BROWNS’ HASLAM AIMS TO HALT THE UPHEAVAL
INDIANAPOLIS Jimmy Haslam was going out on a limb. Again.
After watching drills at the NFL scouting combine during the weekend, the energetic Cleveland Browns owner stood in a concourse at Lucas Oil Stadium trying to make the case he had a place in his heart for stability.
Since Haslam bought the team in October 2012, the Browns are on their third head coach (Mike Pettine) and third general manager (Ray Farmer). Former coach Rob Chudzinski lasted just a year as Pat Shurmur’s successor, and the men who conducted the backto-back coaching searches, CEO Joe Banner and GM Mike Lombardi, are gone, too. It’s been a dysfunctional mess. “If we change it out next year, give me hell,” Haslam told USA TODAY Sports. Then he really stepped out. “If we have more changes like these in the next three or four years, crucify me,” he said.
Long-suffering Browns fans — maybe the most passionate and loyal in the NFL — might hold him to that. Way before Haslam bought in, the franchise was stuck in NFL quicksand. Since their rebirth in 1999, the Browns have made the playoffs once (take a bow, Butch Davis) while cycling through a combined 141 coaches and assistants. It was a figure Pettine was able to drop during a weekend news conference because, well, he had previously displayed it on a PowerPoint presentation at his first full staff meeting.
At least they are starting over with some NFL juice, which will put all the sweet things Haslam says about his first-time GM to the test. The Browns have 10 picks in the draft that begins May 8, including two in the first round (fourth, 26th). They also are projected to have more than $40 million in room under the NFL salary cap when the new league year begins March 11.
No wonder Haslam says, “These next 90 days are crucial.”
Yet given these are the Browns (4-12 in 2013), it was not enough for the combine buzz to revolve around their draft prospects.
ProFootballTalk.com reported Friday that, during the team’s elongated coaching search that included potential candidates rejecting the Browns, the team made a run at San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh.
“There was an opportunity there, and it didn’t materialize.” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, on talks with the 49ers about coach Jim Harbaugh
Although Harbaugh and 49ers owner John York denied a deal was in the works to exchange the coach for a draft pick, Haslam confirmed the talks.
“There was an opportunity there, and it didn’t materialize,” Haslam told USA TODAY Sports.
ProFootballTalk.com reported Harbaugh nixed the deal. Haslam wouldn’t elaborate on why the deal fell through.
The revelation, though, underscores what has been apparent for weeks: Pettine was a consolation choice. The former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator has been a head coach on the high school level but not in the NFL, which reflects the risk with the choice.
Haslam has hired a lot of people during his business career and undoubtedly made plenty of good hires. He talks of having a sense for reading people.
Farmer has drawn rave reviews from NFL colleagues, and Pettine turned the Bills defense into a top-10 unit in his one year on the job.
Yet there were likely questionable calls, too.
“Sometimes you make mistakes,” Haslam said. “You learn along the way.”
Haslam’s primary business, Pilot Flying J, is the target of a federal probe that uncovered a massive customer rebate scam. Ten people who worked for the truck stop service firm pleaded guilty to charges.
Haslam, who has not been targeted personally by the feds, has maintained he was not involved in the scam.
Nonetheless, the reputation of his company is tarnished.
While the problems with his football team would seemingly pale when compared to a company that had its headquarters raided by federal agents, Haslam easily senses a difference. What’s tougher to deal with? “They’re both tough,” he said. “But a lot of people may have never heard of Pilot Flying J. The NFL is so visible. What a big deal it is. So anything going on with the Browns attracts a lot of attention.”
Going forward, he insists he will trust the people he hired to do their jobs.
“Am I going to watch tape? No,” Haslam said. “But we’ll have some vigorous debate, for sure.”
They wouldn’t be the Browns without it.