Year Two Is Huge for Browns Daboll

Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Brian Daboll can thank his lucky stars Eric Mangini is a loyal head coach. No, make that extremely loyal. Most head coaches would have replaced him at the mid-season break considering how awful the offense was.

After suffering through a season that saw the Browns finish 5-11, all eyes are on Daboll. If the Browns' offense struggles out of the gate this year, Mangini’s loyalty may not be enough to save him.

With all the talk of the west coast offense after Mike Holmgren joined the Browns as president, the offense is still Daboll’s—no west coast.

Well, there may be a few wrinkles, courtesy of Gil Haskell. Haskell was hired as an adviser to Holmgren and has been spending time with Daboll.

Still, Daboll has to get results.

I’ve heard there will be just minor changes to the offense this year. Looking at the Browns' personnel, I would expect to see a run-heavy attack. Behind a good offensive line, with rookie Montario Hardesty, Jerome Harrison, James Davis, and Peyton Hillis, it’s not hard to see what the Browns have in mind.

Last year the Browns had no quarterback that looked like he belonged in the NFL. With a first-year coordinator in Dabol who was saddled with an aging running back and inexperienced wide receivers, there were excuses everywhere.

Browns fans are tired of excuses.

With a new season comes a new quarterback to lead the Browns. Jake Delhomme is a cagey veteran who should get better results than last year's two-headed system. Also, Seneca Wallace is there just in case Delhomme stumbles. Expect Daboll to continue his conservative play calling, outside of a few wildcat plays. Daboll knows what worked at the end of last season even though he got little help from his QB.

After last year, Cleveland has nowhere to go but up on offense. Any improvement, coupled with a few more wins, will bode well for the second-year offensive coordinator. Mangini was able to save him once, but this year he’s on his own.

Article originally posted on http://www.nfltouchdown.com/