http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2009-12-22/10-pack-what-mike-holmgren-needs-do-straighten-out-browns
ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio weighs in on the Cleveland Browns hiring Mike Holmgren to be their new team president:
With Mike Holmgren joining the Browns as team president only a few days before Christmas, the man known by friend and foe alike as the "Big Show" has plenty of work to do.
So let's try to lighten the load a bit by putting together for him an initial to-do list. Here are 10 things Holmgren should get accomplished long after they paint his name onto the door:
1. Fire Eric Mangini.
After watching their team go 1-11 to start the season, Browns fans are feeling giddy after watching it earn back-to-back wins for the first time since Week 6 of the 2008 season. The victories have spawned a sense that coach Eric Mangini perhaps isn't so bad after all, that maybe he should get another year on the job.
As Mike Holmgren arrives in Cleveland...He shouldn't.
Mangini has been horrible for Cleveland; he has created multiple distractions, and he has alienated players and their agents.
Owner Randy Lerner inexplicably chased Mangini in January, at a time when no one else wanted to hire the man who had just been fired by the Jets.
More important, Mangini has been running the show all year, and he likely won't be thrilled about taking a back seat to Holmgren. So Holmgren needs to make a change right away.
Besides, what if Mangini were to succeed in another season on the job? Holmgren then would be stuck with Mangini, and Mangini would surely take advantage of his newfound juice to accumulate as much power as possible.
So Holmgren needs to get rid of Mangini now.
2. Hire Mangini's replacement.
One obvious candidate is Jim Mora, who might be out in Seattle, depending on who the team's next general manager is.
If Holmgren hopes to have an active role in the Xs and Os, Jim Zorn makes sense, too. He has experience in the top job, and he'd surely defer to any guidance or suggestions Holmgren might make.
Of course, if Holmgren really wants to get involved, he can coach the team himself, something he has not yet ruled out.
3. Pay Josh Cribbs.
Receiver/kick returner Josh Cribbs genuinely believes owner Randy Lerner promised in December 2008 to address Cribbs' substandard contract, which runs through 2012 and which was signed before Cribbs became arguably the best player on the team.
Though the current regime has denied that any such promise was made, it has not denied that former GM Phil Savage promised to take care of Cribbs. That should count for something.
So Holmgren needs to show loyalty to a man who hasn't allowed his contractual situation to affect his play. If anything, he has played better.
On second thought, maybe they shouldn't give him a new deal.
4. Find a quarterback.
Every GM wants to hire his own coach, and every coach wants to land his own quarterback.
...Will Eric Mangini be departing?Not long after Holmgren arrived in Green Bay, GM Ron Wolf traded for Brett Favre. In Seattle, Holmgren the GM traded after the 2000 season for Matt Hasselbeck.
Holmgren first needs to evaluate the guys currently under contract. Maybe Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn is the answer. (Don't laugh. But you may chuckle.)
Next, Holmgren should look to free agency and/or the draft, along with trade possibilities.
Who knows? Maybe the Brett Favre unretirement tour ultimately will end in a reunion with Holmgren.
5. Trade Jerome Harrison.
On the surface, the notion of trading a guy who rushed for 286 yards on Sunday is laughable. But it's important to consider the opponent against whom the performance came.
The Chiefs aren't good. Having a record day against a bad team doesn't mean Harrison will be the next Jim Brown.
But, surely, there's another team out there willing to swing a deal for Harrison, if only for the buzz factor. And Harrison will never have any more trade value than he has right now.
So Holmgren should sell high and use the resulting draft pick(s) on the many other areas of need.
As to replacing Harrison, the draft is replete with guys who can move the chains if they get the blocking.
6. Silence Jim Brown.
Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown works as a member of the team's senior management. As a result, the things that Brown often says about the team carry extra weight than if he were simply a former Browns player with no other connection to the team.
Several weeks ago, Brown blabbed about a supposed interview between Holmgren and Lerner, a disclosure that could have killed Lerner's efforts to land Holmgren.
So one of Holmgren's first challenges will be to find a way to ensure that Brown won't say or do anything to affect the team's strategic interests moving forward.
The best-case scenario would be to sever ties with Brown. Since such a move likely wouldn't be the best way for Holmgren to endear himself to the locals, Holmgren should put Brown on a one-strike arrangement.
7. Dump Bernie Kosar.
Former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar is being groomed for some sort of a role with the organization.
And one of Holmgren's first items of business should be to do to Kosar what Bill Belichick did to him back in the 1990s: say goodbye.
Kosar has no experience as a scout or personnel executive, and the handling of his personal finances inspires zero confidence regarding his ability to participate in the running of a football team.
Sending Kosar on his way would also help Holmgren send a clear message that, while former players who made key contributions to the franchise will be respected and, from time to time, honored, the fact that they once wore an orange helmet gives them no inherent ability or authority to participate in the current management of the franchise.
8. Hire a general manager.
At some point, Holmgren will need to delegate key functions that routinely fall under the jurisdiction of a general manager, such as preparing for free agency and the draft, negotiating contracts and engineering trades. In order to avoid creating the appearance that he's spreading himself too thin, Holmgren should also give that person the GM title, even if Holmgren retains the final say over all personnel moves.
Of course, if Holmgren retains final say, it might be difficult to hire someone away from another team. Under league rules, a front-office executive still under contract with another team may be blocked from taking a GM position elsewhere, unless the job entails control of the roster.
Holmgren could give the GM final say in his contract, while still preserving the ability to tell the GM how to use it. Then again, that could backfire if the GM thinks his contract means what it says.
9. Settle the Kokinis claim.
Former GM George Kokinis has sued the team for the balance of his contract. Kokinis contends that he was fired after clashing with Mangini regarding the extent of Kokinis' authority.
This appears to be a losing battle for the Browns. Even if it isn't, it's impossible to engineer a fresh start if the team is still worrying about stuff that happened before Holmgren arrived. So Holmgren should advise Lerner to get that claim settled ASAP.
10. Tell Randy Lerner to have no communication with the media.
Holmgren also should advise the owner to have no discussions or other communications with folks who cover football for a living. Most owners cultivate a sense of privacy and distance, and Lerner seems to prefer both.
So it really shouldn't be a hard sell for Holmgren. But given that Lerner has developed relationships with some members of the media in the past year, due in large part to the fact that Mangini has all the charisma of wet cardboard, it might be hard for Lerner to quit responding to calls, e-mails and/or text messages.
Regardless, Lerner needs to quit. He wanted someone to take the operation over, and now Lerner has him. He should let Holmgren be the one to deal with any requests from folks who have questions about the team.
Mike Florio writes and edits ProFootballTalk.com and is a regular contributor to Sporting News. Check out PFT for up-to-the minute NFL news.
Lenin
Junior Member
L
22
posts
L
Lenin
Junior Member
22
posts
Tue, Dec 22, 2009 10:23 AM
Dec 22, 2009 10:23 AM
Dec 22, 2009 10:23am
