WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE NEED FOR ALIGNMENT? REALLY?

By STEVE KING

No wonder the Browns have struggled so much in this horrible expansion era.

I mean, what other conclusion can be derived from there being so much talk about the need to find alignment between the head coach and the general manager the Browns plan to hire?

It’s as if this is some kind of epiphany, that the club is looking for something that has never been done before in the history of pro football – that the Browns are sailing into uncharted waters by carving out a niche that will set the tone for all teams going forward.

Are you kidding me?

Are you serious?

It should be a foregone conclusion – it should be obvious, shouldn’t it? – that the head coach and GM have to have a strong professional relationship for the team to have any chance for success? If these two men don’t agree on player procurement and the way the club should be built, then all they are going to do is argue. Nothing will ever get done.

That people are talking and writing about it indicates the Browns apparently didn’t understand that. How can that be? Current Browns owner Jimmy Haslam owns a big company and so did his predecessor, Randy Lerner. They know the importance of all involved parties being on the same page to that point that it is a professional marriage.

We know that the Browns coaches and GMs grew to despise each other. But did they ever like each other? Were they ever aligned (man, I hate that word). Did the Browns hire these men knowing that they were not a real team within the team?

That’s a real indictment of just how bad this organization has been, that, as constituted fundamentally, it had no opportunity to win.

Do we have to point out to the Browns that it would also be a good idea if the coach and GM knew a little bit about football?

Yikes!