Cleveland Browns Name Pat Shurmur New Head Coach

He was considered the wild card of the bunch and slowly became the favorite in the Cleveland Browns’ search for a new head coach. Now, Pat Shurmur, former offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams, is the new head coach for the Cleveland Browns. He will officially be introduced at a press conference on Friday.

Shurmur, well-versed in the West Coast offense after spending ten years in Philadelphia with Andy Reid, would appear to be the ideal person to work with the Browns’ current front office. He shares similar offensive philosophies with president Mike Holmgren and he helped make Rams quarterback Sam Bradford a success in his rookie season. This could certainly bode well for Colt McCoy going into next season, as the Rams showed that committing to a young quarterback at the start of the season doesn’t always mean the end of the world.

Does the fact that Shurmur has no head coaching experience whatsoever concern me? Absolutely. But, like any coach, Shurmur deserves a chance to prove himself. It’s not going to stop me from ever thinking that Eric Mangini got a raw deal, though.

More will come about this decision, but here’s the initial reaction: Eric Mangini must have really been a pain to work with, because Holmgren is going with a completely unproven coach who was the offensive coordinator for a team with an offense that was only slightly better than the Browns’. A lot of fans have stuck with the “In Holmgren We Trust” mentality, but, deep down, everyone is wondering what in the world is going on.

Holmgren simply wanted a guy he could get excited about. It makes sense that he wants to work with a head coach that shares the same ideas as him, but it’s certainly a risk going with yet another unproven coordinator. Hopefully, the Browns finally picked the right one.