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The Cleveland Browns announced today that Eric Mangini is their new head coach. Coach Mangini was just fired by the N.Y. Jets last week, but by accepting the Browns’ head coaching position, he is, in a sense, returning home. Coach Mangini began his NFL career as a ball boy with the Browns back in 1994 under then-coach Bill Belichick. He then followed coach Belichick to New England in 2000 before eventually departing for New York in 2006.

I think too much blame was placed on coach Mangini when the Jets lost four of their last five games to miss the playoffs. Of course, he is the head coach and the responsibility of the team ultimately falls on his shoulders. But I think he got a bad rap. He’s a good football coach and will hopefully do well with the Browns. That being said, I must admit I thought the decision was very quick for a couple reasons. First of all, coach Mangini is a former defensive coordinator. He’s a defensive guy. If the Browns need to have a focus, it would be on the offensive side of the ball where they were second to last in the entire NFL and didn’t score an offensive touchdown in their final six games. Of course, their defense wasn’t much better (26th statistically) so maybe I’m making too much out of that. But I must say — typically (unless it’s the Browns), a team will hire a general manager before a head coach. And since firing former GM Phil Savage along with former head coach Romeo Crennel as soon as this regular season ended, the Browns were in the market for two key ingredients. They are still in the market for a new GM. It seems kind of backwards and obviously didn’t work too well for Cleveland the last time around. Coach Mangini will talk with the media in an intro presser tomorrow.

Source: ClevelandBrowns.com, Photo: Newscom

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Browns Name Eric Mangini Head Coach

Moments after completing a disastrous 4-12 season, Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner announced the firing of general manager Phil Savage. This morning, the Browns continued their housecleaning by firing head coach Romeo Crennel. Both Mr. Savage and coach Crennel released statements today:

ROMEO CRENNEL

“I would like to thank Randy Lerner for giving me the opportunity to coach the Cleveland Browns. Some progress was made in my four years here, but not enough to go forward in this position. The support from the community and the fans has been greatly appreciated. Though this past year has been tough, my experience in Cleveland has been a good one. I did not win enough games so I must move on. Thank you for the opportunity.”

PHIL SAVAGE

“I would like to thank Randy Lerner for giving me the opportunity to work for the Cleveland Browns over these past four seasons. Things did not go as well as we had expected, particularly in 2008, however, I do anticipate this team bouncing back and having success in the future.”

Neither of these dismissals surprised me in the least. After flirting with the playoffs last season, the Browns were a monumental disappointment this season. Obviously, you have to sympathize with the team for losing their top two quarterbacks as a huge factor in not scoring an offensive touchdown in their final six games, but the carnage really started long before that. The Browns began the season with high expectations and an 0-3 record. Not entirely unlike Dallas, the Browns have a lot of talented players on their current roster but lack the team chemistry to get beyond the regular season. In Cleveland’s case, they weren’t even close.

Media rumors have been swirling for some time that former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher was in-line to be coach Crennel’s replacement. But coach Cowher confirmed his disinterest after a meeting with Mr. Lerner.

Source: ClevelandBrowns.com, NFL.com

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Cleveland Browns Begin Housecleaning, Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage Fired

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The Cleveland Browns’ luck has gone from bad to worse. Any quarterback controversy officially ended last week when then-starter Brady Quinn’s season ended with a injury. He had replaced Derek Anderson nine games into the season and the “Brady Quinn Era” had begun. Now, no sooner did Derek get his starting job back than his season looks like it’s over after he suffered an MCL sprain today during the 4th quarter of a miserable 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Afterward, Browns head coach Romeo Crennel called it like he saw it:

“I’m not encouraged by the way he came off the field.”

That means it’s Glenn Dorsey’s turn to quarterback the Browns the rest of the way, but I don’t know that it matters much at this point. Outside of getting some experience for next season and the always exhilarating playing for pride, the Cleveland Browns’ season essentially ended last month. At 4-8, Cleveland is jockeying for position in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Source: ClevelandBrowns.com, Photo: Newscom

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Derek Anderson Likely Out For Season

In response to some of his players’ (Jamal Lewis, Josh Cribbs) comments that the team quit against the Denver Broncos last week, Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel said it just isn’t so and took the remarks seriously:

“I think players respect me as a coach, they play for me as a coach so when that word ‘quit’ comes up you take it personally. The team is my team. The product that is out there on the field is a reflection of me. When they do good, I do good. When they do bad, I do bad. When they say that the team quit, it’s saying that I quit. And I know that I am not a quitter and my players don’t quit.”

Coach Crennel advised his team to stop looking back and start looking ahead to their upcoming MNF game against the Buffalo Bills. As I said in a previous post, this is a very intriguing game for two desperate teams — the Browns (3-6) being more desperate than the Bills (5-4), but both teams are searching for an identity and it might take this game to find out if either team has one. It’s not rocket science on my part, but I believe the loser of this game will miss the playoffs this season. For the Browns, it might already be too late.

Source: ClevelandBrowns.com

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Romeo Crennel Says Browns Didn’t Quit

The Cleveland Browns suspended tight end Kellen Winslow for one game without pay for his recent comments that were determined detrimental to the team. Here is the full statement issued by Browns GM Phil Savage today:

“The Cleveland Browns are committed to winning and taking care of our players. We are also committed to protecting the privacy of our players, particularly with regard to medical issues. To that end, following discussions with Kellen Winslow and his representation, the Browns agreed to make every effort to maintain the confidentiality of his recent medical condition.

“As an organization, we have worked hard to ensure the safety and well-being of our players. Consistent with this effort, we have consulted the team’s medical experts to ensure that any instances of staph infections are evaluated and treated thoroughly and expeditiously, and in accordance with the recommended standard of care. Further, steps have been and continue to be taken on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis to protect our players and personnel at our training facility and stadium.

“During training camp, the entire team took part in an extensive presentation by experts in the field of infectious diseases. It was an educational meeting that informed players of the issues, how to prevent and minimize the risks of infection, and what preventative measures we as an organization had employed to assure maximum safety for the team combined with a Q&A session for the players. Kellen was in attendance at that meeting. Since that meeting, not one player has approached me, Romeo Crennel, or our medical staff with concerns as to how we have dealt with this issue.

“Kellen has expressed his desire to be a productive member of the Cleveland Browns. His comments and behavior on Sunday evening, however, were unwarranted, inappropriate, and unnecessarily disparaging to our organization. His statements brought unjustified negative attention to our organization, and violated the team-first concept of our football squad. Therefore, disciplinary action will be taken in the form of a one-game suspension without pay for conduct detrimental to the club.

“Beginning Wednesday, the focus of the coaches and players will be on preparing for the upcoming game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.”

Kellen’s teammates tried to talk him out of his tirade to the media, but Kellen decided it was worth $235,294 — his one-game paycheck — to speak his mind. This is a tough one. Mr. Savage’s statement makes it sound like — as a player — if you were at the scheduled educational seminar on how to avoid contracting a staph infection, you should be expected to not get a staph infection. And if you do — no matter what rumors are going around about your condition — the team will cover it up as an “undisclosed illness.”

The Browns weren’t protecting Kellen. They were protecting their own reputation. Nevertheless, Kellen should have kept his comments to himself and encouraged Mr. Savage to come clean with the truth about why he was in the hospital. If Kellen already went down that road to no avail and can afford to lose almost a quarter of a million dollars to tell his story, I say go for it.

Source: ClevelandBrowns.com

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Browns Suspend Kellen Winslow

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Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn and left tackle Joe Thomas appeared at a rally for Republican presidential candidate John McCain this past week. Meanwhile, linebacker Willie McGinest (along with Cleveland Cavs star Lebron James) were pumping voter registration at a Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama rally recently. Will this promote division in the Browns locker room? Head coach Romeo Crennel gathered his squad and told them not to let politics become a dividing force within the team:

“Their politics are their politics as long as they don’t interfere with the team. My main concern is that they don’t get on the soap box here in the locker room. That’s why the ballot is a secret ballot when you go vote.”

This political season has sparked some very heated debate and I agree with coach Crennel to warn his team of the potential division the election could create. I see it in my own life everyday. Some people who used to speak to me no longer do because of my political affiliation. Is that insane? But it happens. And it could happen to the Cleveland Browns if they aren’t careful. Then again, considering their 1-3 start with the defending Super Bowl champion and currently undefeated N.Y. Giants in town for Monday Night Football in two days, maybe they need a good shaking up.

Source: The Chronicle-Telegram, Photo: Newscom

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Romeo Crennel Discourages Political Talk

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After an unexpected 0-3 start to this 2008 season, Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel is considering a quarterback change to give his team a spark. All-Pro QB Derek Anderson is struggling to match (or even come close to) his success from last season. Thus far he has five interceptions and a 43.5 passer rating. And only two touchdowns. Uggh. The Browns have scored a measley 26 points and are a loss away from panic mode. So Coach Crennel is (possibly) making the necessary adjustments:

“The thing we have to do is evaluate what we’ve done so far and who can give us the best chance to win. We have to look at all of the positions. We’ll definitely try to get the other guy ready and get him ready to go and we’ll see how it progresses from there.”

Ok, let’s me read into that. It’s what I do. The “other guy” is backup quarterback Brady Quinn. And “getting him ready” most likely means having Brady share the number of first-team reps in practice this week. I don’t think the Browns can afford to fool around here with shared snaps, though. No offense to Derek, but the “Brady Quinn era” is inevitable. What better time to make it happen than now?

Granted, the team’s 0-3 start is not all Derek Anderson’s fault. He hasn’t played well but neither have a lot of other players. The defense is 23rd in the NFL. Superstar receiver Brayon Edwards has a bunch of drops (he was one of the league leaders in that category last season). And then there’s the tough schedule. The Browns have three losses against three excellent teams — Dallas, Pittsburgh and Baltimore are a combined 7-1. But a change at the quarterback position could ignite this team. And the excitement generated by Brady Quinn could be just what the Browns need to turn their season around and make a run at the playoffs before it’s too late. With the winless Bengals on the sked next, now is the time to see what Brady Quinn can do.

Source: ClevelandBrowns.com, Photo: Newscom

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Cleveland Browns Thinking Brady Quinn

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I was happy to see Gary Baxter sign a one-year deal to stay with the Cleveland Browns today. Gary’s had more than his share of health problems since he arrived in Cleveland. He’s only played in eight games with the Browns since they signed him to a six-year, $30 million free agent deal in March 2005. As avid readers know, Gary’s one of my favorite players and his story is an incredible demonstration of courage and determination. When he returns to the playing field, he’ll become the first NFL player to make it back from two torn patellar tendons, the most serious of his numerous injuries over the past few years. Upon signing the contract today, Gary said:

“Both Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel brought me back and that shows a lot of loyalty and respect on the Browns’ behalf. They know how hard I’ve been working. I’m running and feeling good. I’m putting in everything I’ve got. Things are looking very positive.”

And positive is Gary’s middle name. This is a business and the Browns had no obligation to bring Gary back without any assurance of his effectiveness. This is a talented young team on the verge of the playoffs and they need every advantage they can get. Believe me, Gary is not only going to be an advantage on the field, he’ll be an advantage in the locker room as well. There couldn’t be a better example of commitment in any walk of life than what Gary Baxter’s accomplished just to walk again, let alone play a professional sport. I applaud the Browns for sticking with him. Gary will return to the team as a safety (instead of cornerback) because of the speed he’s lost in rehab. And I believe he’ll have no problem whatsoever adjusting to that position. When he was attempting a comeback last fall, I had the chance to interview him just prior to his expected return. Although he didn’t make it back last season, he plans to be ready for training camp in ‘08.

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Gary Baxter Gets Another Shot With Browns

The winter storm that has an icy grip on Indianapolis has slowed things down outside. But as promised, today was a whirlwind of activity around the Media Work Room here at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine. The players being shuttled in and out were mostly wide receivers, running backs and quarterbacks.

My day was really one big press conference with a few of my own interviews thrown in for good measure. I took part in every head coach presser — Tom Coughlin (Giants), Brad Childress (Vikings), Gary Kubiak (Texans), Tony Dungy (Colts), Herm Edwards (Chiefs), Scott Linehan (Rams), Jim Zorn (Redskins), Jack Del Rio (Jags), Mike McCarthy (Packers) and Romeo Crennel (Browns).

Several team VIPs were also speaking with the media — Packers GM Ted Thompson, Texans GM Rick Smith, Redskins VP of Football Ops Vinny Cerrato, Jags VP of Player Personnel James Harris, Browns GM Phil Savage and Rams Executive VP of Player Personnel Bill Devaney.

We also had a surprise guest — Cleveland Browns RB Jamal Lewis who recently signed a new three-year contract with the team. Jamal said he wants to play three more years and finish his career as a Cleveland Brown. He was thankful the team gave him that opportunity. He just wants to help the Browns get to the Super Bowl and feels they are making strides to get there. When asked how much gas he had left in his proverbial tank, he said:

“I’ve been answering that question for the last three years. I’m the old Jamal. A lot of gas is left in the tank. I work hard in the offseason to prepare myself for a 20-to-24-game season. I’m healthy and when I’m healthy I’m a good Jamal.”

Coach Childress gave some great insight into the career of Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson. While Tarvaris had an up-and-down 2007 season, his second half play in a loss to the Broncos in the final game of the season was what the team would look for mentality and physically next fall. Coach said he looked forward to Tarvaris logging more games in his third season as a starter. Personally, I think I would’ve pulled the plug by now. But I would like to see Tarvaris succeed. He certainly needs to keep working on his mechanics and he needs to be more consistent. Coach Childress also mentioned that DE Kenechi Udeze, who is battling a form of leukemia, told him: “Coach, this is nothing more than a cold. I’m gonna beat this.”

That would have been a full day in itself. But the offensive skill position players were in and out of the Media Work Room all day as well. Big names that are expected to be called very early in this upcoming Draft — like Matt Ryan (Boston College), Darren McFadden (Arkansas), Rashard Mendenhall (Illinois) and Mario Manningham (Michigan) — all stopped by for a visit. And Brian Brohm (Louisville), who hopes to have a great Combine workout to challenge Matt Ryan for the top QB spot, felt his game was NFL-ready:

“I think the system I was in is going to help me tremendously to play in the NFL. Under Coach Petrino, it was pretty much the same type of system the New York Giants run. It’s where he got the offense when he was with Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville. We were in that system for three years. Then we switched over to a more accountable one back spread with zone running my last year. But just being able to adjust to new systems and being in a pro style system, I think is going to help me out a lot.”

I couldn’t agree more, but I don’t think he’ll be able to do enough to be the first QB taken in April. I think this is a solid group of QBs. The aforementioned Matt Ryan and Brian Brohm. Kentucky’s Andre Woodson. Michigan’s Chad Henne. USC’s John David Booty. Hawaii’s Colt Brennan. These guys were superstars in college and I feel like they can make an impact in the NFL.

Finally, what better way to end the day than to slide (literally — remember, I’m stuck in the middle of a winter storm here in Indy) four blocks down Maryland Ave. to Conseco Fieldhouse for the Pacers/Nets game. A special thanks to Pacers Director of Media Relations David Benner for the hook-up. By the way, Indiana won 113-103. (Check out our Sports Channel’s NBA blog — NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.)

Additional Photos by David Kindervater

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NFL Scouting Combine 2008: Day Two