Browns co-Owner Jimmy Haslam indicated that the team will hire a new coach before hiring a GM after firing coach Freddie Kitchens and GM John Dorsey earlier this week, reverting to the "setup he had in 2016 and 2017," according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. Hue Jackson and Sashi Brown "reported directly to him" under that structure, but the two "were at odds over the direction of the team, and Haslam was the referee." The new coach and GM theoretically will be "compatible and work well together" under the return to the previous organizational setup. Haslam said, "The GM and coach will report to ownership as equals and obviously married up with each other." Haslam knows that it "strains credulity to think that a coach and GM reporting to him will run smoothly." However, Cabot notes the franchise was "just as dysfunctional last year" with Kitchens reporting to Dorsey, and Dorsey reporting to Haslam. He said that finding a coach and GM who "not only work well together but also within the framework of the organization are the priorities of this search." One thing Haslam did confirm on Thursday is that Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta "won't take over as head of football." DePodesta will "continue to report to ownership" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 1/3). Haslam indicated that the Browns are "seeking a 'CEO coach' who can manage all the demands of the position and not a glorified coordinator" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 1/3).
SMALLER COMMITTEE THIS TIME: Haslam on Thursday said that ownership -- including his wife, co-Owner Dee Haslam, and son-in-law, Exec VP J.W. Johnson -- "would make the final decision on the coaching hire." In Akron, Nate Ulrich notes Johnson, DePodesta and VP/Football Administration Chris Cooper also were "on the search committee in the buildup" to hiring Kitchens last year, but so were "football lifers" Dorsey, Assistant GM Eliot Wolf and VP/Player Personnel Alonzo Highsmith (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 1/3). Also in Akron, Marla Ridenour notes the search committee "has no football people." Instead, it is made up of a "truck stop magnate" in Jimmy Haslam, a former TV exec (Johnson), a "baseball analytics expert" (DePodesta) and a "salary cap specialist" (Cooper). Despite that, Haslam "wants everybody to believe he and his family have figured out how to find a coach and a general manager who will both be in Cleveland for '10 to 15 years'" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 1/3).
ALL ROADS POINT TO OWNERSHIP: In Cleveland, Dan Labbe notes the Browns have "tried all kinds of structures under Haslam's ownership," and "none of them have worked." That leads to the conclusion that the lack of success is not due to how the front office is set up. Labbe: "The Browns will make a hire this month and then another and, if we're back here in two years doing this all again, the question of structure will come up. Blaming structure is the easy way out when this keeps happening" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 1/3). Also in Cleveland, Terry Pluto writes it is "hard to believe" Jimmy Haslam will "get it right this time, regardless of the plan" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 1/3). However, the PLAIN DEALER's Doug Lesmerises writes there are reasons the Browns "might succeed" this time around, as the Haslams have "moved from missing on process to missing on people." Lesmerises: "John Dorsey and Freddie Kitchens were partial credit. Right process, wrong people in the view of the Haslams. For these owners, that was improvement" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 1/3).
