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.
No comments:
Post a Comment