Report: Mike Lombardi “a strong frontrunner” for Browns GM position

by Cleveland Frowns on December 4, 2012

This time it comes from longtime Pro Football Weekly editor Hub Arkush, as respected a name as there is in the business, who’s hit all the big Cleveland news outlets with his report.

Per Tony Grossi, Arkush says:

“We have it confidentially from very good sources close to the story that Mike [Lombardi] is a strong front-runner for the job. If you work (your) way backwards you’ll find a Banner/Lombardi connection in Philly. Problem is Tom Heckert still has the job and if he’s fired then there’s the Rooney rule . . . But we believe once the dust settles it’ll be Mike.”

And Grossi pulls no punches in noting that a Lombardi hire would be, “a regrettable decision that would kill the credibility of [Jimmy] Haslam and [Joe] Banner as a formidable management team in the NFL …[,] sap the positive energy of the ownership change[, and] remind us in Cleveland that as bad as it’s been, it could always get worse.”

Again, it’s hard to disagree with Grossi here.

—————

RELATED:

  • A Silver and Black Illustrated piece from 2007 discussing then-Raiders coach Art Shell’s allegations that his then-GM Lombardi “call[ed] reporters around the country [to} criticiz[e] the Raiders coach staff, particularly then-offensive coordinator Tom Walsh.”
  • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns
    • Cranky M

      Thanks for posting this. I hadn’t heard anything since the initial report. Nice to know more about the guy. Truly heartbreaking stuff. Lost too many people the same way, feel terrible for his friends and family.

  • http://twitter.com/cpmack Chris M

    OH. MY F%^&ING GOD. I swear, here is what I just heard on 92.3, this moment:

    [Deep-voiced radio promo guy] “WHEN YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW THE BROWNS REBUILDING JOB IS GOING, YOU NEED A GUY YOU CAN TRUST WHO HAS DONE THE JOB RIGHT HERE IN CLEVELAND. MIKE LOMBARDI, HERE WITH YOU ON BASKIN AND PHELPS.”

    I seriously almost spit my coffee all over my keyboard as I was reading this.

    • BIKI024

      He’s on every week at 10am Tuesdays on their show, it’s a plug for the spot. They both have said on-air that they want Heckert to stay. But who knows, if Lombardi is package deal with his old buddy Nick Saban, then I’m sure many of you will come around on him.

      • Cranky M

        That would make me want him even less, if that’s possible.

      • Believelander

        Why would anyone want Nick Saban?

  • etc

    Re: the draft picks, they’re pretty obviously bad. I wonder, did Belichick have a hand in any of that? It might be hard to say, but he’s certainly a control freak and his last few drafts in NE without Pioli haven’t been great.

    Still doesn’t forgive Lombardi, I just wonder if there is more to the story.

    • https://twitter.com/jimkanicki jimkanicki

      that’s fair point and i dont know. belichick’s draft record is not particularly strong for sure. nate ebner aside.
      next time i have cycles, ill take a look at lombardi’s record in oakland. (im just using pro-football-reference.com for this of course.)

      • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

        In fairness to Lombardi re: Oakland, Al Davis.

        • nj0

          When the only teams that will hire you are an Al Davis owned Raiders and the Cleveland Browns, you deserve no fairness.

        • Cranky M

          That’s true. Davis certainly had final say in Oakland, and Belichick may have in Cleveland. But the fact remains that he ripped the Browns for choosing Haden over Wilson (in retrospect, that seems even more idiotic now), for drafting Gordon, for this last draft class….those are not encouraging signs.

          • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

            As much as he might be dead right about Weeden, it’s easy to sit back and take shots and be right one every few of them.

          • Cranky M

            It seems (to me, at least) that he has some sort of strange anti-Cleveland vendetta. He rips every move they make. That makes it even more bizarre if he is seriously being considered.

          • NeedsFoodBadly

            It makes it increasingly clear that Haslam is a Manchurian candidate sent by the Pittsburgh Steelers to torpedo the Browns organization from the inside, once and for all. Installing Lombardi is only the first piece.

          • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

            Seems pretty obvious. Goddammit I knew it.

    • nj0

      According to Wikipedia, Lombardi was with the Raiders from ’99-’07. How much input he had in drafts, who knows?

      http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/draft.htm

      • etc

        A bleacher report article said he didn’t have much to do with the 2007 draft, which was JaMarcuss Russel, but that he did trade Moss to NE. So I don’t know.

        Here’s the kanickilink to the raiders drafts:
        http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/draft.htm

        Not good from 2000-2006. Robert Gallery and Janikowski stand out. Sure Janikowski is good but in the first round?

        • Believelander

          Unfortunately Al Davis was in control of the Raiders’ drafting. I don’t think Lombardi was very good, but the Raiders’ draft decisions were always what Al Davis wanted.

  • http://bryanjoiner.com/ Bryan Joiner

    Bad organizations: Always trying to fix today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions.

  • nj0

    So now I’m basically stuck rooting for Shurmur to run the table, big money style, so Haslem can’t replace him and Heckert. What good has being a Cleveland sports fan ever done me?

    • Cranky M

      I never would have guessed that i would be rooting for Shurmur to keep his job, but i’m suddenly right there with you. More because of Heckert, of course, but whatever it takes….

  • CleveLandThatILove

    I got the feeling listening to KNR this AM that Lombardi would mean Nick Saban.

    • Cranky M

      He worked out really well for Miami. Sweet lord. That type of coach cannot succeed in the NFL. Being an asshole dictator may fly in college when you’re deling with kids, but professional players aren’t going to put up with that bullshit.

      • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

        There’s no reason to think Saban wouldn’t be a great NFL coach. Miami was a mess and he was smart to take the Bama job when he did.

        • Cranky M

          I just don’t see how his style/attitude would translate well to the NFL. By all accounts, he is basically a tyrant. Might work with college kids, but professionals aren’t going to take kindly to being treated like that.
          I could be wrong. I just hate coaches who act like that.

          • Steve

            But when he has coached in the NFL, the results have been decent enough. The Browns defense was solid when he was here, and he got more out of Miami than the guys before and after him.

          • nj0

            The way he left the Dolphins forever ruined my opinion of him. I’m not ready to sell my soul just to win games.Can’t we get a good coach who actually wants to be here and won’t bolt at the first sign of adversity?

          • Steve

            I’m not sure how he left is really any worse than most situations like that. He was going to be damned no matter what he said.

          • nj0

            I’ve got a problem with lying.

          • Steve

            I do too, and that’s nice and all, but just not realistic in these scenarios. It’s not like Saban could avoid the questions, he was getting peppered at every turn about Alabama. You can’t magically “no comment” the questions away, and without a signed contract, no matter what he said, he’d get called a liar.

          • nj0

            Yeah, the circus was unavoidable. I would have preferred a statement early in December such as – I am not currently considering the Alabama job and will not answer any more questions about during the season.

            I refuse to give a pass on lying to a fanbase just because it makes life easier on a coach.

          • bupalos

            >>> I’m not ready to sell my soul just to win games.>>>

            Our current owner is on a mission to destroy the planet. I think we can cut Saban a little slack for simple screaming and lying.

          • bupalos

            Water bottle fines?

        • atdietz80

          Nick Saban will not leave Alabama for HC job of the Browns. He has a statue outside the stadium in Tuscaloosa already. He is cementing his legacy as the preeminent coach in college football. What does he gain by coming here? Being the guy who got the Browns into the playoffs? Maybe he’d have a statue outside the Factory of Sadness for that. The man is in his sixties and now is not the time to jump back into the pros. He does not need the payday. He’d almost take a pay cut. That door is closed. As far as Lombardi goes, he was instrumental in signing Andre Rison. He was in the room when BB made the Kosar decision so that Todd Philcox could lead us into battle. He’s barely tolerable in the air, I don’t need him screwing this team up again.

          • Steve

            This sounds like it was written by a good ol’ boy Tide homer. Nick Saban will not leave Alabama just like he’ll take the pay raise from LSU, or stick with Miami. I don’t let coaches lying about where they’re going bother me anymore, they’re going to do it no matter what, but nj0 is right, Saban takes lying to a new standard.

      • Steve

        15-17 isn’t great, but its not dumpster-fire, especially when you compare it to the 4-12 and 1-15 records that surround his time there.

        And not that our QB situation is any better, but he had to deal with a 34 year old Gus Frerotte, and then Joey Harrington/a broken-down Culpepper. Bill Walsh isn’t winning many games in that situation.

  • SteamingPileOfCraphonsoThorpe

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

  • RGB
  • Defenestration
  • vespo09

    So, facing the Chiefs and Redskins in the next two games, does the karma of the Wahoo Curse balance out?

    • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

      Not even close. Why would you even ask this question? http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/the-curse-of-chief-wahoo/Content?oid=2954423

      • vespo09

        I’ve read that before – it’s quite well done. I was pointing out the Chiefs and Redskins more than anything else… that these games will be played in some kind of giant negative karma zone, bad for both sides.

        • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

          Thanks. What I meant was that neither of those teams uses a symbol that’s anything close to as demeaning as Wahoo.

          And re: “Redskins” there’s all kinds of evidence that it’s not a pejorative (any more than calling white people “white” or black people “black” is).

          http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/02/AR2005100201139.html

          “Smithsonian Institution senior linguist Ives Goddard spent seven months researching its history and concluded that “redskin” was first used by Native Americans in the 18th century to distinguish themselves from the white “other” encroaching on their lands and culture.

          Goddard cites numerous historical examples of Natives using the terms “red skin” and “white skin” in this way to back up his claim that “[the term] came [about] in the most respectful context and at the highest level.” For example:

          [A] news story in the Missouri Gazette on talks between Midwestern Indian tribes and envoys sent by President James Madison to negotiate treaties after the War of 1812 [quotes] Meskwaki chief Black Thunder [as] unimpressed [with the envoys' entreaties]: ‘Restrain your feelings and hear calmly what I say,’ he told the envoys. ‘I have never injured you, and innocence can feel no fear. I turn to all red skins and white skins, and challenge an accusation against me.’”

          • NeedsFoodBadly

            There’s a fallacy in your argument, which is addressed in the article you link to.

            While the idea that American Indians have used the term “red skins” to describe themselves in the provides good historical context, what went down in 1815 does not necessarily apply to present day. Which is stated at the close of the article – “The final message… is that even if the Indians were the first to use it, the origin has no relationship to later use. What happened at the beginning doesn’t justify it today.”

            This is analogous to the other racial characterizations. Think of the NAACP. Historically, colored people was the term that African-Americans might’ve used to describe themselves, but I highly doubt most people would feel comfortable tossing “colored people” around today. The meaning has changed over time (in this case, over a period of decades – forget the 100s of years suggested by Goddard’s research).

            The fact that a Native activist is cited in that article as deeply resentful of the term redskins immediately after the passage you quote shows how the term is received today amongst some contemporaries.

            So some Native peoples would very much argue that yes, redskins is quite demeaning.

          • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

            I don’t disagree with that. Thank you. I do think there’s a big difference though between that and something like Wahoo which was never ever OK.

          • Believelander

            Wahoo: formerly accepted pejorative caricature
            Redskin: formerly accepted pejorative slang

            I agree. Caricature is 10 letters and slang is 5

  • http://www.redright88.com/ Tom_RedRight88

    Until someone actually puts their name to the Lombardi news, I’m going to hold on to the notion that this is just Lombardi or his agent saying, “hey, the Browns are interested in me because I know Joe Banner.”

    As for Grossi … it’s good that he is pointing out Lombardi’s past miscues as, increasingly, we are becoming a sports town that is quick to rewrite history when someone leaves.

    However, Grossi has such an axe to grind with the Browns and has made no attempt to hide it since he moved on from the PD, it’s hard to take anything he writes as being more than just him getting his panties in a twist.

    He slammed MKC’s story with Haslam last week and is bitchy because Banner and Haslam won’t return his phone calls, but will still talk to the beat writers from the PD and the Beacon.

    When that comes through in his writing, it’s hard to look past and see if he is saying anything credible.

    • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

      I don’t necessarily disagree re: Grossi, but he does bring up some good points and interesting historical context.
      As far as someone “putting their name to the Lombardi news,” Hub Arkush already did. He’s a respected name. What more do you want? There’s no way Lombardi, Banner, or anyone with the Browns could confirm it until after the season.

      • http://www.redright88.com/ Tom_RedRight88

        I want someone to go on the record, not just put out a “report” saying something may happen with no attribution.

        If Lombardi or the agent is the source, say so. If it’s Banner, say so.

        I know they won’t do that, but that doesn’t mean we can’t hold them to a higher standard.

        • nj0

          You make a good point. So many people in Berea stand to gain from planting this kind of rumor.

          Guy who was hired by Heckert: “Guess what – the Browns will hire the worst personnel guy out there if Heckert gets fired!”

          Cleveland rabble: “RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!”

          Just going to have to let this play out.

          • jaws

            my god I hope you’re right. Genius move if it keeps heckert in town, which is ultimately what is best for the browns.

      • Believelander

        The one key is that Arkush reported that he ‘believes’ Heckert is gone and that Lombardi will be the GM. He didn’t cite any sources as having stated it. This is his take on what he thinks is going to happen.

    • actovegin1armstrong

      I agree RR88, (I cringe at your name).
      Lombardi will not be with the Browns next year.

  • maxfnmloans

    If this happens, I will be apopleptic

    we just can’t have nice things

    I’ve read from Grossi and others that Banner wants control over the “53″. Anyone else heard this?

    Because if that’s true, I don’t see Heckert simply ceding this authority. He’d probably just walk away.

    Then the Browns (i.e. Banner) can say, “We offered Tom an opportunity to remain with the team with some new responsibilities, but he decided to move on, and we wish him the best…”

    I was done with the Browns after the draft. The only wiggle room I left was “until Lerner sells”. Then that actually happened. I couldn’t believe it. I knew this was going to be a tough year, but I was so renewed with hope from the moment I heard Randy was gone.

    Hearing these rumors puts me back in that very unhappy place again.

    • Cranky M

      I’ve heard the same thing about Banner wanting control of the roster. Hell, he himself implied as much in one of his press conferences, when he kept rambling about how he personally scouted every player the Eagles drafted during his tenure.

      • maxfnmloans

        if that ends up being the case, then that is very bad news. Why even have a GM at that point?

  • Cranky M
    • Cranky M

      Jim Donovan gave me the giggles.

    • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

      For sure.

  • Cranky M

    This sincerely and severely depresses me. I told you we should have started a “Keep Heckert” petition/movement, Honest to god, i give up on this team if they hire Lombardi. Unbelievably, absurdly idiotic move. It should be blatantly obvious to EVERYbody that Heckert has done an outstanding job building up the talent on this team.

    • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

      It really is too horrendous to believe.

      • Cranky M

        It’s just depressing that once it feels as if we’re finally moving in a positive direction, they’re going to throw away that momentum and start anew with a freaking hack of a GM.
        But then again, they are the Browns. I guess I should have expected as much.
        If the Lombardi AND Saban rumors are true, then….i don’t know, i can’t even fathom such a thing. Nick Saban is the epitome of everything i hate about certain styles of coaching, and Lombardi strikes me as a smug, incompetent jerk.

        • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

          You know it’s serious when even Terry weighs in to say “no way.”

          http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2012/12/browns_replacing_gm_tom_hecker.html

          • Cranky M

            I hate when Grossi writes something that actually makes me like him for a few moments.
            Lombardi gave the last draft a “C” and hated the Gordon pick. That pretty much sums it up, no? Add in the Haden/Kyle Wilson thing from a few years ago, and i fail to see how anybody could think he would be a good GM.

            I’m going to go stick my head in the oven now.

          • Jim

            This, plus there is a good possibility Heckert hit on more picks in the most recent draft than Lombardi did in his entire tenure with the Browns.

          • Cranky M

            (Sorry, i meant Pluto, not Grossi)

          • Bryan

            Agreed. When Pluto comes this strong AGAINST something, you know its a bad idea.

            And Heckert really deserves some credit now. Even Hardesty looks pretty good these days. And Gordon, Little, Schwarz, T-Rich, Haden, JMJ, Winn, Hughes, Cameron are all indisputably good picks.

          • bupalos

            I have to say at least for now, T-Rich belongs more in the “bad pick” category than the good.

    • Steve

      “I told you we should have started a “Keep Heckert” petition/movement”

      I really enjoy these. Not that we shouldn’t keep Heckert, but a bunch of people signing their names about how angry they are at someone makes zero difference as long fans keep blindly forking over their money.

      • Cranky M

        I was being facetious. In reference to Dawg Poung Mike’s anti-Mangini nonsense.

        • Steve

          Fair enough. Though, of all the fan reactions to actually end up working, of course it would be the dumbest and whiniest.

    • actovegin1armstrong

      I am not in favor of Lombardi by any stretch of the imagination, but Heckert has made some horrible choices.

      I would like to see Frownie, Bupa and Biki, Rochambeau for first choice and then keep picking from there.

      It would be better than Heckert.
      Heckert took a running back in the second round and then the next year he took another with the third pick. He traded up for both!

      Heckert needs to go.

      (Although I do like Monsaskatchewan Hardesty and TRich, they are not worthy of their lofty draft positions

      • Jim

        Montario Hardesty was drafted in the second round in 2010. Trent Richardson was drafted in the first round two years later.

        • actovegin1armstrong

          You are correct Jim, the dismal years of disappointment just run together for me.

      • Cranky M

        So trading up for two RB’s (both of which are good) in a league where almost every team in the league uses multiple RB’s somehow outweighs Haden, Gordon, Little, Taylor, Schwartz, Sheard, etc etc etc?
        I vehemently disagree.

        • bupalos

          Don’t disagree with acto. He called BOTH Russel Wilson AND Doug Martin, probably the two best calls of the entire draft. I think he called for Haden too, way back in the day. He’s got some kind of borderline autistic gift for this stuff.

          But I do generally agree that Heckert has been generally good.

          • actovegin1armstrong

            Thank you Bupa,

            I really do get lucky with draft picks, there were a couple more booms and busts that I called. (Please pardon my arrogance.)

            I factor in intelligence, work ethic and top end speed.

            It depends on the position, but I weigh them far more heavily than silly combine numbers.

            I also rely heavily on the “eye test”.

            Well…. here goes with yet another blast of arrogance, but this is why I see some of those important combine stats as silly.

            Back in the day, my 40 times were good but not great, however I never played against any receiver that I could not just run right past, no matter what their 40 time.

            I was also never caught from behind returning an interception, punt, or kickoff and I oftentimes blew past players who had the angle on me.

            That is why I value top end speed, almost every time when that burst of speed makes the difference in a game, you are already running at at least half speed when it comes time to turn on the jets, not stopped with your hand on the ground like in the 40.

            I tried to start every play moving where I thought I would need to be.

            The combines also measure vertical leap and long jump.

            (Happy to say that I did very well in both, but so what? I never used them in a game.)

            I also once went through a catching drill where I caught everything anywhere near me and then had a coach criticize my “very small hands”. That made me laugh.

            I grew up in the frozen tundra, so I knew that the key to playing in bad weather is small steps, but I was also considered to be not suited to play in bad conditions because I was a 6′ 2″ 250+ lbs guy with size 9 feet.

            (What goes better in the snow and ice, big fat mud tires, or skinny studded snow tires? Some times there is great benefit to having more weight on a small “contact patch”.)

            The “measurable’s” mean very little to me, because they mean very little on the field of play.

  • AlvaroEspinoza10

    to distract from awful Lombardi news, I’m f***in pumped for this travel channel show about the browns that airs tonight. will it be as raw as Hard Knocks? who knows, whatever its unprecedented access into berea. i cant believe we’ll actually get an inside look at how shurmur runs practices, coach meetings, and speaks to the team. ditto heckert and his involvement.

    will this show affect the new coaching search? as in a coach telling haslam, no way i want that distraction. seems like a possibility.

  • jaws

    KEEP HECKERT PLZ KEEP HECKERT NO MICHAEL LOMBARDI

  • nj0

    Huh. Tribe are reportedly one of two teams in serious running for Shane Victorino. Weird. Assumed this would be a pure rebuild year.

    • Jim

      In what world does that signing make sense? Word is that Victorino, at age 32, is looking for a four year deal. I bet a deal gets done at three years, but I don’t see how Victorino helps the Tribe “contend” with all the holes to fill. Given their limited resources, it would seem that rebuilding would be the best option.
      Interesting rumors regarding Cabrera. Apparently Tribe had a deal in place for one major league starting pitcher and two “high quality” prospects, but they asked for three prospects and unnamed team balked at the offer.

      • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

        MLB!!!

        • actovegin1armstrong

          Every day is a good day to talk about baseball!

      • nj0

        Yeah, word is Boston is offering 3 years at like $12+ a year. No thanks.

        I agree though. A strange target for the Indians.

      • Steve

        In a world where the Indians don’t have three good OFs, especially after Choo is gone. Victorino is gone to the Sox now, but the Indians have to put guys in the corner OF, and preferably less Damons and Duncans, and more guys who can help win a game here or there.

        • Jim

          I don’t disagree that the Indians need at least two starting outfielders, but given all the other holes, signing Shane Victorino to be the most expensive player on your team seems to be a bad investment given the teams limited resources.

          • BIKI024

            I believe we only have like $35m on the books.. Remember Pronk and Grady are off the books, that’s $18m right there.

            We got money to spend and Francona loves Victorino, so we’ll see if Terry is able to recruit and sell his vision well..

          • Jim

            Yeah but are you going to commit $13 million of that to Shane Victorino for each of the next three years? Those contracts you cited were team killers for the Indians. No reason to repeat the same mistake and pay a guy who is on the downside of his career and had an .OPS of .704 last year $13 million.

          • Steve

            $13 million is what average-ish outfielders go for these days. Fine, don’t spend it, but then don’t complain when you are putting up with Carrera and (fill in scrap heap OF-du-jour)

          • Jim

            If $13 million is what pays for average-ish outfielders then the Indians have no chance to compete now or in the future. This comment also ignores the fact that the Indians are not competing in 2013 and paying Shane Victorino to be your highest paid player, at age 32, in a rebuild year, makes zero sense, regardless of the size of hole the team has in left field.

          • BIKI024

            who said it was a rebuild year??

      • nj0

        And now that Victorino is gone, word is that the Tribe is meeting with Youk’s agent tomorrow. Can we please just do an honest to god rebuild? We have zero MLB caliber starting pitchers at this point. Would Youk, Victorino, and two league average SPs make any kind of difference on this team?

        We were a 68 win team (outperforming our Pythag too) which leaves us 20 wins behind the Tigers. I just don’t see how we make up that difference in one off-season.

        • Steve

          They don’t put you in the same boat as the Tigers, but they give you a puncher’s chance. Masterson and Jimenez are huge question marks. You get a couple reliable starters instead of Tomlin/Lowe and Masterson/Jimenez break right, and you’ve made up more than half the difference. Now, I’m not saying you can rely on Masterson/Jimenez, but the potential is there.

        • ATL Elitist

          The Indians finish with the same record each year regardless of whether they’re “rebuilding” or “contending”, so don’t sweat it.

  • Believelander

    Michael Lombardi: no thanks. Retreads of guys who have been drummed out of the league aren’t my thing.

  • zarathustra

    I’ll always remember him for his pettiness regarding mangini, however, if it means saban I can probably get over it. The browns drafts weren’t great, but they did have a pretty nice roster those last couple years so he should get some credit there. Moreover, anything that grossi is so against can only be an unqualified good. It’s a scientific fact.

  • GrandRapidsRustlers

    The beauty of the Internet is that you can’t run from your record. There is just so much material on Lombardi it’s not something I really worry about because I’m pretty sure that Pilot has Wi-Fi and Jimmy is aware of all of this.

    I can’t even say how disgusted I would be if Heckert leaves. I think the 2012 draft will go down as one of the best in the history of the franchise. The right coach and this is a playoff team next year.

    Now it’s back to trying to get hired for the Purdue job which will spark a betting scandal over Chedday Bay leading to my dismissal within a week after finding out it was either the Boilermakers or Biscuits. Tough break Purdue.

  • SeattleBrownsFan
    • jpftribe

      Thanks for the link, that is very insightful.

      Always liked Heckert, not initially because of his picks, but because he is a down to earth guy that tells it like it is. Of the big three in the organization, he is the only one that gives you the sense he is telling the truth and he really believes what he is saying. His persona is one that the average Browns fan can identify with. He handles the media well, not by reacting to them, but to reacting to the fan base. You get the feeling from Heckert that you’d love to run into him at the bar and talk football for as long as he can stand it.

      Ozzie was like this as well. I know because I did just that one night when he happened to be in a local watering hole that was practically deserted.

      Now that we’ve seen the impact of his drafts, it’s also obvious the guy is talented and has made solid picks.

      Having said all that, I think it’s more telling what Heckert hasn’t said since the change of ownership. He hasn’t said he was excited or energized by the change. He hasn’t said he wants to see this thing out. He hasn’t come out and made a case for building his career here. He has basically said it’s their decision and we’ll see what happens.

      I think Heckert knew day one he was leaving when Banner came on board, for whatever reason. If Heckert knows this, so does Banner and he is sizing up candidates because he knows he has to make a move. If this is the case, our only hope is that all of these rumours are marketing by Lombardi and his agent, because bringing him on board would be disastrous. Like the franchise moving again disastrous. It would truly be a fatal blow.

      • bupalos

        I don’t know. I’m not going to speak up for Lombardi, but I think there are two things mitigating against total destruction. First, it’s as impossible to be perfectly horrible at drafting as it is at being perfectly good. A lot of what passes as “proof” of one GM’s idiocy and another’s genius is simply small sample size and random variation in attempts to predict the future.

        Second, the organization is going to proceed for the next 3-5 years primarily on the strength of Heckert’s existing work, which appears to be pretty solid. If this organization does start competing and wining divisions in that time period, an underperforming GM isn’t likely to immediately destroy the resulting awakened and methed-up giant that will result. If Lombardi comes on (only somewhat likely) and if he is pretty terrible (pretty highly likely) he’ll do damage, but it seems highly unlikely to me he can do franchise-ending damage.

        • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

          Like for serious consideration of “franchise-ending damage” issue.

          • bupalos

            It does deserve a thought. I mean…he bad.

  • dwhalen

    the piece on Mangini I don’t believe is really that absurd. then again, i’m not a mangini fan, and didn’t like his strategy for “rebuilding.” however the comment that lombardi makes that we gave the 5th pick to the jets and gave them a quarterback who “may save their franchise” speaks pretty strongly to me that he has no fucking idea how to evaluate talent that transfers to NFL success.

    • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

      Well your opinion on Mangini casts all other opinions of yours into serious doubt.

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