Sunday, December 20, 2009

You've Got to be Kidding Me

No no no no no no no no no no no:
It's sounding more and more as if Mike Holmgren will accept the Browns' job because of the option to coach the team in addition to being its chief executive.

Holmgren turned down an offer from his beloved Seattle Seahawks to be president of the team, according to the Seattle Times.

Holmgren's abrupt change of heart stunned media and fans in Seattle. As late as Friday afternoon, Holmgren talked on his radio show of wanting to return to the Seahawks.

Holmgren also pointed out the attractions in Cleveland were the absence of "layers" of management between him and owner Randy Lerner, and also the option to do "any and all" of the jobs of president, GM and coach.

God dammit. GM and coach? Seriously? Is Randy Lerner really going to go down this road?

I've loved, absolutely loved, the idea of bringing Holmgren as their "Football Czar." Here's a guy who's been a part of successful organizations and has been to (and won) the Super Bowl. Yes, bring in that guy.

But GM and coach? Didn't we all decide that Eric Mangini was doing too much and that it's extremely hard to handle both jobs? So now they're gonna throw a ton of money (Randy Lerner's specialty) at Mike Holmgren let him do both jobs? Brilliant.

Nevermind the NFL conventional wisdom, Holmgren's own history says that he can't do both. From 98-02, Holmgren was both GM and coach of the Seahawks and their record was 31-33. As just the coach (02-08) he went 55-41 (51-29 before his final season).

It's seems like the Browns are taking one step forward (hiring Mike Holmgren) and two steps back (letting him do whatever he wants). Now, the Browns haven't gone anywhere near 31-33 in quite some time, so I guess even Holmgren's worst is a step up, but this just seems dumb.

I'm all for hiring the Walrus but only for one job, not two (or three).

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