| Ahh, the dreaded vote of confidence. If you get
one of those from your boss, you might as well start your job search immediately —
especially if your boss is an NFL owner or general manager. It seems that before any
head coach is fired, some front-office stiff assures all involved that things will remain
the status quo. The owner says that he is confident that he has the right personnel in
place to build a winning franchise. The team president says he has never even considered
not retaining the current head coach.
That’s exactly what Al Lerner and Carmen Policy have said within the last month in
Cleveland. But now, the word coming out of Browns camp is that head coach Chris Palmer is
in trouble.
I guess two humiliating losses in back-to-back weeks can make anyone change their tune
a bit. The Browns were mauled 42-7 by the Ravens in Week 13. And then last week, the
Browns were smoked 48-0 by the Jaguars — which is the worst loss the team has
suffered since re-entering the league as an expansion franchise in 1999.
There is now talk that, if the Browns get trounced in either of their final two games
— both home affairs against the Eagles and Titans — Palmer could be
history. There are even rumblings that Palmer could be ousted before the end of the
regular season.
Now that would be a shame. There’s no reason to fire Palmer before the end of the
season. This is not like the Redskins’ situation, where ownership felt a change in
leadership could inspire a late-season surge that could push Washington into the
postseason. With a 3-11 record, the Browns are going nowhere.
I even have my doubts as to whether dismissing Palmer after the season is the right
move. I mean, this is a Browns team that has been killed by injuries, especially on
offense — which is Palmer’s area of expertise.
If Palmer is going to run the offense he wants to run, and run it successfully,
he’s got to have bodies. But in Cleveland, Palmer has had to deal with body counts.
QBs Tim Couch and Ty Detmer are on injured reserve. RB Errict Rhett is on injured reserve.
OG Jim Pyne is on injured reserve. WR JaJuan Dawson is on injured reserve.
In all, the Browns have 11 players who have been lost for the season to injury.
Palmer has rightfully stuck up for himself, noting that two years is not enough time to
build a winner from scratch. I tend to agree. Yes, Carolina and Jacksonville enjoyed
ridiculous success in their second seasons. That was a fluke. Furthermore, Palmer was
hired late in the offseason of 1999, which meant he had to scramble to hire a coaching
staff. And he didn’t have a ton of time to evaluate talent before the start of free
agency and the draft.
If the Browns want to go in a different direction after the season, that’s their
choice. But you can’t blame all of the disappointments on Palmer. |
