Browns should follow John Dorsey’s quarterback philosophy
Why bad teams fire the quarterback
The fear of quarterback controversy is caused by a weak front office under pressure from the ownership as well as from below from the coach looking for a scapegoat for losing. Slumping ticket sales and critical media also contribute to an environment that demands removing the current quarterback and sending him away by trade or cutting him outright. All these factors have been present in recent Browns history.
Cleveland was reminiscent of The Apprentice, the famous TV reality show starring Donald Trump before he became the President. But in reality, the Browns no longer need to fire someone every week, and certainly, they should not fire their first string quarterback first. The Dawg Pound needs to stop thinking that there is some terrible quarterback controversy that will erupt and engulf the universe with an antimatter explosion if, for example, the Browns have Colt McCoy and Brandon Weeden on the same roster. Or Brian Hoyer and (God forbid) Johnny Manziel.
The real quarterback controversy is when the Browns have no good quarterbacks at all because they were all run out of town to avoid having a fictitious quarterback controversy of having too many.
This whole syndrome started in 2012 when the Browns drafted 28-year-old Brandon Weeden. A normal team would probably have kept Colt McCoy as an insurance policy, but not our Browns. Ownership was trying to sell the team, so perhaps they were putting pressure on the front office and coaching staff to produce a bright shiny new quarterback to make the team appear more attractive to a potential buyer. Who knows? For whatever reason, the 2012 front office seemed terrified of Colt McCoy remaining on the roster. Oh my God, we have to trade Colt McCoy now, because we drafted Brandon Weeden. The precedent was set to banish the first string quarterback when acquiring a new one.
Then when Weeden faltered, he had to go immediately to make room for Brian Hoyer. when Hoyer was promoted to first string. Then Hoyer was benched and traded despite having a winning record because the team had to find out about Johnny Flopping Football, who they drafted in the first round. Well, they found out. They signed Josh McCown to babysit him, but he and Robert Griffin II were both fired to make way for the DeShone Kizer era.
McCown went on to do a credible job as the starter for the New York Jets and RG3 was good enough to be the backup for the Baltimore Ravens but their presence could not be tolerated for a single game on the same roster with young Kizer for the Cleveland Browns. Perhaps a high level of front-office paranoia was justified since former head coach Hue Jackson managed to still change the first-string quarterback from Cody Kessler to Brock Osweiler to Kizer within three games of the exhibition season, and then briefly install Kevin Hogan as first string in midseason before going back to Kizer. This can only be described as a front office and coach turned completely paranoid.
Normal teams don’t do this sort of thing, although there is always an element within the fan base that wants a new coach and a new quarterback. Even in New England, recall that some element within the media and fan base wanted Tom Brady benched in favor of Jacoby Brissett or Jimmy Garoppolo. But coach Bill Belichick would just sort of snort in disgust and end any such discussion. In Cleveland, however, the coach would cave and would really change the quarterback every few games some years.
Has the madness stopped? We all hope so, and this writer believes that the changes are real this time. The Haslams realized that they were better off having Dee Haslam take over more of the organization-building decisions of Haslam Sports Group, while Jimmy Haslam III is refocused on multi-billion-dollar Pilot Oil. When Dee Haslam became CEO of Haslam Sports Group and forced the organization to clarify its processes and roles for front office and coaching staff personnel, it was not just a cosmetic change.
The Browns were in danger of becoming the Dallas Cowboys of the midwest — total chaos. Not all fans realize that Dee Haslam was CEO of her own highly successful media company, RIVR Media, quite apart from the more visible Pilot Oil. Dee put together a winning management team that was nominated for Emmys eight times. Dee did that, not JH3. Dee has stabilized the Browns ownership role, drawing clear boundaries which they will not cross, to allow the front office organization and coaching staff to function properly, while still channeling her husband’s extroverted personality and intense desire to win.
Do they have it right this time? Just one fan’s opinion, but, yes, they have it right.