Prologue: Jimmy Haslam can be second-guessed for the decisions he's made, but I disagree with Terry Pluto about the need for him to have press conferences and all that.
What's he supposed to say besides exactly what Mike Pettine says?
What if he's already decided he's going to replace Pettine and/or Farmer? He'll be asked that question. If he stands behind them, he's a liar. If he says he's not going to talk about that, or he hasn't decided yet, that's a major controversy.
What does Terry want to hear? Everything will be okay? Be patient? I'm sorry?
Bud Shaw wrote an unusually thoughtful article suggesting that Jimmy would be smart to hire a consultant. Parcells, Wolf, or Polian are great ideas. Jimmy has reached out to the Big Tuna in the past.
I don't know about GMs, and don't hate Ray Farmer as much as the permabashers and parrots.
But if Pettine is fired, I'd try to get Josh McDaniels from the Patriots.
I know I know: Why would he come to Cleveland?
Manziel, Gordon, Pryor, Barnidge, Johnson, Thomas, and Benjamin, among others.
There is talent on defense, as well. Poor tackling, undisciplined, and perhaps confused talent, but talent nonetheless. And very high draft picks...and a lot of draft picks.
He might not be on a lot of short lists. In one season as Denver's Head Coach, he went 8-8 with Jay Cutler, then 3-9 with Kyle Orton before being fired in-season.
But he was 33. Remember Bill Belichick? He "failed" here, notably in his last season, when his team knew it was moving.
He rejoined Bill Parcells as a coordinator, and re-emerged as possibly the best Head Coach in history.
McDaniel was the coordinator who got the Patriots to the playoffs with Matt Cassel. Bill Belichick gave him a short written "Bible" on being a good head coach.
I'm sure he learned a lot. Cutler isn't elite, Orton can't throw deep, and talent is good.
McDaniels--or at least Belichick through him--adapts to his personnel. That's why New England now runs a backfield-by-committee and never skipped a beat with the losses of Edelman, Amendola, Gronk etc.
I know I know: Brady. But he did it with Cassel too.
That brings up the next protest: Manziel is no Brady. Neither was Cassel, and end the last sentence with YET.
As Head Coach in Denver, he tried to get Cassel instead of Orton for Cutler, but the deal fell through. If he wanted Cassel, he'll like Manziel just fine (unless he's another puritanical old lady micromanaging all his player's waking moments).
Could he work with Ray Farmer if he's retained? If he has a voice and input, he can.
Ask Mike Pettine. He won't lie. The two cooperated on the draft and personnel moves.
The results are ugly, but McDaniels must have learned critical thinking from Bill, and can see the talent here.
Lots of it! And the fact that Ray wasn't stupid enough to cut Manziel or Gordon, and was smart enough to re-sign Pryor.
As I mentioned, because of his history and firing in Denver, he might not be in great demand, so the Browns would have a shot at him.
So Erving needs to lift weights. Gilbert needs to keep doing what he finally was doing before he got hurt. Haden and Bitonio will be back. Shelton just needs to stop standing up so much, and maybe lose some weight. McDaniel can see over the horizon--there's a lot of potential here.
Let the overrated blockheads take the other jobs. I vote for McDaniels if there's an opening. I'll bet he's ready this time (and it helps that he's older than his players now).
No comments:
Post a Comment