry should make the final call on all matters football.

He breaks ties, or should, when disagreements arise. He’s the big boss when it comes to everything related to football, whether it’s trades and/or free agency. Anything related to personnel. The buck stops at his desk.

The worst thinker in the Ivory Tower – three guesses who that is and the first two don’t count – must take several giant steps back and let those he hired succeed or fail. Sadly, he won’t.

Stefanski had a different slant. “Andrew is the general manager and I am the head coach,” he said, “but I can promise you on decisions as they pertain to personnel, I will be involved.

“We have had dialogue about that. . . . We have to make sure it is going to be Andrew and me along with a bunch of really good people in there making those decisions.” There does not appear to be a clear division of authority.

What will be interesting is discovering just how much power DePodesta wields from a player personnel standpoint. After all, Stefanski and Berry are working together because of the CSO.

Stefanski pronounced himself “excited” about his new boss even though he lobbied for Minnesota Assistant General Manager George Paton, who ultimately took his name out of the running to succeed John Dorsey.

“What was important was getting the right man for the job and the Cleveland Browns,” he said diplomatically. “I could not be more excited to work on a day-to-day basis with him.” Let’s see how long that holds up when disagreements bubble to the surface.

With regard to who will be in charge of the offense on game days, Stefanski acknowledged it was a very popular topic. “We’ll work through it,” he said. “I don’t know. That’s the God’s honest truth. We’ll work though it like I said before and do what’s best for the offense.”

He called it “a very fluid situation . . . Putting a staff together is a puzzle, You have to find the right pieces and the big pieces are the coordinators. . . . I want to get the right people in here as we fit the puzzle together.”

That’s a wordy way of dodging the question and might very well mean he’ll be the play caller when the Browns own the football this season and rely on new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, run coordinator Stump Mitchell and pass coordinator Chad O’Shea to develop game plans.

That’s asking for trouble. Stefanski instead should learn first how to be a head coach before taking on added duties and allow Van Pelt to call plays. Numerous coordinators make that mistake and don’t last long. Just ask Freddie Kitchens.

Being a head coach is an entirely different animal than concentrating on one side of the football or one specific area. The enormity and complexities of running a team, especially on game days, require a different kind of concentration.

He needs to look at a much bigger picture than just one aspect of the team. If he becomes the 2020 version of Freddie Kitchens, Stefanski and his new boss will not enjoy their first year together.