Cleveland Browns' Only Hope for 2015 Success: Give Mike Pettine the Wheel

By all rights, Cleveland Browns fans should be thrilled. Mike Pettine, the second new Browns head coach in as many seasons and fifth in the last seven seasons, was the first in that same stretch to notch more than five wins in a season.

In fact, his Browns' 7-4 start in the most competitive division in football kept them in the playoff hunt all the way into December. If not for a few factors, from a drop-off in quarterback play to key defensive injuries, they might have finished with their first winning record since 2007—calling all the way back to the heady days of Derek Anderson and Jamal Lewis, Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards.

Going into the 2015 draft, they've got two first-round picks with which to keep building on the foundation Pettine's built; it looks like the sky's the limit.

Except.

Except their rookie, first-round-pick quarterback, Johnny Manziel, the latest in an interminable line of would-be saviors, has voluntarily entered substance-abuse treatment after a season marred by insufficient preparation, poor performances and missed appointments.

Except their superstar wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended, per Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com, for "a minimum of one year" after yet another substance-abuse policy violation.

Except general manager Ray Farmer, a wheeler-dealer all over the board in his first draft, now faces a fine, a multi-game suspension and the possible loss of a draft pick over impermissible texts to the sideline during a game, per Mary Kay Cabot of Northeast Ohio Media Group.

One might excuse Farmer for his selection of Manziel, a possible result of what CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora characterizes as "meddling" by owner Jimmy Haslam—except Farmer's other 2014 first-rounder, cornerback Justin Gilbert, started only two games and was all but invisible.

It appears Farmer's pushy texts to the coaches, according to Cabot, helped pushed then-offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan out the door. Manziel's total inability to execute even the rudimentary offense Shanahan crafted for him can't have helped.

For all the on-field success of 2014, the Browns organization is no more stable or sane than it was at this time in 2013, or 2012, or any of the many, many transition years, rebuilding years and down years Browns fans have suffered since the franchise's 1999 re-inception.

In fact, the Browns are arguably worse off now than they were a year ago, when they cleaned house after Rob Chudzinski's only year in charge. It's a disaster of incredible proportions, and it's taking all the strength this columnist has to keep stale Cuyahoga River cracks out of this column.

Counting 2012's regrettable draft class, the Browns have blown four first-round draft picks over the past three seasons, plus the second-rounder used on Gordon in the supplemental draft. Sure, they got a first-rounder back for failed tailback Trent Richardson—but spending the No. 3 overall pick on Richardson, dealing him for a first-rounder, then using that pick in a package to move up and take Manziel deserves a double helping of scorn, not praise.

That's an incredible sum of talent wasted, time wasted and opportunity lost.

Somehow, incredibly, the Browns are going into the 2015 offseason with a solid foundation and plenty of resources. They've got extra first- and fourth-round picks in the draft (assuming they aren't voided by the NFL), and a stunning $43.3 million in cap room to spend, per Spotrac.com, third-most in the NFL.

They've blown opportunity after opportunity, but they've still got a chance to salvage this roster, as well as the strong, young, top-10 scoring defense they've built. Give Mike Pettine the wheel.

Yes, Farmer's the one with final-say authority. No, Pettine can't get more formal authority without demoting or firing Farmer—and the absolute last thing this franchise needs is more upheaval.

La Canfora wrote:

"

The culture in the Browns building is toxic, I'm told. Morale is beyond low. If you can flee, you are fleeing. There is no shortage of individuals throughout that organization who would, like former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, get the hell out of there if at all possible. There's an overwhelming sense of dread about the future and a fear that, come the end of the 2015 season, Haslam will do the one thing he has managed to do with any consistency during his three-season reign—that is, blow up his entire building once again and fire everyone, in essence blaming all but himself for his sweeping failure.

"

The only way up out of the basement is continuity. The only path to success is consistency. Even if Farmer's mission to build a winning culture in Cleveland has been an abject failure so far, he was part of the leadership team that hired Pettine, and Pettine's the only guy in the building who's proved he knows what he's doing.

Just think about what we now know: Manziel was fighting, and losing, a battle to balance his partying ways and his career. Veterans on the team and coaches on the sideline knew all along Manziel was neither taking preparation seriously nor talented enough to beat NFL teams on talent.

Gordon, when not suspended, was no better prepared (and little more effective) than Manziel. Tailback Ben Tate, the Browns' marquee free-agent acquisition, was summarily released after 10 games.

Shanahan was apparently boiling over at being stuck with incapable quarterbacks and being micromanaged by front-office execs. Injuries rocked the offensive and defensive lines, eroding Pettine's foundational run-and-stop-the-run philosophy.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Still, Pettine kept veterans engaged and playing hard. Still, the Browns kept pulling off miraculous comebacks. Still, the Browns won at least seven games for only the fourth time in 16 seasons.

The disastrous five-game losing streak that ended their season, keeping them out of the postseason? It included a 20-10 road loss against the Baltimore Ravens, who all but upset the eventual Super Bowl champions in their own house. It included a 17-14 road loss to the Carolina Panthers, who won a playoff game. It included a 25-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, who went on to play for the AFC championship.

With the walls of the Browns' house crumbling around him and everything inside it catching fire, somehow Pettine kept the whole thing standing. The best thing for the Browns organization, right now, would be to reaffirm that Pettine's in town for the long haul.

There's a cheap, quick and easy way Farmer and Haslam could signal to the rest of the league (not to mention incoming free agents) that Pettine's earned a leash much longer than one more year. The contract Pettine signed a year ago, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal, was for four seasons, with a club option for a fifth.

Why not pick up that option right now?

Given the dragon's hoard of coach contracts the Browns have had to pay off in recent years, one more Pettine-sized chunk of change won't break the bank. Guaranteeing Pettine will still be on the payroll come 2018 should help assuage the fear and loathing in Berea and signal to everyone in the building that even if Farmer's on notice, Pettine's steady hand is on the wheel.