Colt McCoy: Will Teaming Up With Mike Holmgren Save the Browns?

The Cleveland Browns have not had stability at the quarterback position since Tim Couch. Yeah, you heard that right. Before Couch was Bernie Kosar.

Since then, it has been a painful revolving door of quarterbacks that now sees Jake Delhomme as the incumbent and the ninth different starting quarterback in the 12 years the Browns have been in Cleveland.

One of the biggest differences for the Browns now, compared to the years since Couch was at the helm as the franchise quarterback, is Browns owner Randy Lerner has brought on one of the most brilliant quarterback evaluators and teachers in new president Mike Holmgren.

Holmgren has taught some of the best quarterbacks that have ever played the game in Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Brett Favre .

The first two are already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the latter is sure to follow once he hangs up the cleats for good.

Holmgren is a proven anomaly when it comes to finding quarterbacks. Just look at Seahawks starter Matt Hasselbeck , who went from late-round obscurity to lead Seattle to a Super Bowl appearance.

It takes a top-of-the-line teacher to be able to continuously scout talent and then know you can groom them into their maximum potential.

Holmgren can do that, and even though he may not be on the sidelines with a headset on in Cleveland, he has found his next prodigy in former Texas Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy.

Now there are a ton of fans that do not believe McCoy is the answer and future of the Browns. Holmgren, however, is the guy who told his General Manager Tom Heckert to pull the trigger and take McCoy in the third round in April's NFL draft.

Yes, Holmgren passed on McCoy three other times. Two of which every Browns fan was certain would be in the second round, especially when they traded back into the second round, but he waited.

Holmgren waited until he said he could no longer wait. He knew if he passed up McCoy one more time, he wouldn't get him later in the draft. Holmgren himself said fate was telling him to pull rank and tell the Browns own GM to make the pick.

Sounds like fate, but the Browns will also have to wait at least one year until they see McCoy really step onto the football field as their new general.

McCoy is the winningest quarterback college football ever. You know he has the will and drive to be a winner at the pro level.

His critics, however, say he is too short or doesn't have a strong enough arm for the pro game.

That argument is hogwash. When Young was with the 49ers , he didn't have the strongest arm or the best mechanics. Under Holmgren's tutelage, he went on to seven straight Pro Bowls and was the Super Bowl XXIX MVP.

That says a lot abut what a teacher like Holmgren can do with a player like McCoy as well.

When you combine a former Super Bowl head coach with college football's winningest quarterback, magic may happen.

Browns fans will most likely have to wait for that magic until 2011 at the earliest.

(Also posted on Dawg Scooper: THE Cleveland Browns Blog)