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Flashback Friday: 5 coaches the Cleveland Browns should not have fired

By Elliot Kennel

CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Freddie Kitchens talks with defensive tackle Devaroe Lawrence #99 of the Cleveland Browns during the second half against the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 08, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Titans defeated the Browns 43-13. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Freddie Kitchens talks with defensive tackle Devaroe Lawrence #99 of the Cleveland Browns during the second half against the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 08, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Titans defeated the Browns 43-13. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 29: Former football coach Marty Schottenheimer and IAVA Founder & Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff attend IAVA’s Second Annual Heroes Celebration held at CAA on April 29, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for IAVA)
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 29: Former football coach Marty Schottenheimer and IAVA Founder & Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff attend IAVA’s Second Annual Heroes Celebration held at CAA on April 29, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for IAVA) /

Marty Schottenheimer

The best teams of the post-Jim Brown era were the Marty Schottenheimer teams. Schottenheimer started off inheriting a 1-7 team from Sam Rutigliano with Paul McDonald as the quarterback and went 4-4 the rest of the season. From there, Schottenheimer won three straight AFC Central Division titles, with three straight crushing losses to the Denver Broncos. Should Art Modell have fired Schottenheimer for losing in the playoffs?

Look, if you can’t stand heartbreaking playoff losses, don’t show up for the playoffs at all. Turn off the football games and watch pro wrestling. The nature of Pro Football is that only one team wins it all, and everyone else loses the last game of the season and there is no graceful way to do it. If your team is beaten decisively, it hurts. If they lose a close one, that also hurts. If your coach makes the title game three years, that’s pretty good, and the idea that it is time to give up is repugnant. Even the Patriots with Belichick and Brady went nine straight seasons without a Super Bowl win.

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Schottenheimer made the playoffs one more time as the Wild Card in 1988. However, starting quarterback Bernie Kosar was injured. Then second -string Gary Danielson was injured. Then third string Mike Pagel was injured. What do you do when all three quarterbacks are out?  Well, the Browns signed Don Strock, Dan Marino‘s former backup from Miami who had been cut earlier in the year.

Believe it or not, the old guy got the Browns into the playoffs with a 300-yard passing game against the Houston Oilers, but then lost the rematch in the playoffs. Strock was injured in the first quarter, so Mike Pagel came in off his deathbed (well, damaged shoulder, actually) and led the Browns to a one-point loss in the Wild Card game, 24-23 to the same Oiler team Strock and the Browns had beaten to get into the playofffs.

Poor old Art Modell could not put up with that. Any rational human being would realize that getting to within one point of a playoff win with a fourth string quarterback is pretty good. But we are not talking about a rationale human being. We are talking about Arthur B. Modell.

You may criticize Schottenheimer for never winning the big game. That is true. It probably falls under the category of “it is better to be lucky than good,” and Schottenheimer was good but not lucky. Still, he was one of the most winningest coaches in NFL history. Every coach who won more games than Schottenheimer is in the Hall of Fame. Firing a coach who lost a playoff game by one point with the fourth-string quarterback was the height of arrogance and stupidity.

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