Waiting to find out who the next head coach of the Cleveland Browns is like anticipating the next great movie, then watching it bomb at the box office.
Usually, the off-season for the Browns and their fans is a time to reflect on the previous sad season that could have been. Instead, loyal Browns fans find themselves shaking their heads one more time as their beloved team remains the only NFL club without a head coach. With some candidates staying clear of them, the new upper brass management appears even more clueless than their predecessors. Is it time to ring the ship’s warning bell yet?
With an NFL Draft of the utmost importance just 107 days away, Cleveland lacks a head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and anything else that trickles underneath them. Whoever fills these positions, will they have any say in the franchise’s most important draft? Or, are they just “puppet” positions while Joe Banner runs the show and burns everything to the ground? With either case, by not having a head coach, the Browns are setting themselves up for failure again before a new season starts.
Cleveland holds ten picks in the upcoming draft in May. Needless to say, the Browns are in no position to “miss”or draft “duds” with the majority of those picks, especially the first five. While Banner and Michael Lombardi may have a scouting department, what if the players being scouted are not desirable by the new head coaching staff? Then what? It just seems like everything is being done backwards and the Browns are fighting themselves by not having key coaching positions in place.
What about the other 31 teams though? If you don’t believe that Ken Whisenhunt (who just added former Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton) and his crew are already planning and building for the Tennessee Titans future, you’re sadly mistaken. The Titans, Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, and all the other teams that axed their head coaches on “Black Monday” are that much further ahead of the Browns.
So while Jimmy Haslam writes his nurturing letters telling fans to relax, the national media and opposing fans continue to mock and laugh at the Cleveland Browns. Each ticking day that goes by is one more day behind all the other teams looking to build a winner while the Browns stare at an “Iceberg, right ahead!”
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. Have a question or comment for the “ASK Ryan” column on Fridays? Email Ryan at ryan.ruiz@theinscribermag.com