BEREA: Critics who believe Browns coach Pat Shurmur is in over his head will not like the words that passed from President Mike Holmgren’s lips Wednesday.
“He’s a good man and he’s going to be coaching around here for a long time,” Holmgren said. Holmgren also called Shurmur “a very, very competent young head coach who will be here for a long time.”
Longevity is not part of the vocabulary of those steeped in Browns history, especially considering that even team founder Paul Brown was fired. Holmgren made it clear that Shurmur will be given every chance to prove he’s the long-term answer, but Holmgren’s combativeness left fans asking the same question about him.
Called on to quiet the firestorm surrounding the concussion quarterback Colt McCoy suffered Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Holmgren did not seem very happy about being pressed into doing his job.
“The schedule on how we have these is going to be our decision, it’s not going to be your decision,” he told a roomful of media in Berea.
That was just the first salvo from Holmgren during a 57-minute news conference.
It centered on the team’s handling of McCoy’s injury — with the stunning defense that no one on the sideline saw the vicious helmet-to-facemask hit by Steelers linebacker James Harrison and those upstairs who did failed to pick up a phone because McCoy was being attended to by the training and medical staff. That’s why Holmgren confirmed that McCoy wasn’t given a concussion test until Friday morning.
As ridiculous — and yet believable — as that is, Holmgren failed to calm the masses upset by the Browns’ 4-9 record and the poor product they’re paying hundreds of dollars to see. He lashed out at those who believe the McCoy incident is just another example of “business as usual with the Cleveland Browns.”
In other words, Holmgren insisted this is not the same old Browns. Some could make a case that he’s right — they’re worse. With 178 points, they’ll be hard-pressed to surpass the 1999 Browns’ total of 217, second-worst in the expansion era.
Presumably that was a shot at local and national media who have criticized the team’s dysfunction and compared the missteps of the Holmgren regime to the follies of past organizations.
“It seems as though it’s business as usual, which is very easy to write and say,” Holmgren said. “But I’m telling you, it is not. And you can choose to believe me or you can say, ‘Nah, I’ve heard it before.’ That’s your choice. But when it does happen, don’t come to me for extra tickets for a playoff game or something. You’re either with us or you’re not. And I’ll be honest with you, sometimes I feel, not everybody … no I won’t. I’m telling you, it’s different now.”
The P-word was a bolt from the blue, especially to those who would have considered 8-8 a successful season. Apparently Holmgren hasn’t read any e-mails from disheartened fans who have given up hope of seeing the Browns reach the playoffs in their lifetime. Members of the media whom he expects to grovel could be retired, laid off or unable to afford the precious ducats even if their company allowed such perks.
The “you’re either with us or you’re not” was Holmgren’s most baffling statement. The media corps strives to be impartial, even though many are natives of Northeast Ohio. Holmgren has been in the NFL for 25 years, so he should know writers and broadcasters aren’t cheerleaders for the team they cover, but would rather report on a winner than a loser. He seemed to imply that some stir up trouble just for kicks. He was apparently ignorant of the fact that his public relations department could have held off the criticism with a well-written news release that the Browns were unable to comment on details of McCoy’s concussion until the league inquiry was complete.
The only point he conceded to his critics was his ill-fated decision to give coach Eric Mangini a second season in 2010 even though he knew that he and Mangini were incompatible. The Browns went 5-11 again, sealing Mangini’s fate.
“I made a decision on why I treated the first year a certain way and I’m not having any regrets about that,” Holmgren said. “But this is like the second first year and you can say ‘Well, you wasted a year.’ Well, we know that now; I suppose you could say that now. But at the time, I don’t regret the decision I made.”
In defending Shurmur, Holmgren laid the blame on long-snapper Ryan Pontbriand, who was waived on Nov. 29, and a hands-challenged receiving corps led by rookie Greg Little.
“If you look at our games this season, if we did two things better, we’d have a chance to be 7-6 or something, and people would be feeling a little bit better about themselves. I know the coaches would,” Holmgren said. “If we’d just been able to snap the damn ball and catch a few more passes … you just do those two things a little bit better and maybe people get off that ‘Same old, same old’ thing.
“The other thing is we’re implementing a new system, a new coach, all those things that you’ve heard before. But they’re real. It’s a frustration for me, too, when you have to win a game 14-13 or 10-7, but that’s where we are right now. That’s not always where we’re gonna be.”
Before he was through, Holmgren got testy with a follow-up question about “business as usual” and stopped another in mid-sentence with “You’re not gonna ask me a question I already answered, are you?” He was clearly peeved at the mention of Brad McCoy, Colt’s father, who criticized the team’s handling of his son’s concussion.
By the end, Holmgren softened a little. But the appearance of the grandfatherly Holmgren, the make-everything-all-right-Holmgren was too little, too late.
He has seen the enemy, and it is not Harrison. It is anyone and everyone who believes his regime is no better than the ones that have come before.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at http://marla.ohio.com/. Follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/MarlaRidenour. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
