PITTSBURGH (92.3 The Fan) – Contrary to assumptions made based on multiple reports – including from CBS Sports NFL insider Jason LaCanfora – there is no trouble in the Browns’ 1-15 paradise.
LaCanfora and others reported Sunday morning that Browns head coach Hue Jackson would urge owner Jimmy Haslam to add a football purist to the personnel department in an effort to enhance their ability to evaluate talent going forward.
Following Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Steelers, Jackson backed executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown and the entire personnel department when asked about the reports.
“Me and Sashi are in lock step trying to get this football team to be the best it is,” Jackson said. “We’re going to get there. That’s all I can tell you. We are together. We know what we’re doing. We have work to do. We have to get better at what we’re doing and we all understand that.”
Haslam, who took responsibility for the team’s failures over the last 4 years after the game, wouldn’t even acknowledge or respond to LaCanfora’s report when asked.
The Browns finished the year 1-15, the worst in the once-storied 67-season history of the franchise that was founded in 1946 and joined the NFL 4 years later in 1950.
“This is hurtful for the whole organization,” Jackson said. “Not just me but Sashi and Jimmy Haslam and Dee Haslam and Paul DePodesta and Andrew Berry too, we’re all in this together. There’s no divide here. We just need to get better. That’s what we need to do from the top down, and we’ll do that.”
After the game owner Haslam announced there would be no major changes to the coaching staff or personnel departments much to the delight of 10-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas.
“It’s definitely the right call,” Thomas said. “The no. 1 thing that this organization’s been missing since I’ve been here is consistency and stability. So I think that’s what we have. He’s exactly right, he’s got the right people in place, now we just need to allow everything to percolate.”
Unlike previous regimes that ate themselves from within – see Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine or Michael Lombardi and Rob Chudzinski – there is no internal conflict or power struggle that is going on behind the scenes.
While things aren’t perfect, as evidenced by the on-the-field product, the only focus appears to be on finding ways – including players – to help finally turn the disaster of a franchise around and not waste energy fighting over who is in charge.
“I feel very strongly we’ve got the right group together and I think they’re working exceptionally well together,” Haslam said.
But will the Browns add another voice to the front office?
Haslam said no, but with a caveat.
“If we do it will be Sashi and Paul and AB’s call, but we feel good about the people we’ve got in place,” Haslam said.
