Must read long read about haslams ownership

[FGK]

3 minutes ago, ReggieCamp said:

Yeah, that Guardrails thing is fairly cringey.  The underbelly of our suck will continue to be exposed, but I'm quite ready for all this to go away.

Maybe we'll get to talk about playoff games that we're actually playing in.  But in the meantime, we get to read excerpts from Joe Banner's memoirs.

See, I don't think it's cringey so much as an example of how a lot of organizations don't even realize the obvious things or fix the easy fixes. Like, that's mostly common knowledge stuff, but how many teams have torpedoed themselves by overestimating their existing personnel? Or refusing to continue investing at QB (cough JAX cough)? How many teams refuse to play young guys so that they can go 7-9 (hi Mike Pettine years)? How many teams trade AWAY high picks to move up instead of trading for MORE high picks?

It's easy stuff, but still a lot of orgs don't do it.

[ReggieCamp]

4 minutes ago, freakygeniuskid said:

See, I don't think it's cringey so much as an example of how a lot of organizations don't even realize the obvious things or fix the easy fixes. Like, that's mostly common knowledge stuff, but how many teams have torpedoed themselves by overestimating their existing personnel? Or refusing to continue investing at QB (cough JAX cough)? How many teams refuse to play young guys so that they can go 7-9 (hi Mike Pettine years)? How many teams trade AWAY high picks to move up instead of trading for MORE high picks?

It's easy stuff, but still a lot of orgs don't do it.

Cringey may have been the wrong word.  Obvious is probably the better word.

Yes, you're right that org's continually go away from these "guardrails".  It just adds to the humor that we were worrying about guardrails before we actually had a car to drive.

[FGK]

From the article:

"Haslam had personally made the decision to hire Jackson in 2016, against the recommendation of the Browns' executive team."

#SashiKnew

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

Things I learned:

Sashi’s plan was clear and laid out to all involved.  Nothing was unexpected.

Farmer should never have another gig for being so petty.

Hue, man.... didn’t really learn anything but his behavior almost makes the record the second worst thing about him professionally.

Sashi’s still my boo for identifying Hue as a dumpster fire before he was hired.

Most importantly, Jimmy should be locked out the building forever.  Sign the checks and stay out of the way. I already knew that one I guess.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

2 minutes ago, freakygeniuskid said:

From the article:

"Haslam had personally made the decision to hire Jackson in 2016, against the recommendation of the Browns' executive team."

#SashiKnew

Great minds...

[mistakey]

1 minute ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

Great minds...

they said it was 4-1 mcdermott and the only one who was the 1 was jimmy

[MWil23]

The only thing that I wished that they would have really laid out there was:

1. How did the A.J. McCarron trade go down EXACTLY? I think Sashi obviously did this:

For me, it confirmed just how justified I am/was in my absolute hatred for Ray Farmer the GM. The dude was spineless, inept, and deliberately sabotaged the moneyball approach out of spite, along with Pettine who I already despised.

[Onizuka]

Definitely a good read. While we still have to wait and see if this remains true, it's great to at least hear about Jimmy and Dee stepping back (the draft war-room not being filled with family/friends this last go-round was a start). 

Honestly, I think a part of his controlling ways was him trying to learn the difficulties of running a football organization and his micro-managing approach; I also think the constant negative press made him want more control as he received the majority of the blame as the Owner who made the hires. Thankfully Dorsey has that pedigree that Jimmy had to respect and in just one year, showed great improvement for the Browns.

Sucks that Sashi got the majority of the blame for Hue's ineptitude and Jimmy's power moves. I know the guardrail plan seemed stupid, but for a dysfunctional organization, I feel like it was a step in the right direction so that everyone in the organization could see that they were building a structured environment; unfortunately, Sashi was never given the opportunity to get it going. 

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

I have no issue with the Guardrail plan.

Seems basic, but we were a dumpster fire that lacked any structure or discipline.

I don’t see this as any different as a mission statement that many companies use.

[Bonanza23]

Oh mike 😂

 

[BleedTheClock]

Read the whole thing. Man that aggravates me about Haslam. I think he means very well, but he can't get out of his own way.

Also, I liked Hue the person before reading this. What a tool. I hope he breaks both of his legs.

[ReggieCamp]

As a rule, I don't watch ESPN unless it's for a game.

But it was on where I just ate lunch.  It was pretty much Wickersham the whole time talking about this article.

Ain't no way they can't talk about this within Berea.  I kinda think Dorsey, Kitchens, and Baker will like it.  Even more motivation.  Jimmy ain't gonna like it, though.

[jonnytwoshoes]

Think it's important to read this article through the lense knowing that all of the author's sources were assuredly fired by Haslam and/or Dorsey and may hold some sort of personal grudge.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

15 minutes ago, jonnytwoshoes said:

Think it's important to read this article through the lense knowing that all of the author's sources were assuredly fired by Haslam and/or Dorsey and may hold some sort of personal grudge.

For sure, but I also didn’t read much that wasn’t either obvious (Haslam’s interfering, his impatience) or had been hinted at multiple times before (discord between Hue and Sashi/Haley, issues with Pettine and Farmer, etc).

While it may be people with an axe to grind, I’m not sure who directly benefits from this, especially since most of the people in the article declined to be interviewed.

It wasn’t the fact it was groundbreaking, but rather reaffirming what everyone already thought.

[FGK]

Most unique and insightful quotes: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25797430/inside-cleveland-browns-front-office-where-hope-history-collide

Something about Bridgewater's handshake rubbed Haslam the wrong way, he told team executives.

Banner said he was hungry and asked if they could continue the conversation at the restaurant. Haslam replied by praising Banner for building a strong team. It was so strong, in fact, that he said he was going to let him go.

Both Farmer and Pettine would report directly to Haslam. Farmer later told associates he was shocked. He never interviewed for the job.

Moments later, the Texans called, offering a high second-round pick for Hoyer. The room was buzzing with the chance to pick up a potential first-round player for second-round money. But Farmer killed the trade, later telling friends he felt like he had to take control of his first draft. (We could've had the #33 pick for Brian Hoyer but Farmer felt like THAT was the moment to put his #$%^ on the table.)

The executives prepared a document for Haslam titled "Football Strategy Outline"to sell him on a radical rebounding plan based on a few years of pain that could pay off in many years of reward. The idea called for the Browns to tear down to the studs and commit to a four-year rebuild, primarily through the draft, mixing sabermetrics and traditional methods -- similar in many ways to Banner's original vision. (Apparently Haslam killed moneyball TWICE!)

In late rounds of the 2015 draft, if a player was rated with a green dot -- the highest rating -- by the analytics team, Farmer would pass on him out of spite, according to others in the room. 

"DON'T GIVE ME the job if you're going to blow it up," Sashi Brown told Haslam, according to Browns staffers. "I don't need to do this."

The Browns felt they were building something special. Until it was time to commit to a coach. After a few rounds of interviews, the brass voted. It was 4-1 in favor of Sean McDermott, the Panthers' defensive coordinator, a coach who had crushed his interview and was known to be open to new ideas.

DePodesta wrote Haslam an email arguing that the Jackson hire went against many of the characteristics of successful coaches they had discussed. Brown met with Haslam -- there's always a race to be the last one to talk to Haslam before a big decision -- and told him he thought hiring Jackson would be a bad call. "I hear you," Haslam said. Then Haslam flew to Cincinnati and hired Jackson, who would report directly to ownership.

In August 2016, Brown had a deal in place to trade 34-year-old All-Pro punter Andy Lee and a seventh-round pick to the Panthers for 24-year-old punter Kasey Redfern and a 2018 fourth-round pick. It was a good deal that helped the Browns trade for Dolphins star receiver Jarvis Landry last year. But after learning that Lee would be shipped, Jackson "went nuts," a source says. He stormed into Haslam's office to protest. (Hue WOULD be against the best trade of the Sashi era.)

Against the recommendation of Brown, Jackson started rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer in 2017; when Kizer struggled, Jackson complained that Brown had passed on Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. It enraged the front office, given Jackson's insistence on drafting Garrett that year.