Bill Cowher will not be coming to Cleveland, but the Browns have permission to interview New England vice president Scott Pioli.
That's the major news from a media gathering with team owner Randy Lerner Monday morning.
Lerner told the local media that he had an informal meeting with Cowher in New York City Saturday night, and Cowher said he did not want to coach in 2009. (Odd, thought, that Cowher did not address the issue on CBS during Sunday's broadcasts.)
Any chance that Cowher would change his mind seems slimmer than slim. "He wasn't coy," Lerner said.
Lerner will interview Pioli to be the team's new General Manager soon, though Lerner did not have a specific date. Pioli clearly has emerged to be the main candidate to take over the organization.
Lerner added that Romeo Crennel was beyond gracious and gentlemanly when Crennel was informed he would not be retained as coach, and Crennel is open to the possibility of staying with the team as an assistant coach.
Lerner also said:
–He has been following the BIll Parcells saga and would try to talk to Parcells if he left the Dolphins.
–He would consider Eric Mangini as a coaching candidate; Mangini was fired by the Jets Monday.
–Mike Holmgren is committed to taking a year off.
–He has not thought about the possibility of hiring Brian Billick.
–He has a coaching list he did not detail, but did say New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is on the list.
–He will interview at least two candidates to comply with the league's Rooney Rule, which requires a team interview minority coaches for the head coaching position.
–If Pioli and the other candidate do not agree to join the Browns, Lerner would consider others — like Floyd Reese, Charley Casserley and Tom Donahoe.
–Bernie Kosar is not under consideration to run the team.
–Ozzie Newsome will not leave Baltimore, so he should not be considered a candidate.
–Browns assistant coaches remain under contract with the team, but may be allowed to interview with other teams. He said he would be happy if the new coach wanted to keep some of the assistants.
–He would be reluctant to hire a head coach from the college ranks.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
What the hell does Lerner know about football? . . . . absolutely nothing. I wish that he would sell the franchise. And, also what does Dolan know about baseball? . . . . nothing. I wish that he would sell the franchise.
r m kraus
Hey, KooK Kraus, I see you think you know it all about sports, too! Look what your War Criminal president did when he ran the Texas Rangers…LOL…LOL…The same thing he's done to the country!! You KooKs just can't give it up, can you?
Hey, when you own the team you get to do what you want, despite what some nay sayers may think. You wouldn't want someone coming into your home or family and running it, would you? Crennel is a "classy" person and I hope he does remain with the team. His reputation is based on defense, so why not take advantage of this experience. I doubt that anyone would be interested in him as a head coach and I don't see him going to the college ranks. Concerning the GM and headcoach, Lerner gets to choose. I wish him a lot of luck in this decision. The Browns were overrated, based on their record last year and who their wins were against. We've definitely got talent and also some holes to fill. Some people on the team could use some attitude adjustments also, and they know who they are! But we also have a lot of good players who have a great work ethic and talent and can definitely be a solid base to build this team on. So Browns' fans, let's get behind these guys and quit complaining so much. There's always a chance we can be the "Miami" in 2009!
The Browns have been a poorly run second class organization since the 1960's and will have difficulty attracting talent at both the General Managers position and at the Head Coaching spot. The current ownership since the return to the NFL has shown that the desire to win is not there demonstrated by the mediocre choices in front office and on the field personell. Randy Lerner is far more interested in soccer than football and the Browns have now sunk to an all time low. Not scoring a touchdown on offense in 9 games says it all. Randy, PLEASE sell the team!
Hey Pope, you sound like a real piece of crap liberal…
Is the Northeast Ohio media so devoid of hardcore sports reporters that nobody was able to catch wind of the fact that Savage was fired on SATURDAY? Instead, we finally learn about it on Monday. Not exactly Woodward and Bernstein up there.
Check that, the word evidently was leaked about Savage on Sunday evening, not on Monday. Still, unacceptable.
I just now noticed that the words "Bernie Kosar is not under consideration to run the team" was printed above. Why would you even type that, Pat? Seriously. Is that shameless self-promoter now campaigning for a front office job? That guy can't even adequately manage a bottle of Peppermint Schnapps, let alone a pro football franchise.
My advice to Lerner is to find someone who has recent success in running an NFL franchise and hire him. He wants Pioli, and I would agree that he is the best out there. If Pioli doesn't come, then there are other options. Once he finds a GM, then let the GM hire the coach. A good GM knows the kind of coach it takes to win. And if the GM picks the coach, then odds are that they will be more likely to work well and communicate with each other. I don't have an opinion about who the next coach should be. I wanted Crennel, and I was thrilled when they got him. We see how that turned out. Could we clone Paul Brown and bring him back?
Why does everyone think that they know how to run a team and make it successful? If you knew how you'd be doing it for a living, not posting how to on the 'net.
Bernie was mentioned because his name has been tossed around and Lerner was asked about it.
"The Browns have been a poorly run second class organization since the 1960's…" If this team were a second class organization how/why would they have one of (if not the) largest fan bases in all of pro sports? Yes, there have been some mistakes beginning in the mid 90s but geez. Get over yourself, if it's so second class why do you bother to follow and/or comment on what's going on?
The fans/followers of the Browns must relax and see what happens. Guaranteed, there will be many upset fans when the GM and coach is hired. But everyone needs to remember who we are fans of…the Cleveland Browns. True fans will root for the team no matter who the GM, coach, or players are.
GO BROWNS!!
The only reason Kosar's name is purportedly ever "tossed around" is because Bernie is perpetually in the area doing some tossing. It was an extremely dumb question to ask Lerner. I'm curious who the dunce was that asked it.