Cleveland Browns year in review: The first quarter
By Thomas Moore
Following their league-mandated season-ending loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers (kidding, it only seems that way), Browns owner Jimmy Haslam blew it up again by firing head coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer.
“We greatly appreciate Ray and Mike’s dedication and hard work while with the Cleveland Browns,” Haslam said in announcing the moves. “We’ve made this decision because we don’t believe our football team is positioned well for the future. We are all disappointed with where we are and I take full responsibility.
Pettine finished his two years in Cleveland with a record of 10-22, which is the third-best mark by a Browns coach since the team returned to the NFL in 1999. He may have done better if he wasn’t handicapped by Farmer’s decision making and meddling, but such is life in Cleveland.
The same day of the firings, Haslam, along with his wife, Dee, released an open letter to Browns fans. In the letter, the Haslams, as they have done with each coaching change since buying the team in 2012, reiterated that they want to build a winning franchise in Cleveland and promised that this time they will get it right.
If that wasn’t enough, reports quickly surfaced that quarterback Johnny Manziel – who missed the final game of the season because he reportedly had a concussion – had actually spent the weekend in Las Vegas, giving everyone the birth of Billy Manziel.
While the coaching search would take some time, Haslam moved quickly to fill Farmer’s vacant seat by promoting Sashi Brown to the role of executive vice president of football operations, which gave Brown ultimate say on the final roster and the draft.
That was quickly followed by the hiring of Paul Deposta as chief strategy officer, giving birth to the “analytics movement” in Berea that has continued to befuddle media members and fans alike.
Meanwhile, the coaching search was in full swing as the Browns were looking at numerous candidates, including:
- Doug Marrone: Jacksonville Jaguars assistant head coach
- Matt Patricia: New England Patriots defensive coordinator
- Adam Gase: Chicago Bears offensive coordinator
- Teryl Austin: Detroit Lions defensive coordinator
- Sean McDermott: Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator
- Hue Jackson: Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator
- Paul Guenther: Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator
The Browns would ultimately select Jackson as the 16th full-time head coach in franchise history. Jackson came to the Browns with a reputation as a “quarterback guru,” giving fans hope that he would be the man to finally fix the ongoing quarterback mess.
While the Browns were busy with the coaching search, troubled wide receiver Josh Gordon, who was coming off his latest suspension, applied to the NFL to be reinstated.
Jackson decided that he would serve as his own offensive coordinator, meaning that he needed someone to run the defense. He made his first mistake by bringing Ray Horton back to town as defensive coordinator.
As the month came to an end and the Browns moved one day closer to the inevitable release of Manziel, it was time to take a look back at what might have been in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.