Posted on Monday 16 October 2006 by John Blake @ 5:11 pm
Romeo Crennel has no plans to fire or demote offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon despite a struggling offensive unit. While he did say he might try to incorporate more of his own input into certain gameday calls, Romeo believes that it is going to have to be a team effort, coaches and players included, to get this thing turned around.
Crennel said all of the offensive coaches will continue to have input in the game plan.
“When they leave the meeting room, we want them to feel good about and to be on board with the plan,” he said.
However, the one thing that will be different is Crennel’s hands-on involvement with the offense as the week of practice goes along, and, more importantly, in the games.
“Some of that will be presence in the meetings, overriding plays if I need to, or calling a play if I have a feel for it,” Crennel said. “I’m going to insure that we follow the game plan to give us the best chance.”
Crennel on his feelings towards the coaching staff.
“I told them that I have confidence in every one of them. By working together, we can get this thing straightened out. That is what I believe. I may be crazy, stupid or naive, but that’s what I believe.
“I think I have good coaches. I have good kids on the team, I believe in them, and I’m going to give them a chance to do their job. We will try doing the things we do well and keep doing them in order to develop some consistency to win games.”
Now that we’ve all had a chance to rest and take a break from the Browns for a week, what do you all think about the outlook of the Browns for the rest of the season?
The bye week came at a good time and gave the entire team a chance to evaluate themselves and refocus before things had a chance of really spinning out of control. Let’s hope Romeo and crew have done everything in their power to fix the offensive woes because that has obviously been the area which has plagued us the most. That being said, don’t expect things to magically change overnight, either. The Browns have had a chance now to rethink some of their strategies but it’s hard to imagine them going out against Denver and completely turning it on. We are still in the middle of the building process whether you want to believe it or not and it’s going to take time.
The bye week also gave the team a chance to get healthy. Bodden and Baxter should be back to finally solidify our corner position and hopefully McGinest has healed from his calf injury.
if crennel doesn’t have enough sense to see carthon is a failed bit, than he has no business being the head coach of a professional football team , ok, i use that term loosely when talking about the browns……
I think Carthon has been terrible, but there is no way Crennel is going to fire him in the middle of the season.
I do like the fact that Crennel said he will be more involved in the offense. One, he better be more involved, because they have to find a way to improve things.
Secondly, he’s probably looking for a way to deflect some of the criticism from Carthon.
The necessary changes are not that difficult to figure out. Let’s see how good of a head coach Crennel really is.
Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick has fired offensive coordinator Jim Fassel and will take over the play-calling for the Ravens offense.
Here is the difference between someone who identifies problems and acts on it… we have coaches who know what the problems are and sugar coat everything. OIC
To quote steven Tyler:”Same old story , same old song and dance, my friend”. Nothing in this organization has changed in 7 years now, except for the faces. Same tired excuses, same poor coaching, same results, LOSING! And for Crennel to continue to let this overmatched idiot, Carthon continue on, it defies logic. But , hey there is always next year right? Oh yeah and there is always the year after next year , and don’t forget the year after the next………
apparently both dennis green and brian billick care more about winning football games than hurting someone’s feelings, both fired their offensive co ordinators. and yet , here we sit waiting for more “brilliance” from the under appreciated moe-rice carthon. i guess the former bill parcels offensive co ordinator the browns should of hired is the one in new orleans!
If Romeo wants to keep Carthon, but make the final calls, then put him up in the booth. Let him see the defense, and then make the adjustments. At least this way we will know whether he has the intelligence to be the offensive coordinator or if he is the coordinator that is just OFFENSIVE.
Didn’t know where I heard or saw this but if anyone is interested there is a website www.firemauricecarthon.com… They have some nice t-shirts available along with a petition you can sign… Just figured I’d pass along the information…
All I have to say is, if Crennel and Carthon can find a way to win on Sunday, let them run all the Fullback passes they want. I’m sick and tired of hearing all the “Browncos” complain about how they were treated in Cleveland (even though they should be thankfull they aren’t here anymore and on a contender). Nothing would make me happier than Ruben Droughns running wild through that front 4 ). I mean, it’s Jake Plummer - we can beat that clown!
yeah you would think they could beat that “clown”, but i also thought they would be the clowns from new orleans, and the clowns from baltimore, the only thing i know at this point a)carthon is the worst co ordinator in browns history and b)the only team worse than the browns are the raiders!
All I hear about is how bad MO is… When it comes down to it we have a young team that is developing, you can see that with al lthe mistakes they have made. I think this season would be a lot different if they did not turn the ball over so much and protected Frye better. I don’t think this team is good enough to be competative this year, but I do think they can be anyone they play.
As for the rest of this season…. they have a tough schedule this year and it does not look to promising. I think they need to open the offense up and be aggressive.. At this point what do you have to lose? Sure we have youngs guys that need more development..but throw them in the fire and see what they can do. We have already seen a glimpse of Frye, Edwards, Winslow, & the Def Rookies…. so we know there are some play makers..lets get them out there and build on their mistakes.
My last thought is: Where is Harrison… The guy tore it up in the preseason both receiving and rushing. I know the preseason is different, but it is hard to do anything with 1 or 2 touches a game. this guy is explosive, and he was the 2nd leading rusher in the NCAA..that says alot..get him out there and see what he can do… with his speed and ability to catch the ball get him up field out of the backfield and let him run in space.
I know we’re all sick of hearing it…but we have to stick it out until next year… this team will have more expereince, and we’ll get some injured guys back. We can add some more talent in FA & the draft. This team is heading in the right direction. Sure it’s easy to try and buy a championship, but why do that when you can build a dynasty?
Either Mo goes now or Romeo and Mo go togher. Eight years of crappy footbal is enough.
I agree with David’s comment that since Billick simply fired his coordiantor and will call the plays himself, why don’t we do that?
With Bodden and Baxter healthy, and McGinest getting better, our defense can only get better. I’m still worried about our offensive line though - I think that is the key. Let’s see how they do against the Denver D line.
Response to Matt
Thanks man for being one of the few knowledgable fans here. Only thing you hear is how bad Mo is when there are at least 10 bigger problems than him. But that is Cleveland fans for you. We just want would make us feel good instead of actually attacking the main issue at hand(O-line, WR dropping balls, young QB making young QB mistakes, no real backup QB,new parts,bad drafting-WHY DID WE EVEN CONSIDER FREDDY FREAKIN MITHCELL!!??). Billick and Green fired their OC? Funny how both guys were Offensive genuises only when they had Cunningham,Culpepper, Robert Smith,Moss and Chris Carter. Since then their offenses have SUCKED.
guess what, the 10 “other” bigger problems you speak of, do not address why vickers gets used like he’s better than drougns or harrison.
regardless of how bad the line is or what ever the other problems are, using vickers on sweeps does not give us a better chance of success than letting harrison or droughns or cribbs attempt the sweep.
that is why MC is a problem.
This team is one or two solid Offensive Lineman away from being a solid contender. We’re young and have some great future stars/playmakers on this team, more than in a long time.
The last two Savage drafts have been extremely solid. Another one like that and we’re looking great!
With Bentley coming back next year, that will help the running game tremendously. Fraley is getting abused up the middle.
The dropped balls aren’t as big of a problem as everyone thinks. The two problems are Northcutt (which is no surpise there - his PT will get shorter and shorter as the year moves on) and Edwards (but he only drops the ball when thrown over the middle - which will go away, I mean the guy is only a year away from putting his knee on backwards…no wonder he has the jimmy hands).
Lastly, personally I like the lack of backup QB depth. Every Cleveland fan has seen it the past few years, no matter what, the better Quarterback is always the guy on the bench. Crennel is going all in with Frye under center. This way, there is absolutely no way there will be a QB controversy.
Thanks for the chatter. I’m in Chicago and suprisingly there isn’t a lot of Browns talk around here.
who is “chris m”? “mo’s” brother? please, offensive play calling is not one of the top 10 probems of this team? and we are not “intelligent” enought to know that? what an idiot! i guess using the fullback in 3 crucial game changing plays doesn’t rate as a “problem”? yeah, you really bring insight and intelligence to the discussion. why don’t you start a website and call it “mo for coach, not that big of a concern”.
Carthon sucks because he can’t adjust to the defensive play calling. Week after week, he is overmatched, and outcoached. He’s in charge of the offense. Meaning he’s in charge of sending in those receivers that drop passes, and calling a fullback sweep on third down, and calling a fullback pass on 3rd and inches. The “players” excuse is bullsh!t. These guys are professionals. He’s had all summer, and preseason to find these guys strengths and utilize it. He knows what Frye is capable of. He knows what Droughns is capable of. He knows the weapons he has in Cribbs, Edwards, Harrison, and Winslow. He is in charge of the offense. The offense sucks, that’s why he must go. That’s real.
in response to pbw and IcebergSlim,
What I am is a knowledgable fan who can put passion aside for commonsense. Is Carthon the best? Far from it. Are you worried about the jaywalker or the serial killer? No coaching in the world can make a bad-oline good. A good o-line can make bad coaching look good/great. People don’t know what they’re talking about and using hindsight 20/20 for basic logic. People were saying how outmatched Crennel was against a rookie coach in the NO game. We were no 1 in the league scoring in the redzone until Frye BECAME THE LEAGUE LEADER IN ENDZONE INT’s. Do Mo get any credit for that? Also, Come to find out Peyton is a dang good coach who has outcoached Mora and Andy Reid and NO is a better team than the Browns at every position. One question-sense 99 what is the basic denominator of the Browns?-BAD O-LINE. Players excuse is BS? That maybe the most retarded line ever written!!! Millionaires paid to block who aren’t blocking,Millionaires paid to catch who aren’t catching….etc?! I can’t believe you actually typed that. I’m tired of losing for the same dang reason every year!!! When that o-line gets decent-Holla at me about the coaching.
still waiting on your explanation on how using vickers ahead of droughns or harrison or wright or even cribbs makes any sense.
The bad O-line and dropped balls might be a problem, but did it ever occur to you that the coaches are not putting those players in a position to succeed?
Why is Northcutt getting so much PT? He is terrible. Put him on the bench and you’ll get fewer drops.
Also, if Carthon used the fullback and second tight end properly (to block!!!), then maybe guys like Tucker would have some help against the best pass rusher in the NFL.
Carthon uses way too many formations and way too many players in the rotation - that has a negative effect on execution. They are trying to do too much. They need to focus on their best playmakers. Any practice time spent on fullbacks running sweeps, being split out wide right as wide receivers, or throwing the ball is a waste of time. The team needs more focus and discipline on offense, and Romeo needs to control this.
The Browns have some talent - they need to figure out how to use it. Last year it took them 5 games to figure out that Droughns should be featured in the offense. They are having similar problems this year.
Seriously, didn’t Droughns and JJ just get over being hurt and word is they are basically still hurt? Honest question
I think you are trying to defend the indefensible! Carrthon was let go in Dallas and there was a huge sigh of relief. He was overmatched there also. The man has is position for basically one reason and one reason only! It boggles my mind that Savage hasn’t stepped up and become the supposed GM and told Crennel to make the change or he will make it for him. Tha is how it should work but I can see in Cleveland it is never going to change for the simple reason we aer all suckers for continuing to support this ridiculously sorry organization. It is joke this team has had so many double digit loss seasons and 1 winning season in 8 years now. So aftet they lose 12-13 games this year, that will be what the 5-6th double digit loss season? What a joke.
5 SIMPLE THINGS the Browns can do to win or turn the season around for me:
1. NO MORE VICKERS
2. NO MORE NORTHCUTT
3. WIDER VARIETY OF PLAYS ON FIRST & SECOND DOWN
4. PASS PLAYS OF MORE THAN 5 YARDS
5. NO MORE CARTHON!!!!!
Droughns has been banged up a little, but he was healthy in week one when Carthon kept going with the fullbacks. He was also healthy last week in Carolina when they did the fullback pass.
JJ was hurt, so they have more of an excuse there, but they still had Northcutt in front of him after he came back.
I’m not excusing anyone. I just always like to take on the bigger problem. Putting them in a place to succeed? They are RICH-the minimum for someone on the o-lineman to do is BLOCK. The minimum for a wr to do is CATCH. Why are people blaming Carthon and Crennel for things that happened in ‘99? You have misplaced anger. The main problem here is O-line and the main problem upstairs is the owner. We should’ve never gotten Lerner-we should’ve had The Calvin Hill group. They would’ve NEVER picked Couch over a years worth of picks from NO. My father told me that would haunt this organization for a decade. Anyone see JJ and KW2 drop passes they got 2 hands on yesterday? Me too……..
well, i don’t hear much from all the “carthon supporters” right now after winning 2 of the last 3. both of those wins against teams with winning records…. additionally we gave san diego (the loss) a run for their money…
COACHING DOES MATTER AND CARTHON WAS A CLUELESS FOOL trying to run an offense.
i’m the first to admit this team is lacking in many areas, especially the o-line, but all carthon did was make it WORSE INSTEAD OF PLAYING TO WHAT STRENGTHS DID EXIST on this team.
I’m excited to see what davidson will do with an improved line and starting the year with his offensive system next season.
CARTHON = JOKE