Jimmy Haslam: Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer Safe
Last year the Cleveland Browns fired Rob Chudzinski shortly after the end of their season. Many were shocked by the move as owner Jimmy Haslam constantly preached the consistency model he learned from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As this season wound down to it’s terrible conclusion, including a whole lot of drama in the last week, some wondered if Haslam would make the shocking move once again. Today he put that to bed and said that Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine were both safe:
"“Absolutely. Absolutely,” said Haslam after the Browns’ 20-10 loss to the Ravens that ended their season at 7-9. “I think they’ve done a good job. Listen, we’re all disappointed. We’re 7-4, we didn’t think we’d be 7-9, but I think it’s really positive how hard the guys played today and you think of how many guys we had hurt."
Haslam’s approach seems to worry a lot about how players play for their coach. Last year it seemed that players were more worried about themselves and reports that Chud lost the locker room became common place.
Not so this year. Instead of giving up because the playoffs were not possible, they lost their top 2 quarterbacks, their top offensive threat was suspended and their top pick was Inactive, the Browns showed more passion and heart than the Ravens who were fighting for their playoff lives.
While the Browns ended losing by 10 points the effort was not questioned. Veterans and young players alike played hard all game. They were outmanned due to injuries and the Johnny Manziel party fallout. Yet there they were, into the 4th quarter with a lead against a team that ended up making the playoffs.
Haslam noted how impressed he was by the effort:
"“He kept the guys playing hard,” Haslam said of Pettine. “This a long, long drill, a long, long season, and he did a great job keeping the guys playing hard all year. I mean I can’t imagine. We didn’t win the game. None of us are happy. But you could not fault our effort tonight in any shape, form or fashion.”"
It sounds like Pettine and Farmer are going to get time to really put together the type of team that they want and see it develop. Most believe a draft class shouldn’t be fully evaluated until after 3 seasons. At the end of their first draft the first round of Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel looks horrible. The rest of the draft, including Pro Bowl snub Joel Bitonio, Terrance West, Pierre Desir, Christian Kirksey and even undrafted free agent Taylor Gabriel, looks to be stellar.
The Browns will have 10 picks in the upcoming draft and a ton of cap space to make some moves. According to Donte Whitner he is aware that the Browns plan to make as many moves as possible to get players that will move the team forward:
#Browns SS Donte Whitner: "I've been assured that we are going to bring guys in & get guys off this bus that don't really want to be here."
— Nate Ulrich (@ByNateUlrich) December 28, 2014
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Reading into that quote you have to wonder who is safe? Could Josh Gordon, Johnny Manziel, Justin Gilbert and any other player that doesn’t “Play like a Brown” be moved? Anything is possible.
What we do know is that Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine will be the ones making decisions. Jimmy Haslam has confidence in them. Most fans have confidence in them. Most importantly it seems that the players have confidence in them.
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What do you think of Jimmy Haslam making such strong statements about Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer?