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Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2008 > December > 29 > Entry
Please, no more rookie GMs, coaches
Four wasted years.
That’s what the Phil Savage/Romeo Crennel experiment essentially produced for the Cleveland Browns.
Monday morning, owner Randy Lerner would not even address the fans directly; he refused to allow cameras, or even tape recorders, in his press conference. Who is this guy, Howard Hughes?
So you won’t hear any sound bites from the man himself. Won’t be able to tune in on the Internet and listen to how the owner of your favorite football team plans to turn this mess around and make you want to buy tickets and merchandise again.
Of course, he probably has no idea how he plans to turn this mess around, which is the truly scary part. Fans, of course, deserve better than this guy’s approach and disdain.
As for Savage, he just made too many public mistakes to be taken seriously as the face of the franchise. And with Lerner in hiding most of the time, somebody had to be the face, and so it ended up being Crennel, which was fine, except for when it came time for Savage to be out front and Crennel was left to clean up after him.
Even Savage’s personnel evaluation, supposedly his strength and the reason he got the job in the first place, proved suspect. In Baltimore, he had been praised for spotting those second-day gems on draft day and turning them into productive Ravens. He failed to bring that vision to Cleveland, apparently.
As for Crennel, he was the nicest guy you’d want to meet, but when it came time to doing the job of a head coach on game day, he struggled. And I’m not sure way, considering he’s been around forever. It could be that he, like Savage, was in his role for the first time.
And this notion that somehow Crennel needs to stick around in another capacity, maybe as defensive coordinator, needs to be shouted down immediately. Put it this way. In the five seasons Crennel has had anything to do with this team (including 2000 when he was defensive coordinator), the Browns’ record is 27 wins, 53 losses.
So, at the very least, fans should demand of Lerner that he install a general manager and coach who have actually done this type of work in the past. That should not be too much to ask.
Enough of this on-the-job training already.
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Comments
By JoeTait
December 30, 2008 4:08 AM | Link to this
It was obvious even after the 10-6 season last year that RAC had to go… but Savage on the other hand I am not so sure about. Savage brought much more talent to the Browns than what we got in the first 6 years they were back in the league, before Savage joined the team. Sure, he did some things that lacked class and he should not be “the face/voice of the Browns”, but that does not mean he needed to be fired. It means they needed to keep him behind closed doors and hire a public relations person. It would have been nice to keep Savage for some continuity. I am sick of rebuilding every 3 years or so. I am done with this team until they learn how to win. I am just too sick of it.By quantoid
December 30, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this
I think it is too easy to forget the talent that Savage passed on as well. Sean is right in that it is time to bring in proven talent instead of educating coaches and GMs who then move on to greatness in other cities.By cantquit
December 30, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this
Just a bad combo. What talent Savage did send to him, Romeo did not develop. Quinn rots away on the bench. Joe Thomas, first year probowl, seems to be regressing under this system.By Who Cares
December 31, 2008 2:24 PM | Link to this
as a fan of a different team, I love reading posts from Browns fans…my current favorites are the ones that discuss the outstanding level of talent on the Browns roster…news flash….they do NOT have great talent…in 2007 they were a couple of luck bounces from being 7-9 or 8-8. They have had 1 winning season in the last 6 years, 2 since they’ve been back in the league, hardly indicative of a great pool of talent…they are terrible, and will be terrible next year, the year after, …….