A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
During the Christmas edition of Sunday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers methodically dusted off the Chicago Bears 35-21. That shouldn’t have really been that difficult a job to start; as Ian Darke might say on Premier League Soccer, the Bears roster is currently loaded with a collection of ‘Poets, Passers, and Dreamers…’
The Browns of Cleveland were embarrassed in their final game of the 2010 season by the hated Pittsburgh Steelers 41-9 on January 2nd. On January 3rd the Browns fired head coach Eric Mangini after a much maligned two-year stint that featured a 1-11 start last year, flashes of good play this year, and a struggle down the stretch to end up 5-11.
The rumors immediately started swirling. Many thought it was obvious that Mike Holmgren would come down from the front office and take over the sidelines for the Browns. Others thought maybe John Gruden would return to Ohio and coach the team. There were rumblings of big name coordinators such as Marty Mornhinweg in Philadelphia and Mike Mularkey in Atlanta.
Well, the rumors are done and now Cleveland has it’s man.
And it’s….drumroll please…
Pat Shurmur!
(Note: I almost put Paul as his first name at first…I hope this isn’t a sign of anything).
The beginning of the NFL season is nearly upon us. The first week is the only time that every squad is undefeated — including the Lions and Rams. That should last for a good few hours.
The Browns, however, are no longer in the same discussion with the Lions and Rams.
Cleveland has completely redone the look of their team during the offseason. The main addition was adding Mike Holmgren as basically the head of anything football related. He is not the head coach (yet), but if the team doesn’t preform, he might be seen on the sideline again.
Breaking out all across Twitter right now is news that new Browns football czar Mike Holmgren has informed Eric Mangini that he will return with the team next season. His staff, probably with some tweaks, will return as well.
From Adam Schefter’s Twitter page:
Filed to ESPN: Mike Holmgren informed Eric Mangini and his full staff they will return to work in 2010 – then said, Let’s get to work.
There might be some tweaking to Browns staff, like there is on any staff, but Mike Holmgren told full staff they would return.
And a major hat tip to Mark Schlereth, whose tweet (which I initially doubted) alerted me to the growing chatter that Holmgren was keeping Mangini.
Last night, already in a sour mood because my Indiana Hoosiers were getting their doors blown off in Columbus, I read this article from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
The jist? The Cleveland Browns, in their infinite wisdom (you know, the same wisdom that has guided them to so many winning seasons since rejoining the league in 1999…), have decided that it is fair and reasonable to offer Josh Cribbs significantly less money than Andre Davis and Roscoe Parrish make per year.
Maybe it was the fact that I was watching IU play like crap when I read the article, but for whatever reason I immediately thought about the infamous secretly taped Bob Knight locker room speech that most of you have probably heard by now.
There is one particular statement by Coach Knight that perfectly sums up my feelings about how the Browns are handling Josh Cribbs’ contract situation.
Just came across Mike Florio’s recent 10-Pack at SportingNews.com.
In this week’s edition he analyzes the ten immediate actions that Mike Holmgren should take in his effort to turn around the Browns. While most of the suggestions are fairly solid and well-reasoned (especially the “Pay Josh Cribbs” one!), this one almost made me fall out of my chair:
Under the heading “Hire Mangini’s Replacement” Florida writes the following:
One obvious candidate is Jim Mora, who might be out in Seattle, depending on who the team’s next general manager is.
If Holmgren hopes to have an active role in the Xs and Os, Jim Zorn makes sense, too. He has experience in the top job, and he’d surely defer to any guidance or suggestions Holmgren might make.
Of course, if Holmgren really wants to get involved, he can coach the team himself, something he has not yet ruled out.
Yes, like many other Browns fans reading this, I threw up a little bit in my mouth when I read that.
What a difference a couple of weeks (and wins) can make.
Sitting at 1-11, the conventional wisdom was that Eric Mangini was basically coaching out the string, essentially a placeholder for whoever the Browns future “football czar” were to choose to be the new head coach.
After two straight victories – importantly, one of them against arch-nemesis Pittsburgh – two of the most influential voices in Browns Nation have now publicly pledged their support for Mangini.
None other than Joshua Cribbs and Jim Brown.
Thirteen days before the beginning of a new decade, the Cleveland Browns await the decision that could very well dictate just how fruitful said decade will be.
Mike Holmgren, who met with Browns’ brass earlier this week, is expected to announce today whether or not he will accept Randy Lerner’s offer to become the head of the Browns’ football operations.
With Seattle apparently not wanting Holmgren back – or least not publicly showing any signs of wanting him back – and Washington announcing the hiring of Bruce Allen, it is expected that Holmgren will accept the daunting task of turning the Cleveland Browns into a winning franchise again.
In this week’s “I’ll Tell You This” I jump into the realm of the Sports Rumor Mill. Take a look and brew up some comments or rumors of your own!
1. Tony Dungy to Return to Coaching?
Recent rumors have placed Tony Dungy back at the helm of the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers as early as next season. Tampa Bay is 0-5, and has shown no signs of life this season, and its coach, Raheem Morris, is no doubt on the hot seat.
There seemingly will be a change in Tampa in the next couple of years, if not before.
I’ll Tell You This:
