Breaking Down the Browns' Offensive Coordinator Job

When offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and the Cleveland Browns parted ways last week the search for a new play-caller began. So far it has yielded quite a few names but no real action. As the head coaching jobs around the league begin to fill the Browns will zero in on their top candidates and there are some very interesting options.

I have argued that the Browns’ coordinator position is as good a gig that is available on the market. The down side—an uncertain quarterback position, an owner who has a quick trigger finger to clean house and a lack of offensive weapons—is well outweighed by the highlights of the position.

First, there is the built-in excuse of quarterback Johnny Manziel. He has already made his bed in the NFL. If he falls flat on his face the coordinator will not take the blame. If he becomes a legitimate NFL quarterback the coordinator will get all the credit. It is a low risk, high reward situation.

Then there is the fact that head coach Mike Pettine is a defensive guy. He delegated all offensive game-planning and play-calling to Shanahan last season and will likely do the same to whoever takes the job. The freedom to create and maintain an offensive system the way they see fit will be probably the most attractive part of the Browns opening.

ESPNCleveland.com’s Tony Grossi agrees that the Browns’ sideline will be a soft landing spot for any potential offensive coach.

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As a rookie head coach, Mike Pettine was a willing delegator, especially on offensive issues. He routinely deferred personnel decisions to his offensive coordinator or position coaches. He rarely blocked a Kyle Shanahan play-call.

He had to be a great head coach for an offensive coordinator to work for.

Which makes you wonder why Shanahan still jumped ship.

Which also puts a great deal of importance on Pettine’s choice to succeed Shanahan.

The next Browns offensive coordinator should have the latitude to install his offense, implement his philosophy, call his plays, stamp his own personality on the offense.

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And the attraction is evident. The Cleveland Browns themselves laid out nine names that have been connected to the opening on their website. Kevin Jones of ClevelandBrowns.com listed Chan Gailey, Bill Callahan, Charlie Weis and Marc Trestman among those who could end up as the Browns next offensive coordinator. Never mind how outside the box it is for the team to list candidates on their own website; let’s focus on the fact that those names are nothing to sneeze at.

The two most interesting are Trestman and Callahan. Both are veteran coaches and while they are up there in age—they are both 58 years old—they are not yet near the end of their careers either.

Callahan, who once took the Oakland Raiders to the Super Bowl as their head coach, is a west coast offense guy that uses a zone-blocking scheme. Bringing him in would allow the offensive line to continue running similar blocking schemes that they did last season. He is widely known as an offensive line guru, according to Jones on ClevelandBrowns.com, which is always a plus in a league that demands excellence in the trenches.

Trestman is also very interesting. He was run out of Chicago after two seasons, but their offensive scheme was certainly not the issue. Quarterback Jay Cutler had another underwhelming season and a terrible offensive line eventually did them in. Even with all those issues the Bears were still 15th in the NFL in passing yards per game.

No matter who ends up getting the job, their top priority should be working with Manziel. Someone needs to reach him and get him committed to what the team is doing. Manziel has said he is turning over a new leaf but everyone will remain skeptical about that until he shows it over an extended period of time.

There is certainly ability with Manziel but how do you translate that into offensive success in the NFL? The coordinator who takes the job will need to figure out a way to tailor the offense to what he does best. That is where Shanahan fell disappointingly short.

Too often last year he put Manziel in situations where he had little to no chance of succeeding. Running a quarterback sweep in the NFL is not only stupid but it's also dangerous. Sooner or later it will get the quarterback hurt just as it did against Carolina. Manziel is at his best when he freelances off of a designed passing play. He is not a running back.

Speaking of running backs, we know Pettine loves to run the football and control the clock with defense. So whoever is calling plays will likely get the mandate that the two young running backs need to be heavily involved in their scheme. The two combined for 1,280 yards and 12 touchdowns. That was also with Ben Tate in the fold and taking carries for part of the season.

One way or the other this will be as important a decision as Pettine will make as a head coach. Yes, Pettine won seven games in his rookie year and owner Jimmy Haslam gave him a vote of confidence after the season but general manager Ray Farmer did not hire him. If things go south then Farmer will likely use Pettine as the fall guy.

That is the nature of the NFL and something coordinators will also have to keep in mind. 

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RT @puckhogg1: How toxic is Browns OC job? … Great job, if you want 11- month gig.

— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) January 13, 2015"

Uncertainty is the name of the game in the NFL and there is no greater uncertainty than what will happen next with the Browns. Hopefully what happens next is a great hire that will change the way we perceive Manziel and the Browns for the foreseeable future.