Bradley Beal: I’m Trying to Develop into a Combo Guard
June 5, 2012Browns begin mini-camp; all players in attendance
June 5, 2012Of all the people in Berea with something to prove to the totality of Browns fans, Pat Shurmur might very well top the list. Even with all the built in excuses and whether or not you care to take them into account, it is undeniable that Pat Shurmur hasn’t proven much yet. He appears to have the respect of his players. He seems to have the backing of his bosses Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert. Owner Randy Lerner still has his back as well, but this is the NFL. Even as Pat Shurmur was hand-picked by Mike Holmgren, another year of football like what we saw last year and those excuses that Holmgren was making on his behalf this off-season will be bullet points for why changes were necessary.
I am not one to bash a head coach in his first year with all the moving pieces and parts from a year ago. Even the things that I was counting on being in place seemed to break down. I think any coach would have struggled under the weight of the injuries the Browns experienced last season. Certainly, I was leading the charge amongst those who were skeptical about going into the season without an offensive coordinator. Shurmur also paid the price for many instances that I thought should have been handled above his pay grade, from the Peyton Hillis situation to the Colt McCoy concussion situation. In a lot of ways, I thought as much as Shurmur looked like a rookie head coach, he was also hung out to dry by his front office.
That was last year. Ryan Pontbriand is gone. Peyton Hillis is too. Brad Childress has been hired. Two offensive first-round picks have been dropped in the lap of an offensive-minded coach who is coming into his second year without any lockouts or labor strife with the players. Even with a high profile injury to Phil Taylor already on the books, there’s no way to say that the Browns shouldn’t be much further along than they were this time a year ago. They’ve had another draft and free agency to add their kinds of players to the pile. Even a question mark at the QB position isn’t looming as an excuse in the coach’s favor as he has plenty of time to work with all the guys and pick the best one that gives them a chance to win games and stay organized on offense.
That, more than anything else, is what I’ll be looking for this season. If the Browns fail to execute and score points, that’s one thing. Failing to score or execute in the red zone isn’t always the fault of coaching. It all depends on what it looks like and if they appear organized. I’ll be really concerned if they don’t control the tempo on offense. If the snap counts aren’t mixed up or if the plays are in danger of the expiring play clock all season long it will be telling.
It is impossible to say statistically what “good enough” looks like. Wins and losses are obviously the ultimate test, but anyone who watched every game last season knows that it goes a little bit deeper than just wins and losses. Regardless of the poor record, too often a year ago the team seemed unsure on offense. They lacked ability and talent, which weren’t the coach’s fault, but they also had lapses in just looking prepared and ready.
Even more than wins and losses, I’ll be looking for that this season from the Browns regardless of who is playing what position. That’s the burden of proof facing Pat Shurmur this year. Between the upgrades in coaching and player personnel it should be within his grasp. Of course if it resulted in wins it would be a whole lot easier for everyone.
(AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
55 Comments
CLOCK MANAGEMENT! If you cannot handle it, pay somone 3-5K a game to stand on sidelines and advise you on the clock. Shurmur sucks at this. Don’t take timeouts into half if you could have made the other team punt. Too many things could happen.
Spot on. Organization is his responsibility and no one else. We saw the lack of it during Week 1 when the Bengals sneaked in with that stupid TD when we weren’t ready and cost us a win. It’s like that play set a tone for the rest of the season. Those things can be fixed immediately.
“I am not one to bash a head coach in his first year with all the moving pieces and parts from a year ago.”
Craig, how do you respond to the point that every other coach in the NFL had to deal with the same 2011/2012 off-season? To go further, here is a list of all the rookie coaches from last year and their records, etc.:
1. Jim Harbaugh (49ers) – 13-3
2. Mike Munchak (Titans) – 9-7
3. John Fox (Broncos) – 8-8
4. Rob Rivera (Panthers) – 6-10
5. Pat Shurmur – 4-12
Panthers had a new QB. Titans had the Chris Johnson disaster. 49ers were coming off a terrible season. Broncos had the Tebow “thing.”
The Browns? Well, I guess we had the Hillis “problems” but I wonder how much of that was his fault and how much was the Browns FO’s fault.
I think the obvious point here is that given the EXACT same set of circumstances 3 out of 5 rookie coaches had winning seasons or .500 seasons. One had a very good season but lost some games towards the end, and one coach did poorly all the way throughout the 2011 season.
How can you explain that without being confident that he is a screw up? He may not be that way forever and ever amen, but…how does that phrase about first impressions go?
Yes, they can. Of course, that is provided the individual responsible for them is (1) capable of fixing them and (2) willing to admit the errors. Remember what Shurmur did after week 1? He started questioning the legitimacy of the play itself, saying that it might be illegal.
Every situation is different. John Fox wasn’t a rookie, that’s for sure. What I can say is that I think Pat Shurmur could have done better even given the uphill battle.
And he better do better this year.
Huge year to convince his bosses he is HC material. Heckert is too smart to risk his future, and Holmgren is too proud to risk his legacy, by riding a coach long-term if it appears he just doesn’t have it.
Totally agree on what the symptoms would be: aother year of on-field disorganization in its various forms, like clock management, game situation awareness, personnel packages, and brainfart penalties like 12 men, or when WRs line up offsides and forget snap counts on running plays. Most of this work is done before September, so Shurmur’s time is right now. With all the experience now on staff, hard to believe H & H can risk riding him into a third year if execution is such a mess again. The screaming for his head would be deafening, and they can’t blame the players after their third draft.
The best question is why do you ask questions to which you don’t want to hear any answers but your own?
Anywho John Fox wasn’t a rookie head coach, he’s one of the best in the biz.
Regardless of what you think SF was a very talented team, that had underperformed under Singletary. No question Harbaugh coached’em up something special but his win total simply isn’t precient when comparing to Shurmur because the talent gap on the two teams is so different.
Mike Munchak has been with the Titans/Oilers his entire professional career. You simply can’t make a case that Munch taking over for Fisher, and knowing all the players knowing the organization inside and out is the same as Shurmur coming to Cleveland.
The only one on the list that compares fairly is Ron Rivera. Had Shurmur won two more games would you be off his case? Answer honestly. Had the Browns had the opportunity to play Tampa Bay 2x’s in the last month of the season (as Carolina did) when they had absolutely quit they may have won 2 more games. And why don’t you spend some time fact checking before popping off. Carolina didn’t “lose some games towards the end” In fact half their win total came in the last 6 weeks as they got Indy and the afformentioned Bucs. The even had a nice win against the TJ Yates Texans. So now are you going to switch your story and spin it that Rivera rallied the troops to wins in the second half of the season?
You don’t have to absolve Shurmur of his obvious failures to also acknowledge that he was facing probably the toughest situation in the league as a new coach.
I find the: “But he didn’t have an off season” argument pretty weak. Pat had an entire season to improve as a COACH and I didn’t see much improvement. What gives us hope that his second season will be that much better? You’ll tell me that Brad Childress is the answer, right? That would be great but I really don’t know what his true role is. It seems that Pat will still be calling the plays on Sunday with Childress helping during the week and suggesting plays during the game (whatever good that will do). I fear another year of blunders.
Excuse me? Hear only answers of my own? I take facts and draw the logical conclusions. The Group-Think “Give the Browns more time” ideology has done what, precisely?
If the Browns had blundered into 8 wins by sheer luck I wouldn’t be happy. It would belie their true form, which is a pathetic team run by an even more pathetic coach. He appeared outclassed and out-prepared nearly every week.
I like how you easily write off the 9ers because they “underperformed.” Oh, really? Were you there at practice for both coaches? Did you interview the players? What are you basing this on, besides the change in record?
If not, then isn’t it just as likely that the appearance of a smart, tough coach who utilizes his players’ skills instead of trying to shoehorn them into some grand scheme was the determining factor? And, likewise, isn’t the opposite perhaps true, here?
Who’s the one only looking for answers of his own making?
Oh, and don’t get me started on the “toughest situation in the league” nonsense. Hehr Doktor Professor Holmgren hired Pat knowing full well what he would be walking into. He is either a fool or he felt that Shurmur could handle ALL of the issues/drama and still come out on top.
Which one is it?
In this instance rookie coach == first year with team. I was hoping you’d make that leap.
If you replace “could” with “should” in that sentence, I’ll agree. Just click the edit button.
I give you credit for persistence especially with some of the people who are color blind when it comes to the football team in this town. They only see brown and orange regardless of the crap they see put on the field. Do these people watch other NFL teams or is all they know coming from the putrid professional football they’ve been given since 1999? If it’s the latter it would explain alot.
If there is a team in town who should be averaging 15,000 in attendance it’s them but it won’t happen.
I have been saying since the end of last season it’s time for the excuses to end with this football team. It’s time they were held accountable for the decisions and choices they have made that haven’t resulted in squat. I wanna see what this team does this season. Frankly I’m hoping for an improvement just to put an end to all of this back and forth over a substandard team. Of course the slightest improvement will only send those same color blind followers into a froth so no matter what it’ll never end.
If you werent so incessantly negative then some of your thoughts might be taken seriously. we all watch the same games so it just depends on whether you are a negative person (you) or a positive person (not you)
I hear you, I really do. I think (hope) it comes from a good place. I hope it comes from a place of ultimate belief in their team and a desire to win.
I worry that it comes from an irrational trust/blind faith area that certain fans never matured from.
As I told mgbode, as far as the Browns are concerned, I hope they win every game and I lose every bet.
I just don’t see it happening this year.
It also depends on how you view negativity. If you consider their “performance” under Shurmur, what exactly is there to be positive about?
If you find something let me know.
And if you don’t (which you won’t) you might just get why I won’t feign positivism about a team.
He can be incessantly negative because the Browns are incessantly bad. When they prove us wrong, we’ll shut up.
I agree with you Craig. I wont be looking so much at wins and losses this season as much as I will be at the team’s ability to perform as a unit. Are we running the offense with a good cadence? Are we constantly burning timeouts or getting delay penalties due to substitution/personnel/organization issues? Does the offense break the huddle crisply, get to the line and dictate the tempo of the game?
Here is the one thing I don’t want to see AT ALL this season: A Browns QB staring at the sidelines, arms extended from his side, palms up in the air, in the obvious “Huh?” or “What” or “I dont hear/understand you” stance that was perfected by Derek Anderson.
They could go 5-11, but if they look like a real professional team out there, with uniforms and everything (h/t Jake Taylor), then I’ll consider it progress.
That is where I am concerned too. I think the idea that Pat would have less responsibility with play calling now that there is an OC and he can focus more on all that stuff like clock management would make me feel better if we knew who was calling the plays. But after hiring Childress they came out and said Pat would still be calling plays. So what then is Childress supposed to be doing? And is what he is doing going to help Pat so much that he can figure out how to fix the blunders we made last season where he looked completely in over his head? I don’t know. I sure hope so though.
oribiasi, are you a fan of the browns? I have come to this site on and off for awhile. I live far away from Ohio and am not into maybe the negative culture you seem to be feeding off of down there. But man you always having some sort of negative spin on everything. And when someone does call you on facts, ie you saying the Panthers lost games at the end, which was already shown to be incorrect, you just pop off on more negative and biased remarks without acknowledging your previous remarks were proved to be nonfactual. If you are wrong, say you are wrong before you spout off again with more “Shurmer sucks, Holmgren sucks, Heckert sucks, everyone who disagrees with me sucks and is an idiot”. Just chill out bro, it aint that serious.
I do think there is a burden of proof on not only Shurmer but the whole FO. They have hitched their wagon not only to him, but now to Weeden. I really like Weeden and I really really hope he is the guy for the next 7 years. I am so tired of all the QB questions every single offseason. How awesome would it be to finally have other things to worry about? I really think if the O-Line in reality improves as much as it did on paper, and T-Rich is as good as everyone except Jim Brown thinks he is, and Weeden can do his thing, we should see vast improvement on the field. It may not lead to a ton of wins yet, but I mostly want them to pass the eyesight test. Last year was brutal to watch on offense. Our defense was constantly coming back onto the field after a quick three and out and despite that, they held up pretty well. They should be a lot better if they can actually sit on the sideline, get some rest and watch the offense actually move in a forward direction.
This is the first time I am legitimately excited about the Browns season to start. Yes I wish we had done more in Free Agency to get a WR. But I still think with all the aforementioned reasons, we should be a lot better. And yes, for Pat Shurmer’s job security sake, we better be.
^5! I’m not even being greedy I’d settle for respectability on and off the field.
Amen brother, right on.
Thats my biggest problem with the team. Its not just that they’re bad, it’s that they’re so bad they don’t even stand a legit shot at winning most of the games they play in. If they showed progress and played competitively and just lost games on bad breaks at the wire, that would be one thing. Instead they are blown out by 3 or 4 scores at halftime, don’t even look like they belong in the same league, and then score a garbage time touchdown or two to bring the final score within 10 and people THINK we only lost by a bit. Thats the crap i hate…
I have always said that a true Browns fan shouldn’t spend a moment in Purgatory…that is, of course, assuming the church still believes that it exists.
The blind following will never end it just goes with the territory I gave up trying to “talk, discuss, debate” with those people long ago. I’ve run out of the desire to bang my head against the wall even if it’s just figuratively.
I’m not expecting much of anything next season. I fear that we’ll see more of the same with different names is all. The lone bright spot or hope that I have is Trent Richardson. The problem is, as I see it, is that because he’s the lone threat opponents will be all over him which means you need other rookies to step up and deliver. I have serious reservations on whether that can or will occur. Whether it’s those rookies abilities or the coaching that is supposed to be nurturing their abilities, I’m doubtful.
I’m hangin’ on by a shoe string myself I’ve already declared I’m not a fan of this team and I’ll stick to my guns. That doesn’t mean I don’t have some hope tucked away somewhere down deep that one day this organization might return to glory but for now I’d settle for respectability. I don’t think that is alot to expect or hope for is it?
Good god, I forgot that we hired Childress as OC. Does anybody see the irony here? This guy spent way too much time calling reverses for Percy Harvin and way not enough time handing the ball to the best back in the league, who, incidentally, has been the subject of comparison to our new #1 pick.
Nope people think he’ll be some kind of savior because of Holmgren obviously haven’t paid attention to what Childress has accomplished recently. They think that because they finally decided to get an OC that they got a good one. Wait. And this is what is supposed to be teaching Weeden, ugh.
You seem like a nice guy. I’d stay outside of Ohio if I were you.
Peterson did average 320 carries and 353 touches (including receptions) overall the last 3yrs under Childress.
He was on pace for 277 carries and 301 touches in his first year after Childress (both would have been career lows even if he didn’t get hurt)
thought it was weird that Chilly rode Peterson so much and seemed to back off in 2010. forgot he was fired after 10games (owner upset he cut Randy Moss).
2010 Peterson carries per game w/ Chilly = 21.1
2010 Peterson receptions per game w/ Chilly = 3.1
2010 Peterson carries per game w/o Chilly = 12
2010 Peterson receptions per game w/o Chilly = 0.83
——————–
Can we put to bed the rumor that Chilly doesn’t use his RBs?
He was definitely not an offensive genius with the Vikings. 2 years ranked 23rd in yardage, one ranked 17th, 13th, and 5th (that one was w/ Favre). Still, he was largely playing ball control and defense because he didn’t trust his QBs (winning 6,8,10, and 12 games his first 4 years there. Final year was fired after 3-7 start).
I’m done expecting the Browns to win… just give me something I can WATCH for chrissakes!
How do you hold a professional team accountable?
To expand a bit on this comment, the 49ers were 6-10 the year before Harbaugh arrived. The Titans were 6-10. The Broncos were 4-12. The Panthers were 2-14. The Browns were 5-11. So if you want to measure the impact each new head coach had, look at how their teams improved:
Harbaugh: +7
Fox: +4
Rivera: +4
Munchak: +3
Shurmur: -1
The Browns seem to have found the only new head coach who made his team worse. So while every situation is different, what seems to be different about the Browns is that they have a coaching staff and management organization that is incapable of improving the team, if you define “improvement” as “capable of winning more football games.” I realize some people have a different definition, but that’s what I’m going by. And at the end of the season I’ll judge Shurmur, Holmgren, Heckert and Lerner by the team’s won/loss record, and nothing else.
Stay out of Ohio? Why? You gonna beat me up or something? Once again you won’t admit to being shown that you mostly just run your mouth without checking facts, and then when you are shown the actual facts which disprove what you were saying, you refuse to respond to that and just move on to something else.
All I am saying is that there are some signs here that all may not be horrible and crappy for too much longer. The team filled the giant holes on the O-line (didn’t you advocate for Pashos to get the boot?), got a strong armed tall QB (pretty sure you piled on McCoy for being too small and weak armed), got some depth in the LBs, and got the best RB in the draft and have an OC who others posted on here actually used Peterson a lot when he was in Minn. (despite comments from you about how much of an idiot Childress is).
You just blatantly throw stuff around constantly and never own up to being wrong when you are wrong.
Throw stuff around? You mean facts and evidence of terrible football performance?
What facts run contrary to my argument? What facts go against dan’s point below? Address those with something before you make silly group-think decisions about what I wrote. You have nothing to back up what you’re saying except what you hope will happen with the players they drafted. Who cares? That’s all speculation.
I never said Childress was an idiot, by the way.
Also, my suggestion to stay out of Ohio was for your own good, but not because anyone would come after you. I meant more in the spirit of “you seem happy, stay away.”
can i point out that shurmer’s still calling the plays and NOT childress?
See the Indians’ attendance numbers this year? That’s how.
Well that’s funny since they had a chance to win most of the games they were in last year.
You used the phrase “exact same circumstances” to describe a comparison between Shurmur and 5 other coaches. I gave you pretty clear reasons why none of those situations are exactly the same. You ignore four of these points, you can’t even acknowledge you screwed the pooch by putting Fox on your list. Hence I say you only hear what you want to hear. If you aren’t going to respond to the specific argument don’t respond at all.
As for the ’49ers all I can say is that for the past five years I have stood in a bar every football Sunday and watched some of every 1 and 4 oclock game. I probably watch more games in a day then you get to see all year. I can absolutely say that Mike Singletary was a train wreck of a coach. You simply have no clue about the topic if you don’t think that Singletary was wasting a talented team. Again, no question that Harbaugh coached them up really good. But you can’t say that SF and Cle are “EXACTLY” the same because the on field talent gap is so broad. There are at most two players on last years Browns squad that would have started for SF (Thomas, maybe Haden). You simply can’t say it is “Exactly” the same situation and sound remotely intelligent.
I feel like the point of this article was that last year there were excuses to be made and that this year the pressure is squarely on Shurmur to show he can coach. You seem unhappy that anyone would give him the benefit of the doubt of a second year. I personally have no problem giving him time this season to show he can coach, if he screws up early and often it would be time to cut bait.
first, I was responding to someone that seemed to think Chilly didn’t give the ball to Peterson.
and, second, like everything else on the team, I fully expect them to work together to develop a gameplan and, yes, to call plays on gameday. Shurmur may call them in, but I expect Chilly to have input.
except that’s not what the word rookie means.
is Bob LaMonte client…therefore genius
wow, a story with a pic of an unsmiling Shurmur looking possibly uncomfortable, addled or annoyed, and it only draws 40+ comments.
This used to be a football town.
I just figured that Shurmur’s expression was an indication of the anticipated comments that would follow. I believe he’s ripping off the headset because he doesn’t want to hear what we’ve already heard, and heard, and heard . . .
52nd verse, same as the 51st . . .
Maybe its because they keep having the same crap record, record, record…
I hate to delve into this, but let me ask: when did I say they were the exact same teams? I said they dealt with the EXACT SAME OFF-SEASON, i.e., the lockout. Not the same team, knucklehead.
Quote, from above: “every other coach in the NFL had to deal with the same 2011/2012 off-season?”
Later quote, referencing the first quote: “I think the obvious point here is that given the EXACT same set of
circumstances 3 out of 5 rookie coaches had winning seasons or .500
seasons. One had a very good season but lost some games towards the
end, and one coach did poorly all the way throughout the 2011 season.”
I was commenting on the fact that given the SAME operating conditions as every other NFL team last year, the only coach he really suffered and sucked it up (and, as dan perfectly pointed out, the only coach he produced -1 in terms of wins) was Shurmur.
Read before posting.
Or, preferably, just read.
OMG, mea culpa. mea maxima culpa.
Use your minds, for the love of Weeden.
They were first year coaches at their respective teams.
And we wonder why the world’s gone mad.
We must have been watching different teams/sports.
Henry VIII, you are.
I would never marry the widow next door.
But you wouldn’t have to stay with her very long. You should reconsider.
But have you seen Catherine of Aragon?http://tudorhistory.org/aragon/(I think we both lost cool points here.)