Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is a smart man.
He took his father’s struggling Pilot Flying J service plazas and built them into a giant – the Jim Brown of the industry, as it were.
And when the Browns, the other major entity that he owns, went a dismal 3-13 in 2015, after which the team was broken down to the bare bones to signal the most extensive and complete rebuild in team history, Haslam knew that 2016 was going to be a real challenge as far as getting wins was concerned. Everybody else in the Western Hemisphere knew that as well.
He – and all the other people — were dead-on right, as evidenced by the fact the Browns enter Sunday’s visit to FirstEnergy Stadium by the Pittsburgh Steelers with an 0-10 record.
So none of this was a surprise.
Understanding that, then, I am amazed beyond belief that anyone would come out of Executive Vice President Sashi Brown’s State-of-the-Browns press conference on Monday, thinking they had to report that Haslam is not going to fire everyone in the building – at least right now, anyway.
That is disrespectful to everyone involved, and stupid. It is completely irresponsible.
Sure, Haslam is going to clean house after exactly that everybody was certain would happen, happened.
Yeah, right.
Duh!!!!
Haslam has had a quick trigger-finger in the past, blowing regimes up almost before they got started. And he was heavily criticized for it. When he hired the members of this regime, he made it clear he was going to be patient. After all, he hand-picked these guys.
There’s no way he’s going to blow it up now, or anytime soon. They – and Haslam – are in for the long haul.
To think anything different is … well, simply not thinking at all.
