CJ Miles drawing interest from other teams
January 28, 2014Cavs vs Pelicans Behind The Box Score: Are We There Yet?
January 28, 2014ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that the Cleveland Browns will interview ex-Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan for their offensive coordinator vacancy on Wednesday.
Kyle Shanahan has interview scheduled Wednesday for Browns OC job, per sources.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 28, 2014
Following the debacle in Washington this past season, Shanahan’s star has faded a bit over the past calendar year, but he’s still viewed as a bright, young mind having just 34 years of age. Given the success of wide receivers in Kyle Shanahan-led offenses (Pierre Garçon hauled in 113 catches for 1,346 yards this past season), adding him to the fold would only serve to help the progress of Josh Gordon as well as any other pass-catching talent that the Browns can manage to land.
A Kyle Shanahan-led offense also focuses on the run game, having led to solid carrers in the way of Steve Slaton (1,300 yards in 2008) and Alfred Morris (1,600 yards in 2012, 1,300 in 2013). The son of long-time football mind Mike Shanahan, Kyle was thought to be in the mix for the Baltimore Ravens’ job prior to them agreeing to terms with Gary Kubiak.
“I studied every potential X’s and O’s play and issue possible,” Shanahan said back in 2006. “I spent my whole life working on that. My goal was that any question a player could have about anything on the field, I’d be able to answer it. There’s more to it. I’m learning that now. You have to communicate with your guys. The guys have to feel comfortable with you. They have to trust you, or they’ll tune you out.”
Despite the lack of success in 2013, the Redskins had a top-five offense in 2012 with a fully healthy Robert Griffin III at the helm.
Mortensen’s ESPN colleague, John Keim, first mentioned the Shanahan-Cleveland connection earlier Tuesday. The team will also interview Oakland Raiders quarterback coach John Defilippo on Thursday.
[Related: Pettine’s staff needs a major piece to fall in place]
—
(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
26 Comments
Yes please.
If this was one year ago, I’d be really worried about having a young head coach with two young coordinators. After watching two extremely experienced coordinators flounder after having high expectations for them, I don’t care as much. It’s all whatevs.
I’ve heard he’s petty, begrudging and stubborn… that being said, he led an effective offense with RG3, Garcon, Morris, and nothing else. Assuming we get a QB 4th overall, Shanahan’s experience with RG3 should be a huge plus, especially since all 3 QB’s have some scrambling ability.
We NEED an O coordinator with experience, and Shanahan looks like the best option at this point. He should also help a putrid run game.
2013 Down Year
9th in yards/game
15th in yards/play
23rd in pts/game
11th in 3rd down%
10th in ToP
Definitely not good, but there were some positives mixed in with all the negatives. In our down years, it’s a tad worse across the board (usually).
2012
5th in yards/game
1st in yards/play
4th in pts/game
24th in 3rd down%
9th in ToP
sidebar: the more I look through stats, the more it seems that there is a high level of luck involved in 3rd down%. I know it has to due with average distance, et cetera as well, but it sure seems like there is little rhyme or reason for 3rd down% with how good an offense actually is. Might be an area the Browns regress back to the mean next year (on both sides of the ball?). We’ll see.
petty, begrudging and stubborn
sounds like he’s lived in Cleveland his whole life. now we have to hire him 🙂
Agreed. And I think the notion that we need a coordinator with HC experience to pair up with a rookie HC is a bit overblown. I really don’t think Norv was texting Chud for in game decisions, interjecting during pre-game speeches, etc. I think solid experience as a coordinator is good enough for me (and while still very young, Shanahan has quite a bit of experience and success).
I wonder if Jordan Cameron will go virtually unused as a receiver under Kyle’s west coast system?
A zone blocking scheme might be just what the Dr. ordered for the Browns anemic running game. That scheme turns 6th rounders into stars. Tell me Banner won’t love that…
I like the top 10 in ToP (even in a down year). This is something the Browns have been bottom of the barrel since 1999, with a few exceptions. Keeping their defense on the field and ours off the field will definitely help our underrated defense.
Jordan Reed was a breakout player last year for Washington (only started 4 games/played 9 but 45receptions was 2nd on the team).
Paulsen & Davis combined for 49 receptions in 2012.
Davis had 59rec in 2011
Basically, if the TE has talent, Kyle gets him the ball.
Jordan Cameron is probably the second best pass catcher that Shanahan could work with (top among TEs), Josh Gordon obviously being the best. Browns need a good RB to grind out tough yards, maybe Carlos Hyde in the 2nd or 3rd (no more wasting a 1st on a RB, unless it would be in the 30s and he is dang good).
I don’t think Norv floundered at all. He did fine considering he had zero running backs and those 3 QBs. His ability to conjure some smoke and mirrors quick changes when they switched from Weeden to Hoyer to Campbell worked short term pretty well. Gordon and Cameron got off. If Weeden isn’t eligible for a brain transplant, that ain’t on Norv.
That’s a fair retort. I’m not sure if the running game is quite as bad if Norv identifies Obi as his most talented running back and stops trying to shoehorn him into the fullback role, but that’s something that I can’t know now.
Excellent!! As long as he gets the ball more so than the 26 times under 2 years of coach Shurmur, i’ll be happy.
I agree Norv is a respected coach and deserving so. And I don’t think anyone thinks he drew up RedUnderhandToss85, but man if he had any part in the talent evaluation that put Weeden at the head of the QB pack (and continued to play him), then that’s grounds for dismissal. I suspect though that was a combination of Chud’s decision making and the FO wanting to see what they had initially in Weeden. But I’m sure with Norv’s system, he never realistically envisioned someone like Hoyer being a fit so he never gave him a chance. Who knows? Maybe we’ll never know what went on behind the scenes.
In the end coaches don’t matter as much as players. Draft the right players.
i’m guessing it was more that Weeden did look good in practice when the coaches were force-feeding him the reads and there was no pass rush.
The collective WFNY community has convinced me that this is the guy to hire, and it *sounds* like he’s a guy that learns from mistakes. That’s good, as the circumstances (i.e., talent) here could really produce success with a young guy that has gained wisdom and experience.
Yeah that’s a good point. In practice, he probably did look every bit the part—which by the way, scares the hell out of me when I think about people evaluating this draft’s QB lot…
Derek Carr wants these last few comments removed from the internet!
Hmm…based on DVOA, he was OC a team that was only slightly better than the Browns offensively (by this I mean they Washington has definitely had a below average offense during his time there). At least the head coach looks promising based on those stats.
I’ll have to take a look, but I cannot imagine 2012 wasnt a really high ranked offense.
Shanahan is probably the best case scenario for the Browns at this point.
DVOA
total/pass/run
2013 – 23/27/9
2012 – 6/6/2
so, yeah, passing fell off a cliff, but they could still run
They definitely had bigger issues in Washington last year than the offensive system. I’m inclined to judge him more from his previous work than 2013. That said, they did some things well on offense last year. Just not so much scoring points.
With the Redskins being my second favorite team thanks to my wife, I saw plenty of them this year. Their passing problems weren’t from scheme or play-calling. Their problems were from a really awful year from RG3 (he’s not the same guy when you make him a pocket passer and he never seemed to be fully recovered from the ACL tear) and a horrible offensive line that wasn’t capable of protecting a QB who was forced to throw from the pocket.