Cleveland Browns: Andrew Berry executive of the year?

Letting the coach be the coach

The fact that the general manager is letting his coach do his job should not be a novel thing. In Cleveland, it absolutely is. After watching what Ray Farmer did years ago to Mike Pettine and then the debacle that was John Dorsey and Freddie Kitchens last season, it is a refreshing twist. No power struggle rumors, no player disputes, nobody in full save my butt at the expense of everyone mode. Finally, we have a bunch of guys working hard to find talent and get better. Paul DePodesta finally has Jimmy and Dee Haslem back on track with the plan.

The crazy part is it is not some grand design. Everybody wants to focus on the Browns and the analytics. Will building a team on numbers work in the NFL? Can all of these ivy leaguers make things happen? Everybody tries to make it bigger than it should be. The simple truth is that the Browns have found a coach and general manager on the same page on how they want to do things. They are focused on building a specific identity on the field.

Andrew Berry has embraced finding the guys and letting his coach make them great. It is funny how something that sounds so simple has been so difficult for Cleveland to find since 1999. No grandiose egos are pounding the table for their guy—no one saying how they wanted this player or that player. The GM is doing his job, the coach is doing his job, and ownership lets them.

Berry fixed the weakest link on the offensive side of the ball by building the offensive line. He has let his coach run the team. He has stabilized a front office that has been through turmoil even when some good things have come out of it.

All of this has helped lead the Browns to 9-3, and it is time for all of us to take notice. Andrew Berry deserves to be in the talk for Executive of the Year.