It wasn’t always like this, you know.
There was a time when the Browns didn’t have a Grand Canyon-sized void at the top in terms of their general manager, head coach, assistant coaches and personnel people. In fact, they had arguably the greatest collection of football minds in the game at the time, although no one knew it then.
It occurred two decades ago during the last years of the original Browns franchise. Check out this lineup of luminaries:
The head coach was Bill Belichick, the top head coach in the NFL today – for years now — and one of the best of all-time.
The defensive coordinator was Nick Saban, arguably the top head coach in college today, or, with Urban Meyer, one of the two best.
The assistant to the head coach/offense – pro personnel (a big fancy title for being in charge of pro personnel) was Ozzie Newsome, now the best general manager in the NFL.
Think of that, having Belichick, Saban and Newsome on the same team. It doesn’t seem fair to the rest of the NFL.
Think of this: Newsome is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his play on the field as a tight end for the Browns, but with what he’s done with the transplanted Browns, the Baltimore Ravens, has he become a better GM than he was a player? Perhaps. And if it’s true, that’s saying something.
That Newsome in Cleveland was, in essence, the assistant to Mike Lombardi, who had the title of player personnel director and did the basic duties of a GM, is like Picasso serving under a finger painter.
But I digress.
That’s not the end of the story, though. Here are some other notable names who were with the Browns two decades ago:
*Offensive line coach Kirk Ferentz, who, as a longtime head coach at Iowa, has rebuilt the Hawkeyes into a upper-tier Big Ten program, one that has a 5-0 record this year.
*Linebackers coach Al Groh, who went on to become head coach at Virginia, inheriting a struggling program and guiding it to four winning seasons and three bowl berths.
*Coaching scouting assistant Jim Schwartz, who went on to become head coach of the Detroit Lions and is being mentioned as a top candidate to take over that role with the Miami Dolphins.
*Defensive line coach Jim Bates, who, upon leaving Cleveland, was a defensive coordinator for five different NFL teams.
*Special teams coach Scott O’Brien, who was arguably the best special teams coach in the NFL for two decades.
*Special assignment scout Pat Hill, who, as head coach for a decade and a half, took Fresno State to 11 bowl games.
*Pro personnel assistant Scott Pioli, who was Belichick’s chief lieutenant at New England and then GM of the Kansas City Chiefs, and is now assistant GM with the Atlanta Falcons.
*Personnel assistant Thomas Dimitroff Jr., now Pioli’s boss as GM of the Falcons.
*Defensive assistant Phil Savage, formerly Newsome’s assistant GM in Baltimore and a one-time GM with the Browns.
*Quarterbacks coach Rod Dowhower, who went on to become head coach at Vanderbilt.
*Linebackers coach Woody Widenhofer, who followed Dowhower as head coach at Vanderbilt.
*Defensive backs coach Rick Venturi, who went on to become an assistant head coach for several teams in the NFL.
*Offensive assistant Kevin Spencer, a longtime NFL coach who is now special teams coach with the San Diego Chargers and was on the sideline during last Sunday’s 30-27 win over the Browns.
*College scouting assistant George Kokinis, a former Browns GM who is now back in Baltimore working in personnel for Newsome.
*Scout Vince Newsome, now the longtime pro personnel director of the Ravens.
*Offensive assistant Mike Sheppard, who went on to serve as offensive coordinator for three NFL teams.
Indeed, the situation with the Browns in terms of coaching and personnel wasn’t always this bad.
Take this to bank: In 20 years, no one is going to be looking back at the current Browns and raving about all the coaches and personnel people who went on to greatness.
And therein lies a big part of the problem for what is going on in Cleveland now.
By Steve King
