The Buckeyes March Forecast: Cloudy
February 22, 2012Plain Dealer’s Doug Lesmerises Named Among AP’s Top Beat Writers
February 22, 2012Prior to the Cleveland Browns front office frantically typing “Indianapolis, IN” into their Garmin Nuvi, head coach Pat Shurmur took a few minutes with the local media to discuss what the next few days of the NFL combine could provide.
With the team rumored to be in the mix for quarterback Robert Griffin III, running back Trent Richardson and a litany of other impact players, Shurmur was quick to dismiss the notion that the team has decided on any one player with whom they would select with their fourth-overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
“I think what happens is, there’s a lot that gets said and written at this time and it’s very interesting to everyone,” Shurmur stated. “Folks are making predictions while we’re still gathering information. That’s the important part. That’s the exciting thing about the Combine.”
When not discussing would-be draftees, Shurmur gave another vote of confidence for the team’s current quarterback Colt McCoy, stating that, with work, the former Longhorn could be the player to help the Cleveland Browns win football games. Fully recovered from the concussion that derailed the end of his season, McCoy is ready for his first full offseason with the ability to contact his team.
The Browns have yet to meet Griffin III who has recently decided to switch his pro day to the day before likely first-overall selection in quarterback Andrew Luck. The two were originally slated to work out on the same day.
[Related: NFL Free Agency: The Browns and the cost of franchising]
23 Comments
What’s this? The media are engaging in unfounded speculation? Wow, I hope Shurmur can back up a charge like that.
BTW, there’s a new Don Banks SI mock draft out. I’m surprised we haven’t bludgeoned that thing to a pulp yet.
This is completely true. I mean, they haven’t even held their pro days yet. But, its the NFL and we are starving for it, so the speculation, while pretty unfounded, is fun and to be expected.
He has dared to speak. So, c’mon, whacha waiting for:
Bring .The. Hate.
wait till folks realize that he said he will still be calling plays (and consulting with Childress who will be in the booth)
That’s easily the worst news of the day. If he wants to call plays so badly, they should make Childress the coach and let Shurmur be the OC
I thought Bob LaMonte was calling the shots here . . .
Whoop! There it is!
Ask, and you shall receive!
https://waitingfornextyear.com/2012/02/
Here we go! I wonder what people will say . . .
I think it’s much ado about nothing personally. They will both have so much input into the gameplan during the week and it frees up Childress to focus on the opposing defense during the game. And, Colt (or whoever our QB is) should have enough audibles to get out or in whatever is best for that setting anyways.
Calling the plays themselves I think is one of the more over-rated portions of the game.
“Fully recovered from the concussion that derailed the end of his season,
McCoy is ready for his first full offseason with the ability to contact
his team.”
This has to be the dumbest sentence I’ve read in a long, long time. Didn’t he have the ability to “contact his team” all season long? That was 16-20 weeks of “contact.” What in the world are you talking about?
“Calling the plays themselves I think is one of the more over-rated portions of the game.” Tell that to Sean Payton during half-time of the Super Bowl a few years ago before he called the onside kick play.
But yeah, sure, calling plays is fluff.
I’m curious; if calling plays is not important, what is important for a coach to do on the sidelines? It can’t be “monitor the health of my players” because apparently everyone missed the hit heard round the world on Colt. And, it can’t be knowing how many players need to be on the field for a punt. And, finally, it can’t be knowing if your third-string TE will get a handoff at the goal line when he’s never received one previously.
So, what is important?
I wish we could Andrew Luck to be LaMonte’s client. Then he’d be ours for sure.
that makes absolutely no sense. how does an onside kick have anything to do with offensive play-calling duties? that is game management in my book.
ST plays are almost always the call of the HC (go for 1 or 2, punt or go for it, onside kick, etc.)
yes, the HC needs to manage the game, the TOs, the challenges, ST-plays, etc. In a good system, he can delegate some of the more menial tasks (player substitutions, injuries, etc.).
And yes, Shurmur needs work on his game management skills. Not sure why you don’t think he’s capable of improving though.
all it says is that it is his first “offseason” where he has full contact with the team. nothing more, nothing less.
I will delve deeper though and indicate that it’s an important time for a player to be learning the intracacies of the offense without being under the gun of preparing for a game that week.
How is calling a play not play calling? An onside kick is a play; Payton was even asked afterwards and he had the stones to say that he CALLED THE PLAY. It’s play calling. Christ this isn’t that hard.
Why can’t he improve? Because he has shown no signs of improvement during 16 regular NFL season weeks. He made bonehead mistakes all year long.
What did Descartes say? “It is prudent never to trust wholly that which has once deceived you.”
He had his first on-season to speak with every guy on the team. Every other team in the NFL had the same “under the gun” mentality this season and some even had a rookie coach…like San Fran…and look how they did.
so, you think if Shurmur gave up “play-calling” duties, you would expect Childress to call for onside kicks and such?
and look what happened in St.L w/o Shurmur
round and round we go 🙂
yeah cuz the Browns roster is even close to as talent laden with 1st and 2nd round picks like the Niners were.. by all accounts it takes a year or 2 for QBs to fully grasp the nuances of the WCO as well as building a rapport with the receivers. the lack of offseason certainly hindered that learning process. if they stick with Colt, it seems fairly reasonable to assume we should see progression from Colt as well as the recievers this time around, with hopefully some reinforcements with Steinbach getting back, and adding a #1 receiver.
Well, I’d expect him to be a professional and know how many players are supposed to be on the field, and not to hand it off to Alex Smith, etc. Would he call onside kicks? I don’t know. But, I do know that a competent coach (like Payton) knows what to do in every situation and is rarely without answer.
At this point, I’d let the computerized Madden play-caller suggester machine call our plays over Shurmur.
OMG, you’re comparing the 29th ranked offense with St. Louis’ record this year as your “proof” of your argument? Holy crap, be my guest.
“This has to be the dumbest sentence I’ve read in a long, long time.”
So you don’t proofread?
loved reading this exchange on my iphone. you guys faded into one letter per line nothingness.