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Browns fans, I have a mea culpa to issue. I owe you all an apology.
When Jimmy Haslam took over your once-proud franchise I was fairly effusive in my praise. Finally, I wrote and said, the rudderless franchise would have direction. It would have an omnipresent, accountable owner who was steeped in building teams the right way.
As a former part owner of the Steelers, Haslam was a product of The Rooney Way, and would continue that family's wildly successful philosophy and focusing on the draft, establishing continuity and stability in the front office and coaching staff, doing things the right way, treating employees as equals, empowering from within. Everything I heard about Haslam from his time in Pittsburgh pointed to him being just the man for the long-suffering Browns, and the way the NFL helped fast-track the entire transition process from Randy Lerner to Haslam spoke to its enthusiasm that this sleeping giant in Cleveland would finally awake as well.
Boy, was I wrong. I could not have been more wrong. Things are actually worse than ever in Cleveland, where even a surprising seven-win season has been marred by the unraveling of the staff, the roster, and any faint hopes that for once, finally, this franchise might be on the upswing. Haslam has brought nothing but misery and instability to the franchise, at the same time a federal investigation into fraud charges was ravaging the business his father created, Pilot Flying J.
How bad it has gotten in Cleveland
The culture in the Browns building is toxic, I'm told. Morale is beyond low. If you can flee, you are fleeing. There is no shortage of individuals throughout that organization who would, like former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, get the hell out of there if at all possible. There's an overwhelming sense of dread about the future and a fear that, come the end of the 2015 season, Haslam will do the one thing he has managed to do with any consistency during his three-season reign -- that is, blow up his entire building once again and fire everyone, in essence blaming all but himself for his sweeping failure.
Read the rest of the mess: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/25038103
When Jimmy Haslam took over your once-proud franchise I was fairly effusive in my praise. Finally, I wrote and said, the rudderless franchise would have direction. It would have an omnipresent, accountable owner who was steeped in building teams the right way.
As a former part owner of the Steelers, Haslam was a product of The Rooney Way, and would continue that family's wildly successful philosophy and focusing on the draft, establishing continuity and stability in the front office and coaching staff, doing things the right way, treating employees as equals, empowering from within. Everything I heard about Haslam from his time in Pittsburgh pointed to him being just the man for the long-suffering Browns, and the way the NFL helped fast-track the entire transition process from Randy Lerner to Haslam spoke to its enthusiasm that this sleeping giant in Cleveland would finally awake as well.
Boy, was I wrong. I could not have been more wrong. Things are actually worse than ever in Cleveland, where even a surprising seven-win season has been marred by the unraveling of the staff, the roster, and any faint hopes that for once, finally, this franchise might be on the upswing. Haslam has brought nothing but misery and instability to the franchise, at the same time a federal investigation into fraud charges was ravaging the business his father created, Pilot Flying J.
How bad it has gotten in Cleveland
The culture in the Browns building is toxic, I'm told. Morale is beyond low. If you can flee, you are fleeing. There is no shortage of individuals throughout that organization who would, like former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, get the hell out of there if at all possible. There's an overwhelming sense of dread about the future and a fear that, come the end of the 2015 season, Haslam will do the one thing he has managed to do with any consistency during his three-season reign -- that is, blow up his entire building once again and fire everyone, in essence blaming all but himself for his sweeping failure.
Read the rest of the mess: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/25038103
