Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
As rumors about who would be the next offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns floated around like fairy godmothers float around fairytales, the end result is Kyle Shanahan. The Browns officially announced the move Monday night. Shanahan will take over an offense that has dangerous potential if given the right signal caller and personnel.
The son of head coach Mike Shanahan, inked a three-year deal with the Browns in a move meant to put some spunk into the predictable and weary offense that was. In what was supposed to be a Norv Turner fun-filled vertical attack offense, turned into a complete disaster in 2013. The Browns ranked below the bottom half of the league in three major offensive categories, including points scored (19.2/game), rushing yards (86.4 yards/game), and total yards per game (338.9). Turner is now play calling for the Minnesota Vikings. Good luck with that.
This isn’t a terrible move at all. If anything, hiring a true offensive coordinator that has a plethora of experience should take some of the pressure off of new head coach Mike Pettine. One huge area that Shanahan and the Browns must improve and address is third down conversions. Last season, the Browns were horrendous on third down converting just 35% of the time (83/237). This will not be tolerated in 2014 and is unacceptable.
Why can Shanahan’s philosophy be successful for the brown-and-orange?
With the right personnel on the field, we could be seeing some “bunch” formations with four receivers. Kyle Shanahan has used the “bunch” many times in his career. Although it didn’t show in 2013 with his struggling Washington Redskins, creating mismatches is something he is very fond of. Shanahan likes to run a lot of play action and attack zone coverage with the bunch formation. Something Rob Chudzinski and Turner had issues with, the 34-year-old Shanahan is pretty decent at adjusting to defenses too. But, the whole key to this – the right personnel.
Despite another coaching regime takeover in 2014-15, the Browns will be under the microscope and failure is not an option. It will be up to Shanahan and his new quarterback coach, Dowell Loggains to pump new life into this high potential offense. There are no excuses and the pieces are there.
Ryan Ruiz is the Cleveland Browns Beat Writer for The Inscriber: Digital Magazine. You can follow him on Facebook: Ryan (BrownsWriter) Ruiz and Twitter @ryanpruiz24. Ryan is also a Browns correspondent for The Sportsfix. Tune in every Friday at noon on www.thesportsfix.net. Email Ryan at ryan.ruiz@theinscribermag.com