Flawed system
What started out as a coach-GM partnership eventually frittered into a GM-takes-the-turf scenario
That fact became more and more apparent as Monday went on and more and more folks started talking about the Browns' situation.
Lerner conceded Monday morning that former GM Phil Savage had final say in the hiring of assistant coaches.
Savage always was in charge of the draft.
And, as Savage said many times, he chose the 53-man-roster.
This had coach Romeo Crennel in a position of leading a team of players he didn't choose or draft and working with coaches that were not his.
Consider a head coach working with two coordinators he did not hire. That's what Crennel did this season.
This is not to say that Crennel did not like and respect Rob Chudzinski and Mel Tucker. He did.
But Savage picked them.
The coaching staff, for instance, did not favor the drafting of linebacker Beau Bell or tight end Martin Rucker.
Savage decided to do so, and even traded a future draft pick to acquire Rucker.
As the season went on, neither played. Because the coaches did not think they could.
Jerome Harrison was used as a change-of-pace back, and at times, it was effective. But the coaching staff did not think he could handle a larger workload. Same with Joshua Cribbs, who had trouble learning plays at receiver, let alone quarterback.
Draft picks also found homes in Cleveland for a longer time than the coaching staff deemed worthy. Word around the league was that if a player was drafted by the Browns, he'd get three years no matter what he did.
Guys like Antonio Perkins, Babatunde Oshinowo, David McMillan, DeMario Minter and Isaac Sowells were carried for two or three years because the guy who drafted them decided on the final roster.
