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Patrick McManamon: Key factor for Browns success is Crennel

Coach makes players believe first-game loss something they could survive

By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal columnist

Published on Friday, Jan 04, 2008

I spent some time talking to an NFL type the other day, a guy who works in the league.

Some might call him a ''background source.'' I call him a friend, someone I have known for some time and respect and trust.

He doesn't want his name used in this story because it would make his wife angry or something. So I agreed.

I asked him a question: Other than talent, what was the key reason for the Browns' turnaround this season?

''Romeo Crennel,'' he said.

''Huh?'' I said, going right to one of those pointed questions we journalists like to ask.

What about Derek Anderson? And Joe Thomas? What about the offensive line as a whole? Or Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow?

And what about Phil Savage, who, as it turned out, made a ton of right moves that helped the team — from trading Charlie Frye to hiring Rob Chudzinski to drafting Thomas? Savage could hardly have planned this better.

''Those are things that matter, all of them,'' he said. ''But Romeo is on the field and in the practices. And he has been the exact same guy there that he has been since the day he was hired.

''He's the same right now as he was when the Browns were losing.''

''Hmmm,'' I opined, again offering that deep insight. What difference does that make?

''Players can see through phonies,'' Mr. Background (his new name) said. ''They quit playing for phonies.''

''Hmmm,'' I said again.

''Think back to the opener,'' Mr. Background said. ''The world was ready to crash in. Folks were ready to revolt.''

He was right about that. The first two days after that opener were chaotic and filled with turmoil.

Even owner Randy Lerner was banging his shoe on the desk — a rare sight in Berea, where Lerner usually steps back from day-to-day operations.

Lerner held meetings that week to discuss every detail of the operation, right down to where the team stayed the night before games and how they met before games.

Crennel was involved in many of the meetings, but he also had to prepare a team for the next game.

''He was the same that week as he was the week of the opener,'' Mr. Background said. ''Players saw he didn't panic, and look what happened.''

Hmmm, I thought again. And I thought back to those days. Folks with the team rolled their eyes at the turmoil the first two days after the opener.

But the final three practice days, they said, were normal.

I thought back to previous coaches I've covered, coaches whom players did not trust. It showed on the field. Guys simply will not play for a coach they believe lies or deceives them.

I mean, they'll try to win, but the belief and confidence in the coach is not there, and eventually it takes a toll.

This might sound odd for a group of professionals, but it's true in any walk of life. People who lie or deceive are not respected (see: Clinton, Bill; re: Lewinsky, Monica).

Witness what happened with the Atlanta Falcons with Bobby Petrino.

He might as well have left for the University of Arkansas under dark of night, and when he was gone, the players made public their disdain. How in the world can a team believe in a guy who preaches ''team,'' then makes the best deal possible for himself?

Crennel is as honest a man as there is in coaching, a man who has finished every contract he has signed in the NFL. Imagine that in a league of gold-diggers.

Crennel simply does not have it in him to be deceitful or misleading. He might not reveal everything, but he's straightforward and he treats everyone the same — from the players to the trainers to the equipment guys to the assistant coaches.

''That,'' Mr. Background said, ''helped hold things together after Pittsburgh.''

Of course, there were other reasons things took off from that point.

''They were fortunate with Derek Anderson,'' Mr. Background said. ''Not many people believed he could do what he did. Especially in the first game.''

What about starting Charlie Frye in the first game, then trading him?

''Well, you can bring that up, but the bottom line is they won 10 games when nobody thought they'd win six,'' Mr. Background said. ''Something had to go right.''

Sports fans can be an interesting breed, and in Cleveland, the long years without a championship seem to affect perspective. Some people are ready to run Anderson to Bernie Kosar's Arena League team after he threw 29 touchdown passes and won 10 games.

Others want Crennel run out of town because of this, that or the other thing.

Here's a guy in the league who says Crennel's approach is what worked with this team.

When the season ended, Willie McGinest led Browns players in a huddle in the locker room after the win over the San Francisco 49ers.

He presented Crennel a game ball, saying that when nobody believed in the players, he did. The gesture put tears in Crennel's eyes.

The first Cincinnati Bengals game showed a team that believed in its coach and coaches. The gesture after the season finale showed a team that not only believed in him, but also respected and admired him.

Evidently, that feeling is shared around the league.

Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com.

 

I spent some time talking to an NFL type the other day, a guy who works in the league.

Get the full article here.



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