Pink Slips in Cleveland: Mike Pettine and David Blatt
Cleveland sports remain in a state of constant turnover with the recent firings of both Mike Pettine and David Blatt.
No one ever said being a Cleveland sports fan is boring.
2016 is not even a month old, yet two of the three major sports teams in Cleveland have made coaching changes. Terry Francona seems like he has been here for decades.
The firings of Mike Pettine and David Blatt could not be more opposite.
Pettine was fired as as the coach of a team tied for the worst record in its conference. Blatt was the coach of a team first in its conference. Nothing seems to make much sense anymore.
Both firings were surprising, but Pettine’s was a bit more understood because of the team’s record and the desire to take the franchise in a new direction. But after he was fired, not much came out about how he was a bad coach. He simply was not given much talent by former general manager Ray Farmer.
Blatt’s situation was much different, as a growing rift between him and his players was the main story, and the reason he is currently without a job.
As these firings have happened so recently, the long-lasting results are yet to be seen. The Browns have much lower expectations than the Cavaliers, who are in championship or bust mode. If they win a title this year, the move will be seen as a great one. But an early playoff exit could break up the roster and set the team back a few years.
More from Dawg Pound Daily
- How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
- Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
- 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
- Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?
- 5 Free agents from Super Bowl LVII Cleveland Browns should target
Hue Jackson has it a bit easier, as any sort of success on the field will make him a hero in Northeast Ohio and beyond. But if the team remains at the bottom of the NFL, Jimmy Haslam will have to rationalize the constant change.
As a fan we have to wonder if all this change will ever bring success, or just perpetuate a cycle of never being good enough.
While the Browns are always fighting uphill, the Cavaliers have a real shot at a championship. So not winning a title may constitute a great deal of damage to some, while another 3-13 season by the Browns will do nothing more than meet the low annual expectations.
The real answer to the poll question may be that both teams have done an equal amount of damage with the firings. Championship teams are often defined by stability at the coaching position. Two years is nowhere near enough time to establish a true identity as a team, yet this seems to be lost amongst management in the Cleveland sporting world.
The Cavaliers are the city’s best shot at a championship in a long time, but they may have relegated themselves to the level of the Browns, and no one wants to share that moniker.