It didn't take long for the Browns to stat overhauling the team. GM Phil Savage was informed prior to the season-ending loss to the Steelers that he would not be back. Details on how the move came down were not available, but Savage knew prior to the game that his time had come to an end. Savage was very upset before the game – evidently because he had lost his job.
Romeo Crennel's future will be determined early Monday morning, and it seems likely he also will not be back. Even Crennel admitted that his record (24-40) might be too much to overcome when he meets with owner Randy Lerner.
The question is who fills those roles. Lerner will try to hire Bill Cowher, but the prevailing thinking is that Cowher will not coach in 2009, that he's enjoying TV too much and he likes watching his daughter play basketball and yada yada yada. If it's true that Cowher is not interested, that takes him out of consideration. But if Lerner can convince him to take the money and power and titles, the Browns will be led by the former Steelers coach.
A no from Cowher takes the Browns in the direction of Scott Pioli, whom the team would hope to lure from New England to take over the front office. Pioli then would hire the coach. Miami's win over the Jets knocked the Patriots out of the playoffs, which makes a possible change to Pioli possible in a fast, efficient manner. Who Pioli favors as coach is anyone's guess, but he's been around long enough to know the kind of coach he wants.
If Pioli and Cowher both decide they do not want to come to Cleveland, what happens is anyone's guess. But the swiftness of the move with Savage might indicate the Browns – and Lerner – have a pretty good idea of the future.
It will be interesting to see how things play out.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Some ideas have a life of their own…….Cowher wasn't anything special with the Steelers! Please, let's move forward on our own. If he turns out to be the average coach that he was in Pittsburg, we are in for even more ridicule. Win with your own man, with your own ideas! Bring in an experienced GM, and a tough-minded coach.
No it will not be interesting to see how things play out. This is one joke of a team from top to bottom, period. I seriously would have thought Browns fans would have something better to cheer about since they came back in 1999. A 10-6 season and missing the playoffs because the Browns could not take care of the Bengals is not my idea of that. This is nothing more than a decade of disappointment. I seriously wish at this time, that Cleveland didn't have this ridiculous expansion team here. I would have rather gone through this period of time without an NFL team in Cleveland. How many more times are fans going to endure a "changing of the guard" before they see any sort of real results? I for one, don't care to find that out anymore. Goodbye Cleveland Browns. You have lost a fan for good. First thing tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can pay someone to haul away my Browns gear, because it is nothing but embarrassment as far as I'm concerned. I only hope Mr. Lerner will eventually sell the team to someone who really cares. At this point now — I think I will go f*** myself and root for the Bills.
You could convert your Browns gear to Bengals gear pretty easily, jOhn_q.
HAHAHAHA!!!! Sure I could. It's nice to know your orange colors and what not, but it goes against my grain unfortunately. I just can't stand to watch this team flounder again and again and hear about how the changes forthcoming are for the better when they ultimately have not been. We all I'm sure, could attest to that. There are some serious problems with this team that start from the very top and if I could offer better answers, I sure as hell would. I have none, so what else can I do??? You gotta better answer than wait for next year?