So Crazy… it just might work!

An Attorney, a Statistician and an Oil Tycoon walk into a bar. The Bartender, named Billy takes their order… Billy wears Blond hair, a porn stache and sunglasses… this sounds like a joke but truth is it’s not but it is.

This is what the Cleveland Browns have come to; they’ve been the joke in the NFL for years, now they can just be the joke. Analytics is the key word folks, Jimmy Haslam has put two numbers guys in charge of his NFL team, some of you may be mad, upset, downright done with this comical Football Organization. I say hold off…this outside the box thinking, this unconventional approach is crazy…so crazy it just might work!

I’ll explain why… first off, can it really get any worse? Not really. The Browns have tried just about everything, they have hired college coaches, assistant coaches, GM’s with and without experience and they have all failed. Now it may be time to go in a direction that doesn’t make much sense.

They will hire a coach then a GM, many of you laughed and snickered at this concept but I like it, it may entice coaches that would normally turn the job down knowing they will have a say in the GM search and it could also mean the coach they hire will play both roles. With Sashi Brown having the final say the GM is there to plead why they want the player and why they would fit the coaches system. Sashi is not going to be the one scouting or developing the player, he will be making the YAY or NAY vote. Persuade him and you get your guys, the Coach and the GM must work as a team to sell Sashi. I actually think that will force a better working relationship between the Coach and the GM…if it’s not the same person.

The hiring of Paul DePodesta… well I could get on board with that as well. I’m an analytical guy myself, in my own right and in my own system. I understand that you want to get the biggest bang for your buck and numbers typically don’t lie.

The Browns will have a series of Checks and Balances like they have never had in the

Cleveland Browns

past. There will be no behind the back talks, I truly believe that for this marriage to work they all have to have open and candid discussions without getting butt hurt. Sashi and Paul have been around sports long enough to know how this works.

They are numbers driven and analytical in approach, contracts like Dwayne Bowe would never happen under their watch. Draft picks like Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel would not have happened either. Draft picks like Joey Bosa will. In the end the role of Sashi and Paul are simple “DOES IT MAKE SENSE?” That is the way I see it being and from everything I’ve seen and read about these two, they are well liked in the sports circle, and don’t have Ego issues. Sashi has been praised time and time again for putting the team’s best interest in his sights.

I’m not saying they will do a miraculous turnaround and win the Super Bowl next season and I’m not saying they will even make the playoffs next year, Ray Farmer did more damage to the Browns than any single GM has done to any team as far back as I can remember, but that’s another story for another time.

The Browns will need to make some trades, release a few players and draft the right guys. I don’t see any reason to go all in any of the Free Agents, plus Haslam has already said he wants to build through the Draft, something they have not been good at in ages. With Sashi and Paul there will be a clear cut approach to the way things are done, the way they sign players and the way they judge talent… what is the Risk/Reward in the player … To me it looks like the Browns will actually have a working and well-oiled system.

You may laugh but having a set approach, standards and a logical system to player/talent acquisition doe sin fact work. The organization that does that the best, in my opinion is the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick has a system he uses to grade players and in my opinion he does it better than just about anybody out there. He may not be the numbers driven like others but he is analytical, he has a scoring system that the scouts all use, he has a set questionnaire when interviewing draftees, and in the end it works. 4 Super Bowl wins, 6 AFC Championships and a 3 time Coach of the Year.

No the Browns will not be adopting Belichick system, it’s Bill’s, but what the Browns can do, is finally after years of bad choices is right the ship, they can instil a system, a method in which they weigh the pros and cons of each player, an organized pattern that leaves no questions and hopefully in the end a Championship.