A New Cleveland Browns Executive May Feel Pressure of Past Front Office Failures

Since the Cleveland Browns were reborn in 1999, there have been several front office makeovers, and now in 2009, another has already begun.

One would think that after 10 years of having a team, Cleveland would be ahead of where they currently are, but unfortunately, many say that the 2009 Browns are quite possibly worse than their 1999 version.

Now that owner Randy Lerner has fired general manager George Kokinis, the Browns are looking to rebuild their front office only 10 months since the last time it was rebuilt.

Lerner has said that he is looking for a "credible leader" to head up all things football for the organization and to become the face and voice of the team.

This is kind of like a "virtual owner" without actually being the owner.

The problem is that this should have been the focus years ago, but a decade later it looks like the Browns and Lerner might finally get it right as long as the right person is chosen to wield all this power that Lerner is willing to hand out.

The currently rumored candidates (as you may already know) include Mike Holmgren, Ernie Accorsi, Mike Shanahan, Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, Marty Schottenheimer, and Charlie Casserly, to name a few.

The biggest question is who will want to take on what is possibly one of the biggest rebuilding projects of any professional sports team in the nation?

Also, how much added pressure will be on their shoulders since all previous front office persons have failed in the last 10 years?

The following are the failures of the Browns front office since their rebirth.

Carmen Policy, President and CEO (1998-2004)

Policy is best known as the man who helped the San Francisco 49ers win many Super Bowls while he was their front office.

As a close friend of late owner Al Lerner, Policy was brought on board to help build a championship-caliber Browns team utilizing all of his knowledge from his 49ers days.

Some have said in the past that Policy's biggest mistake was the hiring of Dwight Clark as the head of all football operations.

Policy stepped down from his position after five years in 2004 and sold off his 10-percent share of the team ownership too.

Dwight Clark, General Manager (1998-2002)

Clark is best known for being the San Francisco 49ers' tight end from 1979-1987, and he was on the receiving end of a Joe Montana touchdown pass best known as "The Catch."

His time with the Browns was less than pleasant mostly due to his horrible evaluating of talent and the questionable drafting of players instead of drafting many others who would become All-Pro talent in the years to come.

Clark's time was cut short when he was fired following the 2002 season.

Butch Davis, Head Coach with some GM powers (2001-2004)

Davis is best known as being a very power-hungry coach who assumed some general manager responsibilities and powers after Clark was fired at the end of 2002.

He led the Browns to a 7-9 record in 2001, nearly making the playoffs but missing them by one game.

In 2002, he led the Browns to their only playoff appearance since their rebirth with a 9-7 record, but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild card round.

Also during 2002, a quarterback controversy arose between Tim Couch and Kelly Holcomb, and Davis took a lot of heat for his inability to handle the situation.

Davis' demise continued the next season, and in the 2004 offseason he cut Couch and signed quarterback Jeff Garcia, who turned out to be a horrid free agent pickup. Davis was forced to resign during the 2004 season with a record of 3-8.

John Collins, President and CEO (2004-2005)

Collins' stint with the Browns was short-lived, and after replacing Policy, he went on to hire a new general manager in Phil Savage.

After Savage was hired, there was a heated "personality conflict" between the two; once it was public, Collins resigned from his position.

Phil Savage, Senior Vice President and General Manager (2005-2008)

Savage came in as a guru of evaluating talent with the Baltimore Ravens, and his vision including building the Browns through the draft.

After drafting several All-Pro players for the Ravens, he also drafted two Browns All-Pros in Braylon Edwards and Joe Thomas, who helped the Browns to a very surprising 10-6 record in 2007. However, they missed the playoffs with a late season loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Though his initial vision was to improve via the draft, Savage began trading away valuable draft picks for players in very questionable moves. During 2008, he also responded inappropriately to a fan's text message, which was the beginning of the end for Savage. At the end of a dismal 2008 campaign, he was fired.

George Kokinis, General Manager (2009)

Recently fired Kokinis has many football reporters saying and writing different things regarding the reasons behind the sudden departure, and both head coach Eric Mangini and Lerner are mum on the subject.

No matter what the reason for the firing was, Kokinis was a no-show in his brief eight months as the general manager.

Only time will tell who the new Browns executive will be, but that person better be aware of the bad luck that has dwelled within the Browns' front office over the past decade.

(Article also posted on Dawg Scooper.)