Just noticed something
- Thread starter FRDRCK
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Bob Sacamano
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that would make alot of sense, he was the OC in '03 and '04, so we wouldn't have to switch up the offense
hmmm
hmmm
Eskimo
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I thought there was some sort of failling out between Carthon and Parcells.
Anyhow, Carthon did good work with the Browns and is already the OC there. I don't see why he would want to make a lateral move back to a job he left with a boss who he was not getting along with (although I do think they have mended the fences since his departure).
My guess is that Carthon puts together another good season in Cleveland, he will be a HC somewhere in 2007.
Anyhow, Carthon did good work with the Browns and is already the OC there. I don't see why he would want to make a lateral move back to a job he left with a boss who he was not getting along with (although I do think they have mended the fences since his departure).
My guess is that Carthon puts together another good season in Cleveland, he will be a HC somewhere in 2007.
jlust22
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From the article below, it sounds like the good people of Cleveland weren't too fond of Carthon and would be glad to see him go.
Carthon had a shaky year with Browns
BY TERRY PLUTO/Akron Beacon Journal
Maybe Maurice Carthon thought he was being funny, or perhaps he thought what is said in New Orleans, stays in New Orleans.
But the Browns offensive coordinator needs to remember that his paychecks still come from the Browns. He also should know that he didn't exactly win applause for his play-calling this season.
Here's the story . . .
Carthon has been considered for several head coaching jobs, including the New Orleans Saints. In a long interview posted on the Saints' team Web site,
Carthon said the following: "I learned something this year in Cleveland as the play-caller, with the criticism you've got to take."
So far, so good.
Carthon has been a pro assistant coach since 1994, but this was the first time he was a coordinator with the responsibility of play-calling. It also was the first time his work was publicly second-guessed since leaving his playing days as a fullback in the 1980s.
Carthon discovered an offensive coordinator is scrutinized almost as much as the head coach. That should not have been a surprise to a 44-year-old NFL lifer.
But Carthon didn't stop there.
"The media in Cleveland," he said. "That's the same media that ran away Bill Belichick, so you know they were on me every week. They didn't agree with the play-calling here and there. Those are the things that you hopefully get used to and help you be a better coach."
---
THE BELICHICK STORY
Let's help Carthon, starting with a little history lesson.
Belichick was not the second coming of Paul Brown when he coached here in the early 1990s. He was a rookie head coach, who had little feel for the city or the history of the team.
He also was a poor talent evaluator. Maybe it was attributable to working with former player personnel director Mike Lombardi or because he relied on his own judgment. Bottom line, his legacy here was some lousy drafts and one winning season in five years.
The real story of Belichick is not that the media ran him out of town, or that fans misunderstood the now Hall of Fame-caliber coach. It's that after leaving Cleveland, he was smart enough and humble enough to look back with clear vision and realize he made several mistakes, from how he picked players to handling public relations.
In New England, he combined with personnel executive Scott Pioli to change his approach to drafting and signing free agents. He brought in people to help him with the media aspects of his job. He has restored relationships with some media members from Cleveland who were his harshest critics.
Belichick did something very few of us can do at middle age - he knew he had to change, and he did. His maturity is a story seldom told in the national media, because it's easier just to turn Belichick into a martyr while blaming the media and fans for his troubles here.
Notice how Belichick rarely says a harsh word about Cleveland, other than feeling betrayed by Art Modell? That's something he and Browns fans have in common.
---
PUZZLING PLAYS
Carthon should have been told all this at some point during his first year with the Browns. Coach Romeo Crennel has been around the NFL block more times than Carthon, and he treats everyone in the public with respect.
Like Carthon, Crennel worked for Bill Parcells and Belichick. Unlike Carthon, he was here in 2000, when former coach Chris Palmer gave Crennel his first chance to be a coordinator.
Crennel knows he's dealing with fans who have had so little to cheer about. He also knows the media here is rather mild compared with New York, New England, Chicago and some other places.
Finally, Crennel realizes it isn't the fans or media that's the problem - it's the team.
The coach continually says everyone has to get better, and that includes the coaches. Crennel has to be aware of some dismal clock management, and part of that responsibility has to fall to Carthon. So does some very strange play-calling, especially early in the season when Trent Dilfer was throwing so much and running back Reuben Droughns was ignored.
In four of the first five games, Dilfer threw at least 30 times. The veteran was imported to help establish the running game and manage the clock.
Apparently, Carthon missed that message or got caught up in trying to make big plays.
But the Browns didn't begin to develop an identity on offense until midseason, when they used Droughns as the first option.
---
PLENTY OF BLAME
Some fans want to blame Carthon for everything from having the worst offense in the AFC to rising heating bills.
But it's the head coach who picks the coordinator and gives him a basic game plan for each week. Imagine a coloring book. The head coach draws the black lines, the coordinator chooses the crayons and approach to develop the picture.
So it's hard to know where all the blame lies for the Browns' offense underachieving.
Yes, Droughns became the team's first 1,000-yard rusher in 20 years. Yes,
Antonio Bryant was a 1,000-yard receiver. Yes, there were injuries, and a rookie quarterback started the last five games.
But yes, the offense was a disappointment.
You can point to the NFL's worst performance in the red zone, how the Browns just couldn't figure out how to get the ball in the end zone. On the season, they had ... COUNT `EM ... FOUR rushing touchdowns.
Yet, General Manager Phil Savage is concentrating on finding some defensive linemen and linebackers. He sees more needs there than on offense, yet the defense ranked a solid 16th among 32 teams.
That means coordinator Todd Grantham's unit overachieved, and defensive backs coach Mel Tucker has earned raves for developing Leigh Bodden. He kept the unit together after the early season injury to high-priced free agent Gary Baxter, and the Browns were No. 4 in the NFL in pass defense.
---
UPS AND DOWNS
Word in the dressing room is Carthon is very strict, much like his mentor, Bill Parcells. Supposedly, quarterbacks had little freedom to change plays. At times, Carthon came across like a bruising fullback, the position that he played so well in the 1980s.
Remember the Minnesota game where Dilfer didn't spike the ball or call timeout near the end of the half? Dilfer either wasn't allowed to do so, or didn't feel he could do it without an OK from the sidelines.
The result was a botched opportunity for a touchdown in what became a 24-12 loss. In that same game, rookie Charlie Frye was ushered into the game, and on his first play, he was put in an empty backfield with no protection and told to pass. He was drilled by a blitzing defender and threw an interception.
Any coordinator can have his decisions picked apart. Most fans think they can call plays as well as the guy paid to do so. It's a position where the players and coach usually get the credit when a play succeeds, and the coordinator is faulted when it fails.
Carthon is interviewing for some head coaching positions because he comes from the Parcells/Belichick coaching tree and because the NFL requires that a minority candidate be considered for every opening. He is considered a young coach worth watching.
But he should know that he had a shaky year as a rookie coordinator. The best way to improve is not to try a spin about the Cleveland media, but to admit it and grow.
Carthon had a shaky year with Browns
BY TERRY PLUTO/Akron Beacon Journal
Maybe Maurice Carthon thought he was being funny, or perhaps he thought what is said in New Orleans, stays in New Orleans.
But the Browns offensive coordinator needs to remember that his paychecks still come from the Browns. He also should know that he didn't exactly win applause for his play-calling this season.
Here's the story . . .
Carthon has been considered for several head coaching jobs, including the New Orleans Saints. In a long interview posted on the Saints' team Web site,
Carthon said the following: "I learned something this year in Cleveland as the play-caller, with the criticism you've got to take."
So far, so good.
Carthon has been a pro assistant coach since 1994, but this was the first time he was a coordinator with the responsibility of play-calling. It also was the first time his work was publicly second-guessed since leaving his playing days as a fullback in the 1980s.
Carthon discovered an offensive coordinator is scrutinized almost as much as the head coach. That should not have been a surprise to a 44-year-old NFL lifer.
But Carthon didn't stop there.
"The media in Cleveland," he said. "That's the same media that ran away Bill Belichick, so you know they were on me every week. They didn't agree with the play-calling here and there. Those are the things that you hopefully get used to and help you be a better coach."
---
THE BELICHICK STORY
Let's help Carthon, starting with a little history lesson.
Belichick was not the second coming of Paul Brown when he coached here in the early 1990s. He was a rookie head coach, who had little feel for the city or the history of the team.
He also was a poor talent evaluator. Maybe it was attributable to working with former player personnel director Mike Lombardi or because he relied on his own judgment. Bottom line, his legacy here was some lousy drafts and one winning season in five years.
The real story of Belichick is not that the media ran him out of town, or that fans misunderstood the now Hall of Fame-caliber coach. It's that after leaving Cleveland, he was smart enough and humble enough to look back with clear vision and realize he made several mistakes, from how he picked players to handling public relations.
In New England, he combined with personnel executive Scott Pioli to change his approach to drafting and signing free agents. He brought in people to help him with the media aspects of his job. He has restored relationships with some media members from Cleveland who were his harshest critics.
Belichick did something very few of us can do at middle age - he knew he had to change, and he did. His maturity is a story seldom told in the national media, because it's easier just to turn Belichick into a martyr while blaming the media and fans for his troubles here.
Notice how Belichick rarely says a harsh word about Cleveland, other than feeling betrayed by Art Modell? That's something he and Browns fans have in common.
---
PUZZLING PLAYS
Carthon should have been told all this at some point during his first year with the Browns. Coach Romeo Crennel has been around the NFL block more times than Carthon, and he treats everyone in the public with respect.
Like Carthon, Crennel worked for Bill Parcells and Belichick. Unlike Carthon, he was here in 2000, when former coach Chris Palmer gave Crennel his first chance to be a coordinator.
Crennel knows he's dealing with fans who have had so little to cheer about. He also knows the media here is rather mild compared with New York, New England, Chicago and some other places.
Finally, Crennel realizes it isn't the fans or media that's the problem - it's the team.
The coach continually says everyone has to get better, and that includes the coaches. Crennel has to be aware of some dismal clock management, and part of that responsibility has to fall to Carthon. So does some very strange play-calling, especially early in the season when Trent Dilfer was throwing so much and running back Reuben Droughns was ignored.
In four of the first five games, Dilfer threw at least 30 times. The veteran was imported to help establish the running game and manage the clock.
Apparently, Carthon missed that message or got caught up in trying to make big plays.
But the Browns didn't begin to develop an identity on offense until midseason, when they used Droughns as the first option.
---
PLENTY OF BLAME
Some fans want to blame Carthon for everything from having the worst offense in the AFC to rising heating bills.
But it's the head coach who picks the coordinator and gives him a basic game plan for each week. Imagine a coloring book. The head coach draws the black lines, the coordinator chooses the crayons and approach to develop the picture.
So it's hard to know where all the blame lies for the Browns' offense underachieving.
Yes, Droughns became the team's first 1,000-yard rusher in 20 years. Yes,
Antonio Bryant was a 1,000-yard receiver. Yes, there were injuries, and a rookie quarterback started the last five games.
But yes, the offense was a disappointment.
You can point to the NFL's worst performance in the red zone, how the Browns just couldn't figure out how to get the ball in the end zone. On the season, they had ... COUNT `EM ... FOUR rushing touchdowns.
Yet, General Manager Phil Savage is concentrating on finding some defensive linemen and linebackers. He sees more needs there than on offense, yet the defense ranked a solid 16th among 32 teams.
That means coordinator Todd Grantham's unit overachieved, and defensive backs coach Mel Tucker has earned raves for developing Leigh Bodden. He kept the unit together after the early season injury to high-priced free agent Gary Baxter, and the Browns were No. 4 in the NFL in pass defense.
---
UPS AND DOWNS
Word in the dressing room is Carthon is very strict, much like his mentor, Bill Parcells. Supposedly, quarterbacks had little freedom to change plays. At times, Carthon came across like a bruising fullback, the position that he played so well in the 1980s.
Remember the Minnesota game where Dilfer didn't spike the ball or call timeout near the end of the half? Dilfer either wasn't allowed to do so, or didn't feel he could do it without an OK from the sidelines.
The result was a botched opportunity for a touchdown in what became a 24-12 loss. In that same game, rookie Charlie Frye was ushered into the game, and on his first play, he was put in an empty backfield with no protection and told to pass. He was drilled by a blitzing defender and threw an interception.
Any coordinator can have his decisions picked apart. Most fans think they can call plays as well as the guy paid to do so. It's a position where the players and coach usually get the credit when a play succeeds, and the coordinator is faulted when it fails.
Carthon is interviewing for some head coaching positions because he comes from the Parcells/Belichick coaching tree and because the NFL requires that a minority candidate be considered for every opening. He is considered a young coach worth watching.
But he should know that he had a shaky year as a rookie coordinator. The best way to improve is not to try a spin about the Cleveland media, but to admit it and grow.