Haslam said Jackson (l) and Haley's removal does not mean the team is giving up on this seasonGETTY IMAGES
The Browns fired coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley yesterday, and team Owner Jimmy Haslam attributed the move to the "power struggle that ensued between the two this season," according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. Haslam after the firings said, "We're not going to put up with internal discord. We want people who are collaborative and work together.'' He said that he felt he "had to do it to end the dysfunction inside the building." Cabot notes Haslam has "fired four head coaches" since he purchased the Browns in '12, and he "held himself accountable for the upheaval." Browns GM John Dorsey said, "What we're attempting to do here now is create the best environment moving forward, not only for the players but for the coaching staff as well and that's what our focus is on right now" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 10/30). Haslam also said that Jackson and Haley's removal "does not mean the team is giving up on this season." He said, "This is not a throwing in of the towel. It is a rebooting, if you will, an opportunity to give them a fresh start these last eight games." He added, "We put the organization in a better place today than it was yesterday moving forward. And we are comfortable with the decision" (ESPN.com, 10/29). ESPN’s Trey Wingo said of Haslam's statements, “How about the message being, ‘We won't tolerate three wins in two-and-a-half seasons.’" (“Golic & Wingo,” ESPN Radio, 10/30).
SONG REMAINS THE SAME: In Cleveland, Terry Pluto writes, "Once again, a football shotgun marriage set up by the Haslam ownership failed." With four games left in the '17 season, Dorsey was hired as GM "knowing he had to keep Jackson as coach" moving forward, yet he took the job "because of all the draft choices and salary cap room available to turn around a decimated franchise." Partnering a coach who had "won one game in two years with the new general manager was destined to fail." Now the Haslams "have to give Dorsey the authority to hire his own head coach" and ownership has to "change its chain of command." Previously, the coach and GM "were on the same level -- both reporting to the owner," but "hopefully, the Haslams have learned something over the years." The new coach should "report to Dorsey, and Dorsey report to the owner" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 10/30). In Canton, Steve Doerschuk in a front-page piece writes the "new $2 billion question" is whether Haslam will give Dorsey the "kind of power" former Browns Owner Randy Lerner in '10 gave to then-president Mike Holmgren (Canton REPOSITORY, 10/30). ESPN’s Matt Hasselbeck said the Browns are "trying to change the culture" of the organization and "create this atmosphere where we’re all in it together." They are "trying to have" the same culture the Packers had with former GM Ron Wolf and coach Mike Holmgren, or the Chiefs had with Dorsey and coach Andy Reid (“Monday Night Countdown,” ESPN, 10/29).
TAKING OWNERSHIP: ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi said the Haslams "were regaining some popularity" at the beginning of the season "because of bringing in Dorsey, because of drafting Baker Mayfield, and also because of the way it started out this year." The Browns "looked like they were turning the corner.” The Haslams also “are in the process of divesting themselves of their company” Pilot Flying J, and they “intend to use that new time to be full-time residents of Cleveland and owners of the Browns, so they’re not going to just go away, but everyone’s hoping they get it right and this is a time they can start getting it right” (“PFT,” NBCSN, 10/30).
