Browns: Pettine And Farmer Have Been Fired

The firings and changes have already started with the Cleveland Browns.

The never-ending cycle of poor results continue to impact the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland has fired Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer of their head coach and general manager duties respectively shortly after their loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite working together over the last two seasons, Pettine was not Farmer’s choice as head coach. After finishing 3-13, the Browns’ failed to take the next step under that regime’s leadership. The Browns have lost 18 of their last 21 games and Pettine finished with a record of 10-22.

Both Farmer and Pettine had their reasons to be let go. Among them, poor decisions during the draft were made, Farmer’s texting situation which resulted in a four game suspension, Pettine’s inability to adjust in-game, and not managing the basics of a head coach all affected Cleveland negatively. In order to obtain and maintain consistency and success, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam must hit a home run with their replacements.

Speaking of replacements, who could be the new head coach and general manager? There have been many names linked to possibly being the next coach.

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Until Haslam determines if a coach will be hired first or not (hopefully that does not happen), that role is up in the air. Hiring a general manager first is what most of the teams do, will Cleveland do that?

In what could be seen as a typical Browns move, their next general manager may already be employed by the team. Their head lawyer Sashi Brown could be hired, who is big into analytics. He has been given control of the 53 man roster, but no word yet on the GM role. Though analytics is becoming more popular in sports, hiring an established football operations mind should be Cleveland’s preference. An established veteran who is used to drafting players is critical.

"Our focus as we move forward is on finding strong, smart leaders with high character who are relentlessly driven to improve our football team, willing to look at every resource possible to improve, and who embrace collaboration to ultimately make the best decisions for the Cleveland Browns."

In order to achieve that, Haslam almost has to overpay the team’s next head coach and general manger. It is tough to see anyone lose a job. However, the firings were needed. If Pettine and Farmer continued in their roles, the likelihood of a turn-around is hard to imagine.

After watching how the Pettine/Farmer regime worked, it is safe to say their results could not be a win-win for them and the team. That is because each of them were in their roles for the first time. Also, with Haslam’s impatience since being an owner has not helped at all.

Once Haslam decides on who will take over for Pettine and Farmer, as long they can continue to progress, patience must be implemented. Otherwise, the reset button would be hit again.

The decisions made tonight are a big of the iceberg, but many more changes are coming. Does Haslam understand a new QB is going to be needed?

Next: Top Five Worst Transactions By Ray Farmer

That will be answered soon enough.

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