BEREA: Surrounded by the foul odors, beer-stained ceilings and feral cats of legendary proportions, Brad Childress and Pat Shurmur bonded as office neighbors in the bowels of Veterans Stadium.
Coach Andy Reid hired Childress and Shurmur on the same day, and they spent seven seasons together working as assistants for the Philadelphia Eagles. Together, they celebrated success and endured hardships.
They also lived to tell tales about a cat marking its territory on the carpet in Childress’ office and another mammoth feline dropping through the ceiling of fellow assistant Juan Castillo’s office, hissing at anyone who dared approach it.
“We had to call animal control to come in,” Childress said. “It was like somebody dropped a lion in there.”
During his introductory meeting with local reporters Wednesday morning, Childress reminisced about his long history with Shurmur and explained why he believes it will help him in his new role as the Browns’ offensive coordinator.
“It’s a great opportunity to get back with people you trust and you know,” said Childress, who also worked with Browns General Manager Tom Heckert when he was a member of the Eagles’ front office. “It’s a very difficult business at best, and [it’s comforting] just to know how people react under fire, under pressure, you’ve worked with them, you’ve spent long hours with them.”
In addition to Childress, Shurmur met with media before traveling to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine and seemed to dread the inevitable question about who will call the plays. He let out a “here we go” when the subject was broached.
“Unless things change, Brad will be upstairs,” said Shurmur, who led the Browns to a record of 4-12 last season, his first as a head coach. “During the week, you decide what the plays are going to be. That’s what you write on the card, and then you call them. There’s constant interaction between the play-caller and the other people on offense. Every place I’ve been, that’s always been the case. So, yeah, I’ll be on the field right now and call [plays], but it’s constant communication. People talk about halftime adjustments. Well, there’s adjustments going on all the time, and that’s why we wear the headsets, so that we can communicate.”
Childress insisted he’s comfortable with the play-calling arrangement Shurmur has in mind. Childress, 55, spent nearly five full years as the coach of the Minnesota Vikings before being fired 10 games into the 2010 season. He called the plays for one season, 2006, and then gave those duties to offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who’s now with the Seattle Seahawks.
“It really is all collaborative,” Childress said. “It’s not like somebody’s going to pull something out from 1965 and everybody goes, ‘What the hell is that?’ But it’s all about the game planning and really it’s a huge deal really across the board, offensive-staff wise. Somebody’s going to [send the play] into the quarterback. Somebody’s going to say it in the microphone. You can’t do it from upstairs, but I think everybody’s going to have a hand in it, and I’m good with it.”
Childress served as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach from 1999-2001 and their offensive coordinator from 2002-05. Meanwhile, Shurmur was the tight ends and offensive line coach from 1999-2001 and the quarterbacks coach from 2002-08. Childress, though, said he won’t feel awkward taking orders from Shurmur, his new boss in Cleveland.
“I’m not going to have any trouble with that at all,” Childress said. “I think to be a good leader, you’ve gotta have good followers. I know what I’m charged with here and how I’m going to go about doing it. Pat’s been real clear about that, and we’re not going to have any trouble at all.”
Shurmur, 46, pulled double duty last season, juggling the roles of an offensive coordinator and a head coach. The Browns ranked 29th in offense (288.8 yards per game) and 30th in scoring (13.6 points per game). Although Shurmur plans on calling the plays, he is confident Childress will be able to help him reverse the team’s fortunes.
“He’ll run and direct the offense, all the meetings with offensive coaches,” Shurmur said. “I think the good part of that is it will allow me in some areas to back away and watch it and then come back in on it, and I think that’s an important thing. I trust Brad, and I think that’s an important piece. I worked with him for a very long time.
“We experienced a lot of winning together. We fought out of losing holes and finished the year well. We were in the Super Bowl together. I know his family well. Shoot, we used to jog every day in training camp together in the mornings. We lived in the same neighborhood.”
They also escaped the old stadium in Philadelphia, where creatures stirred in the hallways above their offices.
“The cats were chasing the rats — literally,” Childress said. “You could hear them late at night.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com Read the Browns blog at http://browns.ohio.com Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/browns.abj.
