May 23, 2013

Peter King says Shurmur could be next Gary Kubiak

October 16, 2012 by 25 Comments

Peter King’s column sometimes takes me two days to finish. Still, with the owner’s meetings happening in Chicago today and with Jimmy Haslam getting control of the team, it is worth noting that Peter King is pretty wary of the “blow it up” strategy with regard to the Cleveland Browns. From his ten things he thinks he thinks…

4. Jimmy Haslam’s purchase of the Browns will be approved Tuesday in Chicago. Then Haslam will get on with the business of deciding who will run his franchise in 2013 and beyond. I hope he looks long and hard at Pat Shurmur, who I think is a good man and coach. Not saying Haslam should keep him — just saying he should think very seriously about it, because Shurmur’s the kind of smart young coach, like Gary Kubiak was in Houston’s rocky times, who is growing into a tough job.

You have to wonder whether or not King would have written this had the Browns not beat the Bengals this week for their first win of the season. Would he have thought he thought that had the Browns not outlasted the Bengals?

[Related:Browns’ Mike Holmgren a no-show in Chicago for NFL owners meetings]

Related Posts

Zemanta
Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , , , ,
  • Wow

    If nothing else, Shurmur deserves a full season. We’re seeing the offense come together.

  • Hopwin

    You skipped page 3 where he named Shurmur coach of the week and page 4 where Shurmur provided quote of the week #3 (or 4).
    One has to wonder if Peter King has ever watched a down of Cleveland Browns football or if he is just talking out his turdcutter to reach 25k words per week.

  • maxfnmloans

    Peter King has long been one of Holmgrum’s fart sniffers, and if memory serves correctly, he has also written effusive prose regarding Uncle Fritz a time or two, so this is unsurprising, IMHO

  • maxfnmloans

    yep. I agree Shurmur should not be fired mid-season, but I do not think it is because of anything he “deserves”. I think upsetting the apple cart mid-season will inhibit the growth of what we have on hand, and staying the course gives the new folks some time to really evaluate what they have.

  • Garry_Owen

    I normally can’t stand much of what Peter King writes, but I agree with him here. Like King, I don’t believe that Haslem should necessarily keep him, but it would be foolish not to seriously consider it. I fully understand the frustration with his rookie and sophomore on-field mistakes (though I’ll never understanding the gnashing of teeth over his PR persona), but the eye test tells me that the team is definitely getting better under him – in a way that portends long-term improvement and not just “quick fix” stuff that we saw under previous head coaches.

  • mgbode

    I also agree. And, the only thing I want from Haslam is to do an honest assessment of the FO and coaching staff. If he is 100% on board that we are on the correct path, then he needs to stay the course. If he doubts the current course that we are on, then he needs to put people he trusts in place.

    I am done with the turmoil and the change and the inconsistency and the constant rebooting. I want an established team and identity. So, more than anything, I do not want another Mangini w/ Holmgren forced marriage where neither side is all-in.

  • Garry_Owen

    Yes. Well said.
    In my opinion, what Shurmur “deserves” is human decency, like anyone else. This doesn’t necessarily mean a full season in his job – but I do think that the team might “deserve” that.

  • BenRM

    King was crazy complimentary of Shurmur. It was almost to the point where I feel like someone got to him and said “hey, give this guy some decent pub, he’s struggling”

  • BrownieBob

    Ok…..lets be honest…..At any given time the Browns are fielding an offense that averages 1.72 yrs exp and a D that averages 2.36 ( Skrine in for Brown otherwise 3.18 )…..Either way that may very well be the youngest team fielded in decades…thats right …Decades….How well do you think Cowher, Gruden , Schottenheimer,Gibbs, Lombardi etc would have done with a team this young across the board at every single postion..???????…..Anyone who thinks they would be a contender is delusional……Point is, Shurmur may very well not be the man, ( And I do think he is in over his head at times, plus his arrogance doesnt help )….but honestly, Are we going to start over again????….I think Haslam would show unbelievable fortitude to come out and recognize this and back them publicly ( minus Holmgren, he is not needed ) and tell everyone they are here for at least 2 more years to see how this develops….The simple fact is great programs have consistency and not flavor of the year……Haslam saw that at Pittsburgh…..Lets see how smart he is……Thoughts????

  • Hopwin

    I disagree, I’d like to see if one of the other head coaches we have on staff could take over with the existing personnel. If the options are 1) Keep Shurmur 2) Fire Shurmur at the end of the season (and bring in a new regime) or 3) Fire Shurmur mid-season and hand the reigns to Jauron (keep the regime, lose the deadweight) then I will choose 3 ALL DAY.
    If we wait til the end of the season and get a new headcoach that person will want their own system, coaches, players, etc and we are at square 1 of a rebuild.
    If we give Jauron, Childress or one of the assistants a shot mid-season we could see a significant enough upgrade at playcalling not to have to reboot everything else.

  • mgbode

    there are definitely things with the playcalling that can be improved. for instance, i hate how we seem to go into a shell of Tresselball with any small lead in the 2nd half.

    however, the fact that we are throwing for nearly 300yds/game and scoring 24pts/game the past 5 weeks should not go unnoticed either. Shurmur is doing much better this year than last (upgrade in personnel, more players knowing the system, etc.)

    I don’t see how putting Jauron, Rhodes or Childress in charge helps matters.

    How do we truly know that Jauron isn’t the dead weight?

  • NoVA Buckeye

    Just because they look the same doesn’t mean they coach the same.

  • mgbode

    i am going to assume you didn’t list Paul Brown in the list of coaches there because it’s obvious that he was such a great coach that he would have figured a way of getting them to the championship game anyways.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Craig Lyndall

    For all we know Shurmur called him directly… (tugs on collar)

  • BenRM

    Bazinga!

  • mgbode
  • Dee P

    I think Browns fans are intelligent enough to realize that Shurmur did not inherit a Super Bowl contender, and that wins and losses are not the main evaluating tool to use when we pass judgement on him as a coach. It goes beyond that. It’s a repeated failure to show signs of improving game management, play calling, play design, and leadership ability that makes us question his future here. I’m not a “blow it up” guy, I actually wish we could find someone and stick with them through thick and thin for a decade…..I just don’t see Pat Shurmur as the guy I want to do that with.

  • Dee P

    “fart sniffers…” I’m still laughing.

  • Wow

    Agree with all of these comments, well said.

  • maxfnmloans

    Bob LaMonte is Peter King’s agent too?

  • Hopwin

    I’d say that Unknown is presumed to be greater than 5-17.
    Proven turd versus unproven turd.

  • Hopwin

    Ah you want to see Haslam Holmgren the Holmgren the Holmgren regime the way that Holgrem Holgrem’d the Mangini regime. Genius!

  • Harv 21

    Finding these comments way more fascinating than King’s substance – is this the classic American public’s bounceback for Shurmur? OK, enough whaling on him mercilessly, now it’s time for the feel-good comeback.

    I will say this for King: a couple decades ago when the Giants won a super bowl he described Belichik the d-coordinator with these words: “He has head coach written all over him.” Even if King’s right about Shurmur (whatever he’s saying) doesn’t mean Pat’s ready to be effective right now or in his first job. It’s clearly still a struggle for him on the sideline managing players and game clocks, in pressers all red-faced and petulant. Kubiak turned down a lot of HC jobs and was pretty well-seasoned after being a long-time NFL player before he became a HC.

  • Hypno_Toad

    That’s an agreement commented on an agreement from the original agreement.

    We just got straight Canadian here on WFNY.

  • BuckeyeDawg

    I’m not much of a Shumur guy…I’ve been plenty critical these past few weeks. But keeping him the rest of the season is probably the right move. He’s got the monkey off his back (for now), and a schedule coming up that suddenly doesn’t look all that daunting. Let’s see if he can rally the troops and take the little bit of momentum we have from this week’s win and turn it into something.