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Rose Bowl bound

November 29, 2009 /

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Ohio State moved up to #8 in the BCS rankings tonight after Georgia Tech and Pitt lost this weekend. If we had an eight-team playoff based on the BCS with a home/away system for the first round (followed by the final four in the bowls and then a final championship game), Ohio State would be going on to play the winner of the Florida – Alabama game in the first round. Anyone who says a playoff would lessen interest in regular season games is an idiot. Ohio State fans would have been glued to the tube this weekend hoping for upsets of Georgia Tech and Pitt, and we would have been thrilled at the result.

That said, we’re stuck with the current system, and Ohio State fans are certainly happy to be going to the Rose Bowl for the first time in years. The Buckeyes really don’t have a team that stacks up with the top three teams, though if Terrelle Pryor played well they would be a tough team to beat if a playoff system was in place. I’m sure the #1 seed wouldn’t be thrilled about playing the Buckeyes in the playoff system I described above.

As for Michigan, their fans have to be sick after seeing the Buckeyes handle them again. Jim Tressel is now 8-1 against Michigan. Wow!

OSU Football

Brady Quinn takes a step back

November 29, 2009 /

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Many of us were pleasantly surprised by Brady Quinn’s impressive performance last week against the Detroit Lions. Sure, their defense is terrible, but NFL quarterbacks are expected to tear apart bad defenses, so Quinn’s performance represented real progress.

Unfortunately, reality set in this week, as Quinn had trouble hitting his receivers today in Cincinnati. Of course, the play calling sucked (the Browns abandoned the Wildcat) and several receivers dropped passes, but Quinn had serious trouble again with his accuracy. He had trouble with all his throws – short, medium and long. The long throws were laughably off target.

I’m not sure what’s going on here. Perhaps all the problems on offense are making him rush his throws and hurting his accuracy. Maybe it’s the terrible protection (by the way, why does Daboll keep spreading the field on third down when our quarterbacks often end up getting pounded) or bad play-calling. Last week was the only game so far where Quinn looked comfortable and it helped his accuracy.

He certainly needs to stay in there. The Browns need to figure out whether he can be the starter next season. If the Browns make an adjustment, they should focus on offensive coordinator Brian Daboll who is absolutely clueless.

Cleveland Browns

Mangini and Kokinis weren’t getting along

November 2, 2009 /

Tony Grossi reports that Eric Mangini and George Kokinis were not getting along as “both men became disenchanted with the other early on.”

This is pretty surprising, given that Kokinis was Mangini’s hand-picked GM. On the other hand, nothing ever seems to go smoothly in Berea under Randy Lerner. There’s been more drama at Browns’ headquarters than we typically see in a full season of Grey’s Anatomy. Remember the turf battles between Phil Savage and former team President John Collins?

It all goes back to Lerner. He’s doing all the hiring here, and then he leaves the building and expects things to run smoothly. Now he’s reportedly bringing in Ernie Accorsi and Bernie Kosar. The Accorsi move in particular would be a great one, but can we expect the drama to cease as long as Lerner’s the owner? Time will tell.

Cleveland Browns

WKYC reporting that Ernie Accorsi will be brought in as consultant to mentor Bernie Kosar

November 2, 2009 /

If this is true, Randy Lerner might be on his way to salvaging a terrible situation. Ernie Accorsi is one of the smartest men in football. He helped build the Browns of the 1980’s, and he was instrumental in bringing Eli Manning to the New York Giants. He’s great at evaluating talent, and he knows how to run a football organization.

If Lerner is serious about having Bernie Kosar run the Browns, then he’s smart to bring in Accorsi to help him. In know – it’s odd to think of Lerner making a “smart” decision given his track record.

But, this one would make a ton of sense.

As for Eric Mangini, I have no idea what’s in store for him, other than the fact that he’ll be answering to a real professional if Accorsi comes to Berea.

UPDATE: Jeff Schudel is reporting that Accorsi has been hired as the new GM of the Browns. This would make sense. I can’t see Bernie as the GM – he would be a better fit as team president. Accorsi can get his hands dirty and rebuild the team.

UPDATE #2: Tony Grossi is reporting that Accorsi will NOT be the new GM.

Cleveland Browns

Bizarre circumstances surrounding the Kokinis firing

November 2, 2009 /

The story here is very strange according to ESPN.

Kokinis refused to resign when pressed by owner Randy Lerner, who then persisted in seeking a dismissal “for cause,” citing Kokinis for failing to meet the specific standards as dictated by his contract, the sources said. The team’s security and legal department were reviewing phone records to build its case against Kokinis, a team source said.

There also were discussions of whether the two sides could reach a financial settlement, sources said.

Television station WKYC and the Cleveland Plain Dealer first reported Monday night that Kokinis was ushered out of the Berea facility by security around lunchtime Monday.

In a statement, the Browns said, “Cleveland Browns general manager George Kokinis is no longer actively involved with the organization. In response to rumors and reports that Kokinis was escorted out of the building today, the Browns deny those reports. In the interest of protecting the parties involved we will withhold further comment.”

Dialogue between the two sides actually occurred for the past week before Sunday’s 30-6 loss to the Bears sent the Browns reeling into the bye week with a 1-7 record. For the past month, Lerner has independently investigated professional and personal conduct by Kokinis, head coach Eric Mangini and director of football operations Erin O’Brien, who left the organization within the past few days, sources said. Mangini said Monday he had spoken with Lerner and was told his job was safe for now.

It appears that problems with George Kokinis have been building for weeks. It’s not like Randy Lerner to try to terminate an executive or coach “for cause” – a common legal term in contracts which usually permits the employer to fire someone for specified reasons which would result in penalties for the employee, usually the loss of severance or other future payments. Bottom line – Lerner wanted Kokinis gone and he didn’t want to pay him the balance of his contract. We can expect to hear much more about this story.

Cleveland Browns

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