Pettine promised free Diesel for 5 years, signs with Browns

The 15th Browns Coach is...

So the Browns have now signed Mike Pettine to be their 15th coach. Time will tell if this was a good hire or not, but here is what we know at this point. We know, very definitively, that Pettine was NOT the Browns' first, second, third, fourth or even fifth choice for HC. We also know that Pettine is reputed for being the Defensive Coordinator under Rex Ryan's Jets as well as for turning around the Bills' defense. Let's dig in to these two topics for a moment.

Pettine's Lineage

So here's what we know about Mike Pettine other than that he was not even contacted for an interview until several of the top candidates had either taken other positions or refused to interview:

• Got his start as an AV coordinator under Billick. Nothing wrong with this, everyone needs to start somewhere and I would jump for an opportunity like this with a coach like Billick. The point is he didn't have any coaching responsibility here, the only claim he can have here is being on the same staff as Ryan and Billick.
• Fast forward to Rex Ryan's departure to take over the Jets. Pettine went along for the ride as Defensive Coordinator. The Jets went on to have great defenses. This would seem on the surface to be a huge plus in the quarter of Pettine. However, under examination, it is clear that Ryan left no decision-making up to Pettine. Defense was Ryan's bailey-wick and this was clearly defined. I've heard that the one year that Pettine did lead the defense, it regressed and Ryan took it back the next season. Regardless, Pettine moved on...
• To the Bills where he was chosen by Marrone. Here he again had an apparent great experience added to his resume as he turned around a defense ranked in the bottom third of the league to a defense in the top 10 overall. However, under examination this again looks less stellar. They gave up over 380 yards per game and were among the league's worst at stopping the run - even yielding to the Browns' rushing attack. In fact, there are some similarities with the Bills' defense last year and the Browns'. They have a few good playmarkers but overall if you have a defense that gives up a lot of yards, eventually they give up points. Overall that leaves you with an average defense not an overachieving one. The mark of a good coach or coordinator is maximizing the talent on the team and overachieving. This is definitely not what happened with the Bills and there is no reason to believe it will happen with the Browns. Of course maybe the Bills LB coach Jim O'Neill will take the job as DC and he will overachieve on defense. But this is not something to be expected, it would just be a pleasant surprise
  

What has changed

So basically there are no clear positives on Pettine's resume. Then again, there aren't any major negatives either. So that leaves the question of what makes him any different than Chud? That's where my issues with this hire begin. The firing of Chud was done without any kind of plan in place. Or maybe there was a plan in place; it just involved a lot of coaches who either didn't want this job at all or were taken by other teams before the Browns could make their case effectively.

Even Brian Billick made a comment to the effect of, if they wanted Pettine all along why didn't they just hire him earlier? It is pretty clear that the Browns, for whatever reason, didn't want him at first. That leaves him as being hired simply because he was the best of the remaining available candidates. This is not a good way to inspire confidence in the management or direction of this team let alone to garner support from the players in their new coach. This will all become clear over the next year, or two, if the Browns allow Pettine to survive that long. It is hard to imagine another one-and-done coach here but the three stooges are not exactly well-reputed in the league let alone in Cleveland so far.

I do find some irony in the fact that the coach who's defense ended Hoyer's season, and effectively the Browns' is now the coach who's success will lie in Hoyer's hands. And even stranger is that Hoyer's injury was a result of a hit by a linebacker of the Bills and their LB coach may become our new DC. A lot of this skepticism could easily be undone by a great hire at OC. The Browns have some good talent on the defensive side of the ball and it is not hard to see their defense making a good improvement this season. The Browns will only be as successful as their offense and QB can make them. While I have full faith in Hoyer's ability to lead this team to the next level for several years to come, it will take a good OC to make the offense good enough even with Hoyer at the helm.

So here we are with another underwhelming hire of another unproven coach, though I think Chud had more qualifications than Pettine does. Time will tell and I'm not making any judgement at this point but the facts we have so far are not pointing in any strongly positive direction. On the bright side, Hoyer is advancing very well in his recovery and that is definitely a positive to take away. We will see how this coaching staff assembles and how they impact the team's performance. I'll write later about how I would like to see the draft go. Hint: NO QB BEFORE ROUND 2 or 3 even. GO BROWNS