| The deed has been done. The Browns fired head
coach Chris Palmer Thursday, after letting him twist in the wind for several weeks. After
conducting a team-wide evaluation, the Browns’ braintrust of Carmen Policy and Dwight
Clark decided to pin the blame for the expansion team’s struggles on the head coach. Palmer’s
record was an abysmal 5-27 over two seasons, but this is an expansion franchise. The
Browns weren’t supposed to be good right away. And the team was crippled by an
extraordinary number of season-ending injuries to key personnel this season.
But in reality, this move could be the best thing for Palmer. First he gets out of a
bad situation. What’s so bad about Cleveland? Well, apparently he was working for a
couple of men — Policy and Clark — who had unrealistic goals. It can’t
be easy to labor for bosses who are constantly asking for more than what’s possible.
Plus, he gets to keep the $3 million or so that was left on his contract. He has three
years remaining at what is believed to be about $1 million per year. That’s no small
chunk of change.
Finally, he will automatically become a hot offensive coordinator candidate, and there
is no shortage of openings around the league.
It was his knowledge of offense that got him the head-coaching job in the first place.
While the Browns struggled on both sides of the ball, put him with an established team,
and my money says he will be able to keep the chains moving.
Look at all of the openings he may have to choose from: Washington, Arizona,
Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Chicago and Detroit. Throw in the Jets and Buffalo, who currently
are head-coach-less, and the number swells to eight. Dick Vermeil may decide to let Jimmy
Raye go in Kansas City. Mike Martz has toyed with the idea of hiring an offensive
coordinator in St. Louis, as has Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville. That means that there could
be as many as 11 offensive coordinator jobs up for grabs in the coming weeks.
Palmer will have no trouble landing a job, if he decides he wants one. He also has the
option of taking the year off and watching Browns owner Al Lerner’s checks roll in.
I doubt that’s what he’ll do, though. He will want to get back to the booth
and call plays again next season, which could lead to another head-coaching opportunity
down the road.
Palmer should begin his job search in Florida, with either the Buccaneers or Jaguars.
In Tampa, he would have a young quarterback (Shaun King), a very talented running back
(Warrick Dunn) and a star wideout (Keyshawn Johnson) to work with. Considering the lack of
breakout success this offense had under Mike Shula and then Les Steckel, even a small
amount of improvement could have Palmer looking like a genius.
As for the Jaguars, he’s been there, done that. He knows head coach Tom Coughlin
and QB Mark Brunell. It’s widely known that Coughlin and Brunell aren’t exactly
best friends. In fact, Brunell just plain doesn’t like his head coach. Many people in
Jacksonville have called for the hiring of a "buffer," someone to be the middle
man between head coach and quarterback. Palmer has done that before.
There are two potential flaws to Palmer returning to the Jaguars, though. First,
Coughlin said he doesn’t know if he wants to hire an offensive coordinator. Second,
Brunell doesn’t know if he will be back in 2001. First, the team and player must
agree to a renegotiated contract.
Yes, the Browns were premature to fire Palmer. But don’t shed too many tears about
his dismissal. He will land on his feet before you know it. |
