Cavaliers Preview Game #30
December 30, 2008While We’re Waiting…
December 31, 2008Don’t count on it. Besides Cowher, I can’t think of many coaches I would rather see in Cleveland…but it isn’t going to happen. Mike Shanahan has been the Broncos head coach for 14 years. He won two Super Bowl titles there and had the Broncos in the playoffs seemingly every year. He has had a parade of thousand yard rushers and decent defenses. He is exactly the coach the Browns need…and won’t get.
I can’t imagine that Shanahan will be patrolling any sideline in 2009. I figure he will step away from the game for at least a season and weigh his options. He will be in high demand for NFL shows, and jobs will still be open next season if he chooses to coach again. Sorry to throw cold water on the celebration, I’m just trying to be realistic.
Shanahan out in Denver (NFL.com)
25 Comments
I call shenanigans Rick. Mark Schlereth said on ESPN tonight that Shanahan plans on coaching next year. Just as long as someone wants to give him a shot. He loves it, and would be better off in a situation where he didn’t have total control. He was a great coach in Denver when he wasn’t doing everything. He was just a good coach when he was doing everything. I’d love to see him over Mangina, that’s for sure.
I think Shanahan will be coaching somewhere in ’09, but I’m pretty certain it won’t be Cleveland.
I second the motion of taking him if he does want to come here though… we could use someone with a proven track record instead of being the town where rookie head coaches come to die.
This year will be tough enough to find a decent coach let alone a coach and GM. That’s not even counting the fact that the Browns organization has been exposed as the dysfunctional family Romeo created. Thanks fatty. Instead of eagerly awaiting our next duo, I feel more like a 7yr old watching a horror flick.
So Lerner better open his checkbook because you’re not selling based on tradition and potential, you’re selling an Exxon Valdez sized mess. If Shanahan does indeed want to coach next year, I’d find it hard to believe he would end up here…even though I would love to see him roaming our sidelines.
We hear all about these other coaches that got fired and are already in the process of interviewing…where are Romeo’s? Actually, we all know the outcome here. He’ll drop 250lbs, get a HC job somewhere and win a SB title in 2yrs. That would be our luck. Or he’ll just eat his agent and call it a day.
Shanahan would be a great fit in Cleveland as long as a good GM candidate was selected with him. He’s fallen down the last couple of years while he’s had total control, but put him back in a structured environment and he can get back to success. His system of run-blocking and basically plug and play running backs would be great in the grind it out North, and bringing in a guy with his resume would give instant stability and credibility to a franchise that currently lacks both.
I was disappointed that Cowher didn’t even want to talk about the Browns, but if he was option 1, Shanahan has to be option 1B.
I agree. This lofts Shanahan to the top of my wishlist. We still need a GM, but his ability to do a lot with little has me intrigued….
Don Banks is writing that he things Pioli and Cleveland will interview and most likely sign a contract by the end of the week. Not sure on his past accuracy, but he seems pretty confident.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/don_banks/12/30/pioli/index.html?eref=T1
Could he and Shanahan be a good fit? Who knows.
I first saw the news and thought immediately of shanahan and romeo roaming the browns sidelines next year. I think this would be next to ideal for the browns, because hes not a belichick descendant and he has a track record. If I were Mr Lerner I would have these two options:
1a. Getting Bill Parcells to run as VP of football operations, such as he did in Miami, and trust he will put a staff around.
1b. Get Pioli as the GM and get Shanahan to follow.
1c. Quit talking to any ex Patriot coach. that mean Mangini and their OC.
Go get Shanahan NOW-throw money at him. He’s a proven experienced winner, and would command immediate respect. Nobody better to pair up with Brady Quinn than Mike Shanahan. This is a no-brainer.
Very disconcerting to ready Mary Kay Cabot reporting that a guy like Eric Mangini fit’s the “Browns profile”. Mangini has proven nothing other than he’s yet another losing leaf off the Belichick tree, he couldn’t even get a wildcard berth for the Jets with the addition of Favre. He’s also fat, out of shape, has zero personality and zero passion in demeanoer on the sidelines (that directly from the NY reporters). It’s also disconcerting to read that Pioli’s coaching candidates are all ROOKIES (McDaniels, Ferentz, and a loser like Mangini). The real GM/Executive pick is Rich McKay-a class act with true WINING EXPERIENCE at his role.
Why is everyone talking about hiring coaches before getting a GM in place?
More importantly, why is Randy setting up interviews with Mangini and others before taking care of the GM spot.
Had he learned nothing over the past four years? I mean, it worked out so well the last time, right? God forbid he look at what successful organizations like NE, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis do and try to follow their lead.
What a joke he’s turning this organization in to. Maybe Brad Quinn and Joe Thomas can hold the next press conference to announce the hiring of the new coach, too.
I would much prefer McKay to Pioli…Proven track record.
Seems like everyone who has left New England has failed (Weiss, Mangini, and their old D-coordinator…can’t remember his name…heavy-set black guy…real nice guy…anyway)
I’m not blaming these people, just saying that maybe Belicheck has a tighter hold on things than anyone knows, and others get the credit, when it’s all him??
McKay wouldn’t be tied to McDaniels or Mangini or Frentz. Maybe McKay as GM and Shannahan as coach?!
This from today’s Boston Herald: (if it’s Pioli and he brings in a lame Kirk Ferentz my season tickets are on the block).
Cleveland Browns all in for Scott Pioli
Make ‘huge’ play for Pats’ VP
By Ron Borges
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 – Added 10h ago
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Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner isn’t prepared to be turned down a second time in his quest to find a savior for his football franchise, according to a league source familiar with his effort to hire Patriots [team stats] executive vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli.
According to the source, Lerner was not pleased when former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher spurned his advances so he is prepared to make what was described as “a huge” financial offer to Pioli. The offer would include not only millions but, more importantly, full control of the organization and the funds necessary to bring in Pioli’s first choice as head coach, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, or perhaps his longtime friend Eric Mangini.
Although it has been widely speculated Pioli might try to create a package deal that would include Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as his head coach, that is not the case, according to several league sources.
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Pioli favors Ferentz, with whom he first worked under Bill Belichick when both were with the Browns 15 years ago, with Mangini as a possible fallback choice. Lerner reportedly is meeting with Mangini and Pioli separately in New York.
Ferentz survived the franchise’s move to Baltimore and was the Ravens assistant head coach/offensive line coach before leaving for Iowa in 1998. He was twice in Foxboro this year, according to another league source familiar with the Patriots’ business, including a one-on-one meeting with Pioli.
Ferentz began his career at the University of Connecticut and later coached at Worcester Academy and was the head coach at Maine before leaving for the NFL. He has had success rebuilding Iowa’s program but has suffered through several down years that put him under fire from disgruntled alumni entering this season. The Hawkeyes went 8-4 and will face South Carolina tomorrow in the Outback Bowl, an improvement on 2007’s 6-6 season.
Pioli also reportedly is on the short list in Kansas City but does not appear to be the leading candidate of owner Clint Hunt, son of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt, who died earlier this year. Hunt reportedly is on the lookout for a young and less-well-known front office executive like Thomas Dimitroff, who left the Patriots personnel department a year ago and transformed the luckless Atlanta Falcons into a playoff team in one year.
Hunt is searching for someone willing to work with club president and salary cap guru Denny Thum. Thum has been with the Chiefs for 34 years and was recently installed as team president and COO to replace departed Carl Peterson. Although Thum would not have final say over football matters, it is likely Hunt would insist he be in the mix when decisions are made, a scenario that is not believed to be to Pioli’s liking.
As hot a commodity as Pioli is at the moment, his situation may boil down to Cleveland or nothing. With Thum in place in Kansas City and Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew having been given promotions in Detroit despite an 0-16 season, there really is only one job out there that would fulfill his desire to be in full control of football operations.
Considering Lerner is willing to do it and willing to allow Ferentz or Mangini to come in as head coach, it would appear Pioli ends up in Cleveland or back in Foxboro in short order unless the firing of Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan impacts his situation.
Shanahan was a surprise victim yesterday, being fired after 14 years with the Broncos. That opens up both another head coaching job and a director of football operations position. Shanahan was one of the last of a breed of head coaches wearing both hats after chasing out longtime general manager Ted Sundquist a year ago. He also had fired five defensive coordinators in the decade since he won his last Super Bowl in 1999. However, it was Shanahan’s refusal to fire present defensive coordinator Bon Slowik yesterday that led Broncos owner Pat Bowlen to terminate his head coach.
Before nightfall, Pioli’s name already had surfaced as a possible candidate to take over the football operation in Denver, although Bowlen has yet to make a move in that direction.
(5) Comments | Post / Read Comments
Bob Slowik?!! He was the DC here in ’99! Why wouldn’t Shanahan fire him, they were AWFUL on defense, even worse than we were.
I like the idea of Shanahan as a HC w/o GM powers, but have no idea why we would even talk to him until we get a GM in here.
We all know what’s going to happen to the Browns. Rookie head coach, rookie GM. They’re not smart enough to get experience in there, and Browns aren’t as lucky as the Ravens to win with rookies on the head set.
Shanahan is a great coach when he has John Elway
He is middle of the pack when he has anyone else
He will be run out of town with Derek Anderson
Shanahan has won one playoff game in the last 10 years, and his superbowls came giftwrapped complements of Terrel Davis and John Elway.
People are remembering what he did years ago, not recently. The running game hasn’t been much to write home about since their offensive line coach went to Atlanta.
I’ll pass, thanks.
Shanahan has had a good running gamae always. this year might be the only exception, but he was down to the 7th or 8th RB (no joke there). I dont know much about Mckay, but the more information I get, I am starting to like him too. I just dont want to see all these people connected with bellicheck running tihs organization. Can anyone name one descendant from him that has won the next place they went? Plus we just got off an episode from one of their guys. Right now Lerner needs to take his time and not rush into things. there are bigger fish in the sea that the browns can get if they are patient.
I was going to say the same thing… once Denver lost the o-line coach, they haven’t been nearly as good. He’s still a great offensive mind, and even when they don’t seem to have a lot of talent they’re always competitive, but they just haven’t been the same since the o-line guy left.
That said, I’d still take him over Mangini, McDaniels, and ESPECIALLY Ferentz. I don’t know why–for the life of me–KF’s name always gets tossed out when the Browns have a head coaching vacancy.
Over the past 4 years the Browns had over 1800 yards rushing once, that was in 2007 (1895 yards). Over the same time span, the Broncos DIDNT get to 1900 yards only once, that being this year, when they were down to RB #7. They did break 2000 yards 2 times, and 2500 yards once. So to say that shanahan hasnt had a running game would be absolutely and completely wrong. The thing holding the Broncos back was their Defense, and since Shanahan would only be HC in cleveland, then we could hope that their is someone who would actually bring guys in to make the D better.
Watching SportsCenter right now, and Tom Jackson just said the “Broncos look like they needed a fire lit under them in their last game.”
That sounds exactly like what we need, hehehe.
Here’s a concern about Shanahan as a GM- remember the year they basically grabbed all of our d-linemen? Our unit sucked, and they decided to give them a shot…didn’t work out so well for them. Not the best personnel move I’ve ever seen.
if we get Shannahan…….
Starting at Running Back for your 2011 Cleveland Browns…… Maurice Clarrett!!
danny, if that happens.. I think we’re all going to have to “get our goose on”
[…] Don’t count on ex-Broncos coach Mike Shanahan becoming the next head coach, either. […]
if we hire shanahan, we HAVE to draft beanie wells
if we are going to put any old rookie HC in place how about Chuck Kyle?