Good luck in Cleveland

[Mr. Scot]

A look at the conditions Kevin Stefanski had to accept when he took the Browns job...

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Head football coaches like to run the show. In Cleveland, the head football coach won’t be.

As explained by Steve Doerschuk of the Canton Repository, new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski showed during his interview a willingness to yield to certain expectations of part-time chief strategy office Paul DePodesta, including having someone from the analytics group wearing a headset and having access to the coaching staff on game days. Stefanski also agreed to owner Jimmy Haslam’s desire to engage in hours-long meetings with his head coach the day after games.

Dustin Fox of 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland added that the front office expects the head coach to “turn in game plans to the owner and analytics department by Friday, and to attend an end-of-week analytics meeting to discuss their plan.”

 

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That was OK with Stefanski, or he wouldn’t have gotten the job. It’s unclear whether it would have been OK with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. By all indications and objective measurements, McDaniels is far more accomplished and experienced than Stefanski, who first became offensive coordinator late in the 2018 regular season and has only one full year in the job — a year that was necessarily undermined by the presence of assistant head coach/offensive consultant Gary Kubiak, who drew strong praise from coach Mike Zimmer as the best thing that had happened to the team since Zimmer arrived as head coach.

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that the job came down to Stefanski and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Given that the Browns were determined to make a hire on Sunday, the truth in hindsight could be that they were ready to hire the loser of their round-of-eight showdown. Which, in hindsight, would make this decision fit well within the team’s recent history of ricocheting from one bad decision to the next.

Stefanski agreed to contract terms that limit his authority

So basically, Stefanski will be at the will and whim of the people who had already been running the show in Cleveland, minus former GM John Dorsey (coincidentally the only person whose resume' included being part of a successful NFL organization) and plus the new GM (who like Paul DePodesta, reports directly to owner Jim Haslam). DePodesta by the way will continue working from an office in California.

Stefanski, it should be noted, has basically a season and a half of experience as an offensive coordinator (only about ten years total coaching experience if I remember correctly. DePodesta wanted to hire him last offseason, at which point his coordinator experience would have been a half season. Also worth noting that this year he was assisted by Kubiak, as stated above.

Ultimately, despite the supposed rearrangement of the org chart, almost all the same people are still running the Browns. They're essentially laying the head coaching duties on a guy who's got less than two seasons as a coordinator under his belt, but it's okay because an analytics will help him make the important decisions.

What could go wrong?

[Panthera onca]

Yeah, I’m thinking this one won’t end well. 

[top dawg]

I read an article that said McDaniels wasn't willing to cede all that control. I guess he saw his dream job as a nightmare after talking to the FO. 

You can't put all your eggs in one basket, it may have a hole in it. 

[TheSpecialJuan]

Cleveland refuses to learn from their mistakes. 

[Mr. Scot]

2 minutes ago, Panthera onca said:

Yeah, I’m thinking this one won’t end well. 

Haslam apparently felt like he didn't have enough influence.

When the guy in charge is a huge part of the problem but believes he's really part of the solution, yikes!

[Mr. Scot]

16 minutes ago, top dawg said:

I read an article that said McDaniels wasn't willing to cede all that control. I guess he saw his dream job as a nightmare after talking to the FO. 

You can't put all your eggs in one basket, it may have a hole in it. 

Or in this case, the owner's office may have an a--hole in it.

[Sgt Schultz]

6 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Haslam apparently felt like he didn't have enough influence.

When the guy in charge is a huge part of the problem but believes he's really part of the solution, yikes!

Yeah, his lack of influence has clearly been a problem. 

Sounds Jerrah Jones Lite.

[Tbe]

the front office expects the head coach to “turn in game plans to the owner and analytics department by Friday, and to attend an end-of-week analytics meeting to discuss their plan.”
 

Holy Poo. What the hell is Haslam going to do with his game plan? Mark it up with a red pen?

This guy is a control freak and will never get this right. The Browns are doomed.

Fans should boycott until the league forces a sale.

[Basbear]

Factory of sadness. 

[Sgt Schultz]

It does set up an interesting showdown next year after they go 5-11 or so.  Whose fault was it: the coach or the analytics department?

[Mr. Scot]

4 minutes ago, Tbe said:

the front office expects the head coach to “turn in game plans to the owner and analytics department by Friday, and to attend an end-of-week analytics meeting to discuss their plan.”

Holy Poo. What the hell is Haslam going to do with his game plan? Mark it up with a red pen?

This guy is a control freak and will never get this right. The Browns are doomed.

Fans should boycott until the league forces a sale.

Got me on that...

How does this team still have fans?

[Panthera onca]

1 minute ago, Sgt Schultz said:

It does set up an interesting showdown next year after they go 5-11 or so.  Whose fault was it: the coach or the analytics department?

I’m pretty sure Stefanski will get every bit of the blame.

[LegioX]

I seriously feel bad for Brown fans. If any group deserves a SB it's them. To bad their team will never give them one. 

[Mr. Scot]

Firing Dorsey might wind up backfiring on them too...