Browns ownership clouds optimism as crucial hiring period looms

Equipped with a proven general manager and a potential franchise quarterback, this represents the most promising point on the Browns’ timeline in more than a decade.

General manager John Dorsey’s rookie contingent led the way in stalling the Falcons’ momentum in Week 10, providing a glimpse of what may lie ahead. The best Browns players have yet to hit their primes. With the post-LeBron James Cavaliers trapped in between eras and the Indians a cut below the American League’s other powers, the Browns may have Cleveland's best long-term outlook – a stunning place for a franchise that, since respawning, has submitted a rock-solid Mt. Rushmore futility case.

Of the teams set to look for head coaches next year, the Browns possess the on-field situation that may be the most compelling for potential sideline bosses. In comparison, the Jets have cap space and a possible franchise passer, but the Browns’ roster has more talent. Denver's roster outflanks Cleveland's; it’s just older and lacking a quarterback plan. The Buccaneers’ QB issue overshadows their situation. Other franchises will fire coaches, but the teams certain to be involved in Black Monday (or earlier) headlines don’t have what the Browns do.

However, Cleveland is caught in a strange place. While the on-field product has been mostly a disaster from the outlier 2002 playoff season until recently, owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have overseen diverse dysfunction since acquiring the team in 2012.

So this coaching hire may be the Browns’ most important since they rebooted because despite Dorsey, Baker Mayfield, Myles Garrett and Co. presenting an enticing situation, selling this new era to up-and-coming coaches will be difficult. Given the chaos during the Haslams’ ownership run, how attractive will this head coaching job be?

Current ownership has fired four head coaches in less than six years, the second of which (Rob Chudzinski, 2013) generated in-house player backlash, and high-profile staff in-fighting has ensued throughout the Haslams’ tenure. Hue Jackson vs. Todd Haley was merely the latest example. The Browns failing to finish with a .500 record in each of the past 10 seasons played an obvious role in the perpetual discord, but Jimmy Haslam’s past hands-on approach in personnel matters should be the bigger red flag to prospective coaching candidates.

Owners overreaching is a troublesome sign. The Cowboys’ (by-design) issues on this front are finally receiving mainstream attention. But they were at least smart enough to stay away from Johnny Manziel; Jimmy Haslam played a role in bringing the spectacular bust to Ohio. This came months after he fired both CEO Joe Banner and general manager Mike Lombardi after hiring a new coach, sticking subsequent GM Ray Farmer with a coach he didn’t choose. Said coach (Mike Pettine) was not exactly the team’s first choice; other candidates withdrew their names during a lengthy 2014 search.

Jackson, though, was a sought-after leader. His historic tenure — marred partially by Haslam assembling a front office historically light on football experience and one responsible for the Browns infamously trading out of the Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson draft slots — may have further lessened the appeal of this job.

Prior to Haley's midseason exit, the Browns also fired John DeFilippo, a 2019 head coaching candidate, from his one-year post as offensive coordinator after the 2015 season. Previous OC Kyle Shanahan bolted after one season. The issues with general managers and head coaches overshadowed these developments, but when the Browns desperately seek an offensive mind in a few weeks, recent issues surrounding this role shouldn’t be dismissed.

Last year, Haslam was poking around about why the Browns weren’t considering a quarterback at No. 1 overall; Mitch Trubisky was connected to the Browns before the 2017 draft. Right or wrong, owners interfering in high-stakes personnel decisions is a slippery slope.

Dorsey’s reportedly been given assurances he’ll be the point man in identifying the Browns’ next coach. If he’s permitted to run the search without interference, Cleveland increases its chances of assembling a staff that will help Mayfield ascend.

The GM will be responsible for the helping the Browns shake this unstable reputation. The likes of Lincoln Riley, Iowa State coach (and Ohio native) Matt Campbell or even Cleveland-area product Josh McDaniels — who was involved in a Browns coaching search four years ago — will need to be thoroughly convinced tghat the owners will improve. But right now the coaching world isn’t high on the Haslams, with good reason.

An ownership problem may be a team's toughest issue to surmount as seen in other sports. Despite immense advantages over small-market franchises, James Dolan has made the Knicks a joke for most of this century. Nearby, the Wilpons’ Mets meddling put that franchise on a similar path. 

Older Clevelanders can recall the bizarre Ted Stepien Cavs years and Dan Gilbert played a big role in the current Cavs' predicament by trading Kyrie Irving for scraps and seeing LeBron leave again. Owners who skipped town — once a rather notable Cleveland sequence — may be rightfully vilified, but overseers who repeatedly hold teams back can inflict decades-long damage.

The Haslams have an opportunity to correct some of their mistakes, if it’s not too late. If this doesn’t happen, the Browns-generated optimism in Cleveland won't lead to anything relevant.

Their past choices certainly made matters worse, but adding Dorsey was a borderline coup for a team that hasn’t been the top choice for outside coaches or executives. As GM in Kansas City, Dorsey found repeated gems who are guiding the Chiefs to a possible home-field advantage perch, and his Mayfield-, Denzel Ward- and Nick Chubb-fronted Browns draft class will be a big part of the conversations during upcoming interviews.  

It’s not a lock that Mayfield will pan out. Even after his “dangerous” Sunday, he’s 26th in QBR. He’s the centerpiece of any Browns pitch, however, and he needs the right coach to lift him to the NFL’s upper echelon and thus elevate the Browns to a place they haven’t been since Marty Schottenheimer’s tenure.

As this year’s top Super Bowl contenders are illustrating, coaching (particularly on offense) has never been more important in the NFL. This makes the process the Browns are about to navigate fascinating.

Observing how coaches perceive the long poorly run team – but one now armed with potential on the field and in the front office – will be one of the biggest stories of the 2019 hiring period.

Everything that’s happened in recent years will not make this an easy sell, but if the Browns can get out of their own way, their next hire could finally restore an upward trajectory.