Haslam says patience is key to Browns’ future

BEREA, Ohio — Embarrassed by the Cleveland Browns’ deplorable record during his tenure as owner, Jimmy Haslam promised patience will guide him going forward.

During his annual news conference at training camp, Haslam acknowledged last season’s 1-15 record was “harder than we thought” but he is convinced he has hired the right people to turn around a Cleveland franchise that has never been more irrelevant.

The Browns are just 15-49 since Haslam and his wife, Dee, assumed full control of the team. They have made their share of mistakes along the way, but Haslam believes better days are ahead.

“I don’t think we ever would have thought we’d be talking about coming off winning four games in our last two years in our third and fourth years in,” he said. “It’s tough. It’s hard. I think I’ve said it’s embarrassing. At the same time, we have learned a lot. In life, I’ve learned you learn a heck of a lot more through the hard experiences than the easy ones. I now think we’re positioned to put the organization, the team in a much better place than we’ve been.”

There’s no way to go but up.

The Browns were barely competitive last season, losing their first 14 games before beating San Diego on Christmas Eve to avoid joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to go 0-16.

The losing took its toll on Haslam, who already has made three coaching changes and twice swept out his front office since buying the team from Randy Lerner in 2012.

“We’re very realistic about where we are,” he said. “We’re going to be patient and we’re going to do it right. We’re going to build through the draft, selectively use free agency and not take shortcuts, and try to produce a team that will consistently win games.

“As we’ve said many times, and haven’t done yet, provide the fans of northeast Ohio with the kind of team they deserve in the Cleveland Browns.”