May 22, 2013

Browns will hire a head coach, then a GM/director of player personnel

December 31, 2012 by 14 Comments

Today Joe Banner and Jimmy Haslam spoke to the media about the firings of Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur. In that press conference, Jimmy Haslam said the Browns will hire a head coach first, with final say over the 53 man roster. They will then hire a general manager or director of player personnel.

Joe Banner spoke about getting the right fit, the right combination of men in the organization-

“The skill set of the coach should drive the eventual structure of the football department.”

Jimmy Haslam said the primary characteristic he was looking for in the head coach was “strong leadership”.

Banner on the team in place-

“I think we have a foundation to move forward. I think the team was better than it was, but it’s got a ways to go.”

Of course, they mentioned that they will not make any comments on potential candidates during the process.

[Related: Heckert on difference between Colts and Browns]

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  • Jaker

    Potential candidates!?!?! Who could they be? Hmmmmm….

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    Again all of this makes sense especially having the personnel department fit around the head coach. So far all of what has been said seems to make sense and be strategic. Now lets just hope the execution goes as perfect as the planning.

  • King Me

    As has been said on this site before, Haslam and Banner are saying all the right things so far. The hard part is right around the corner.

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    Exactly before the long they will have to back up what they say. That’s when the honeymoon ends and the marriage begins!

  • EdgewaterJoe

    … so, no Mike Lombardi?

  • http://www.facebook.com/rich.clrk Rich Clark

    Obviously they’d like to get Saban, but I don’t see him leaving Bama. I’ve heard Chip Kelly’s name tossed around. Forgive me if this is common knowledge (I’m on the west coast so my Browns news if limited to what I uncover on my own). Also, please forgive my profile pic, I lost a bet and this is me paying for it.

  • cmm13

    Actually this sets up right down Mike Lombardi’s wheelhouse.
    You don’t take a guy who has been out of the league for as many years as he and give him full control of the roster; you bring in him back in slowly as a “director of pro personnel” type thing.
    The bright side of this if it happened… the head coach is the stronger personality between the two and doesn’t have to take Lombardi’s advice on draft picks/free agents.
    The dark side of this… you still now have Mike Lombardi in the boardroom.
    The other bright side of this is what I have been saying for awhile…they are going Big Game Hunting in the next coaching search. Saban, Gruden, Kelly are all on the list and you can officially cross off McDaniels, Shannahan, McCoy, etc.

  • Kildawg

    Lovie Smith would be a good choice. Plus, he also fits the Rooney Rule (damn you Pittsburgh), plus Smith just had a 10 win season in a pretty tough division (that we face next year).

  • eldaveablo

    I realize I’m probably getting way ahead of myself, but this is the fun part. Is it hard to see the Browns getting Chip Kelly, drafting Geno Smith to run something similar to Oregon’s spread, and keeping Thad Lewis as a backup?

    I know #6 is awfully high to take Geno right now, but we all know how QBs increase in value once Pro-Days and measurements come in, or would trading down be a bad thing, since we don’t have a second rounder?

    And sure, Thad had only one start, but he looked backup worthy, seems to have the skills to run a spread, and hey, I said this was the fun part.

  • Brick

    um, nobody thought this made sense when Mangini was hired before a general manager was. But this time it’s “strategic?”

  • Brick

    “I know #6 is awfully high to take Geno right now”
    Sixth round is awfully high for Geno.
    Thaddeus Lewis looked good yesterday though. Definitely worth giving a shot as starter next year.

  • WFNY_DP

    I definitely don’t want a first-time head coach making roster decisions, too. Just MHO.

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    Actually great point I forgot that Mangini was hired first. Honestly though I I didn’t like his hiring in the first place I also didn’t like the decision to keep him a year into the last regime. That was a costly error IMO for everyone involved. Thanks Holmgren.

  • Henry Brown

    Its not even remotely close to the same situation. Mangini was hiring a GM as the only executive between him and Randy Lerner, who had no interest in anything to do with the team. Basically he hired himself a wet doormat to do as he pleased. This is basically saying, really good coach, come here because we will give you a direct pipeline to the CEO and an involved owner, so you’ll be able to do pretty much what you want while at the same time maintaining the ability to veto any last minute change of minds (a la Butch Davis and Big Money)