The Cleveland Browns hired the defensive line coach that made their lives miserable in Houston, while a potential offensive coordinator appears to prefer Philadelphia over Cleveland. Our Newswire guy attempts to figure it out. And why hasn’t ET called as well?
Good morning to Cleveland Browns fans!
When I was meandering aimlessly about the kitchen, making breakfast and planning what I would write this morning, I was thinking about filters: how different notions winnow down the universe of possibilities into a much smaller group, for better or worse. Similar to how my coffee filter eliminates coffee grounds from my caffeinated delight, different sorts of filters remove both good and harmful things along the way.
Zooming out to a far larger picture, there is the concept of the Great Filter, which states that there is some element that makes detectable extraterrestrial life extremely rare, if not non-existent, from our perspective. We just don’t know what it is.
Based on my observations of life on Earth, I believe it is a series of filters. Opposable thumbs appear crucial, as does a ready supply of fuel, which other civilizations may lack. There’s also the major question of whether human existence is truly too foolish to live as a species, which I’ll leave unanswered for the time being.
At any rate, this meditation on filters was intended to lead to a conversation about the Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator post, as is customary, but it took a pretty convoluted way to a relatively banal matter of significance only to us weirdos who root for a Northeast Ohio football club.
However, it is evident that a filter has been set up to weed out contenders for the Browns’ offensive coordinator position. Rather than being a simple decision like last year’s swift picks of Jim Schwartz and Bubba Ventrone, this appears to be a more challenging process, which now includes the loss of coaches whose services, according to our reporters, sparked the team’s interest.
Kellen Moore, arguably the most intriguing of the potential offensive coordinator candidates, appears to have decided to move to Philadelphia rather than join us in Cleveland. The job was so appealing that he appears to have decided to miss a scheduled interview in Tampa Bay on Monday.
Given his propensity to rush the process, how did he get out of Cleveland? The Browns, after all, are a team on the upswing, with a sharp front office and head coach, a quarterback poised for a return, and an owner eager to throw large sums of Berkshire-Hathaway money at the proper coaches. If Kellen Moore has ambitions, this is an excellent place to pursue them.
Unfortunately, something prevented Kellen Moore from staying in Cleveland and traveling to Philadelphia. Suspicions are raised first about head coach Kevin Stefanski’s influence on the offense. This is his offense; the premise is that anyone who comes in can play around the edges, but the Browns’ offensive will fundamentally remain Kevin Stefanski’s vision. Beyond that, there’s the issue of play-calling, which has been the subject of a jumbled succession of public comments, but the broad perception is that Stefanski is resistant to giving up.
If a coach or manager is worth anything, they will demand some level of autonomy. The Browns appear to want it both ways: they want a capable mind willing to be a part of a team, contribute, and organize a good offense, but they’ll only give him one small area of a sandbox to work in. Good managers who want to make an impact want the entire sandbox and all of the plastic trucks so they can create something interesting.
Anyway, that is my theory.
To summarize, we don’t know any aliens because any that are smart enough to survive are smart enough not to want to deal with humans, and the Browns don’t have an OC yet because the sandbox needs to be bigger, with the head coach hogging the big honking front-end loader toy rather than some cheap plastic shovels left over. I hope I explained everything up. Filters.
Have a good one! Go Browns!
Jake and Andrew examine the five NFL finalists for each award, as well as which player/coach they believe will win. Finally, they discuss recent hires and who they believe will fill the league’s two remaining available head coach positions.
College football coaches transitioning to NFL: Jim Harbaugh, Urban Meyer bookend finest pro records
With Jim Harbaugh leaving Michigan to become the next head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, he has an opportunity to build on a unique track record of NFL success for former college coaches. Harbaugh, who is entering his second professional season, has the most successful NFL tenure of any coach who has left college for the next level since 2000. He might separate himself from the pack, which includes legends such as Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, and others, with another successful stint beginning in the 2024 season.
College football national championship techniques and schematics do not often transcend to the top level of the sport, but in rare situations, they can create similar outcomes. Three coaches have won a national championship and a Super Bowl: Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson, and Pete Carroll.
In total, 12 coaches made their first move from college to the NFL this century. Carroll worked at USC in the early 2000s, but he is not on this list because of his professional experience in the 1980s and 1990s.
Get football and recruiting information about your favorite college team only $1 for the first month.
Here are the NFL records for coaches who transitioned from college football since the turn of the century:
Urban Meyer: 2-11 (.154).
Get football and recruiting information about your favorite college team only $1 for the first month.
Here are the NFL records for coaches who transitioned from college football since the turn of the century:
Urban Meyer: 2-11 (.154).
College football teams include Missouri State, Louisville, Western Kentucky, Arkansas, and Louisville.
NFL team: Atlanta
Bobby Petrino’s long journey back to Arkansas is complete, as he accepted the post of offensive coordinator this offseason, more than a decade after his head coaching career in Fayetteville ended. Prior to his first stop at Arkansas, Petrino spent a year with the Atlanta Falcons, but his offensive expertise did not translate to the NFL, and he finished 3-10 before resigning in the middle of the season. He was handed a terrible hand, however, as he began his only professional season reliant on backup quarterbacks following quarterback Michael Vick’s arrest.
