2018 Browns' Chronicles: Week 8

By Kris Mead

 

The Hue Jackson and, to a lesser extent, the Todd Haley divorce was expected. Jackson was underperforming in all areas, specifically in player development, game management, and of course, the lack of wins. Todd Haley was let go for the similar reasons. However, what ultimately got both Jackson and Haley terminated was the simple fact that there was a constant power struggle and outright disregard for chain of command.

Many are reporting that the firings were in the best interest of the young quarterback – Baker Mayfield. Mayfield is like the child in a divorce proceeding, in which the judge must consider the child’s best interest when deciding custody. I agree with this thought, but I also believe that the entire team could be considered a child and was at risk of regressing, if the parents were not separated in a timely manner.

The Browns have the second youngest team in the NFL and have been in the top two youngest teams in the past three seasons. Like a child learning to speak his parents’ native tongue, it’s vital that these players are provided excellent coaching in their early NFL years. It becomes especially more vital when the Browns spend, not only the first-round draft pick, but the first overall draft pick on the most difficult position to play in the NFL – quarterback. It isn’t any quarterback though; Baker Mayfield has the potential of being the Browns’ answer to their long drought at that position. In turn, it is extremely important that the Browns do not squander this opportunity.

However, it’s ironic that focus has turned to Baker’s success. At the beginning of the season Jackson stated that Tyrod Taylor, the quarterback they traded for in exchange for a third-round pick, was to be the starting quarterback. So Browns’ fans were not initially expecting to see their number one draft choice start. Now that Taylor’s injuries forced Mayfield to start, Cleveland has seen sparks of life coming out of a position that has been typically occupied by mindless morons.  Cleveland’s only priority is (and should be) to prevent anything and anyone from tampering with Mayfield’s talent. Jackson implementing Mayfield casted Jackson’s own demise. Once it became clear that a quarterback with talent is not improving, the blame should be pointed at the man with a 3-36-1 record. Jackson had nowhere to run, and although he tried to use Haley’s offensive play calling as the culprit for the offenses’ failings, due to his lack of credibility, and his failure to manage a football team, there was no choice but for Hue to leave. Haley’s firing was more surprising. Yes, the offense was lacking, but there is also some logic in maintaining some source of consistency on the offensive side of the ball. Mayfield seemed to favor Haley’s play calling more than Hue’s, as Mayfield even hinted in a post-game interview, when Hue suggested he’d integrate himself more into the offense, by stating “we don’t need to reinvent the wheel.”

I think Haley was on a short leash (as he should be) due to his own power struggles with Hue. So, ownership suggested that Haley would be the interim head coach, but Haley, acting in his typical egomaniac manner, probably wanted to be named the head coach right then and there. Ownership, seeing that Haley was in no position to negotiate his employment status, let Haley go on the spot. Likely, Haley would have been let go at the end of the season. 

Regardless of what the discussions were like prior to either coach’s dismissal, it was obvious that the Browns were set up to be dysfunctional as soon as John Dorsey was hired. While It’s hard to imagine Dorsey not opting for a quarterback as his first overall draft pick, the only question was which quarterback.  So no matter what, the team’s main focus would have been developing the quarterback. Like the Haslams, Dorsey might have been hoodwinked into thinking that Jackson could develop a young quarterback.  After all, Jackson coached Joe Flacco in his first two years in Baltimore.  Still, that would be complete negligence on Dorsey’s part. Jackson has utterly failed as a head coach, not just royally in Cleveland, but he also struggled in Oakland. To make matters worse, it was thought a good idea to hire an offensive coordinator in combative personality Todd Haley to help solve the issues on offense, because the “offensive guru,” whom the Browns’ hired as head coach, could not fix them for the past two years.

In short let’s recap the Browns hiring in the past year. Haslam hires an extremely talented General Manager in John Dorsey (good hire). For some reason, Dorsey is not permitted to bring in his own head coach, like most general managers do, and must settle with the owner’s guy, who has consistently failed at his duties – Hue Jackson (bad management decision). The other option is that Dorsey has had zero experience in being the guy who hires a head coach. In his only other stint as a general manager, for the Kansas City Chiefs, Dorsey was hired AFTER Andy Reid, the head coach, was hired. So, the Browns hired a GM who is allowed to draft his preferred quarterback but IS NOT ALLOWED, or appears to be not allowed, to hire his preferred head coach who will be responsible for developing said quarterback.  However, Dorsey IS permitted to hire an offensive coordinator, who will only rub the egotistical head coach the wrong way. The hired offensive coordinator is also an egomaniac who believes he is the “ultimate offensive guru.”

The Browns’ owner, Jimmy Haslam, couldn’t have created a more perfect storm for dysfunction to thrive and his young quarterback to suffer. While it was good of Haslam to mitigate any more damage by getting rid of Haley and Jackson, considering he’s largely the source of Cleveland’s management mess, it’s the least the owner could do.  Haslam should pay more attention to his IRS scandal and the new soccer team he owns. Let the only smart guy in the room make decisions – John Dorsey. Maybe Haslam should take the Hippocratic Oath or more specifically, “primum non nocere” or “first do no harm.”