Where Do the Cleveland Browns Go From Here?

Seven games into the season, fans of the Cleveland Browns have to ask not why the team is bad, but why the coaching is so bad.

When Eric Mangini was hired he promised Cleveland better, smarter football. The product on the field has been anything but that.

To give credit where credit is due, Mangini also promised a more disciplined team, and he did deliver on that promise. Penalties, especially false starts, are down and the Browns rank 27th in the league for offensive penalties, the one area of the stat universe you want to be toward the bottom of.

Other than that, though, the Browns pretty much rank last, or next to last, in every other category.

Fans of the Cleveland Browns have been reduced to arguing over a team that is bad in every aspect of the game, and quibbling over the team’s win/loss record. Specifically, should the Browns be 1-6, or 2-5.

However, when you have an opportunity to win a game in overtime, as the Browns did versus Cincinnati a few weeks ago, it’s always going to draw debate.

Looking at this year’s team, it’s every bit as bad, and in some cases, worse than last year’s team. Mangini brought in a bunch of his players from New York, but they aren’t providing the stability that was advertised.

Mangini’s other moves haven’t done much to help the team win, either.

The popular mantra among many Cleveland fans is: This is a bad team, they were going to lose a lot of games, what did you expect?

The answer is: I expected Mangini to come in and provide better, smarter football like he promised. The fact is this team is playing just as dumb as it was under Romeo Crennel, and the record reflects that.

As to where the team goes from here is a question with no good answers.

Right now the popular move would be to admit hiring Mangini was a mistake and just fire him now under the assumption the next two or three years with him at the helm won’t be any different.

The unpopular, but more likely action is that Mangini will stay where he is but changes will be made. What those changes will be can’t be said for certain right now, but we can speculate.

It’s obvious Mangini is making a lot of the same mistakes he made in New York, obsessing over details and neglecting the big picture. This has the effect of creating a team with no passion.

Given the Browns have virtually no talent, not having any passion either pretty much kills your chances for victory.

Mangini decided to take a chance on an offensive coordinator with no experience and sketchy credentials. There’s a chance Brian Daboll could grow into a fine, competent offensive coordinator one day, but that’s a longshot given he calls for screen passes on third and 17.

I just don’t know how you develop a solid offense with play calling that inept. There’s really nowhere to go from there.

Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has put a unit on the field that can't tackle. You can build off of this, but it takes time. Specifically, it takes time to learn fundamentals that are taught in high school.

Mangini is the head coach, so the buck stops with him. His assistants problems are his problems.

So this leaves owner Randy Lerner and his two team consultants of Jim Brown and Bernie Kosar several areas of concern to address because whatever Mangini is selling, the team isn’t buying. The results on the field speak for themselves.

This isn’t a huge problem when you have a team with such little talent, but should the Browns upgrade their talent over the next few years, it won’t matter if the team still tunes out their head coach.

Brown was a player under one of the most successful head coaches in the history of the game. He needs to take what he learned under Paul Brown and communicate those lessons to Mangini.

Kosar was one of the most successful quarterbacks in Cleveland Browns history and he played for Mangini’s mentor, Bill Belichik. Kosar needs to filter out what did and didn’t work for Belichik and translate that to Mangini, who obviously hasn’t learned those lessons yet.

Mangini might need to be stripped of some of his powers, especially when it comes to the draft. He didn’t get enough from the Jets for Mark Sanchez, and he overdrafted Brian Robiskie.

This whole decade has shown the Browns what happens to a coach who wields too much power. Butch Davis we hardly knew ya.

General Manager George Kokinis doesn’t fit into this equation until he proves he’s anything more than a paper GM. Whether that issue is a contributing factor is yet another unknown, and that’s part of the problem.

While 2009 was written off before it started, the fans expected to see some hope. Seven weeks in, the Browns look as bad as ever with nothing to grasp on to for the future.