2010 Cleveland Browns True Scapegoats: Kent Johnson and Rick Lyle?

There's a lot of talk about Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini being on the hot seat as his team stares down another 10-11 loss season resulting in another top-15 draft pick in April. However, I feel there's more blame to be placed on the Browns' Strength & Conditioning coaches than on the Head Coach for the team's struggles this season.

I admit, I'm no expert on the responsibilities of these coaches, but since their job title is Strength & Conditioning, I'm going to assume that their primary job is to build the players' strength, stamina, and durability. Over the course of the 2010 season, there have been glaring shortcomings in those areas with the Browns.

With regards to strength:

• Countless times, I've seen pass rushers fail to bring down a QB they had their hands on.
• I've seen too many linebackers hit a ball carrier short of the first down marker, only to be knocked backward and allow a first down conversion on the play.
• Receivers consistently fail to escape jams at the line, and are unable to gain any separation from their defenders.

Concerning stamina:

• Too many 4th-quarter meltdowns to go over without crying
• Shaun Rogers spending more time on the sidelines huffing oxygen than on the field

Finally, durability, as evidenced by key players whose injuries have cost the team wins:

• Tony Pashos - IR, resulting in the human turnstile, John St. Clair pretending to block at RT
• Robaire Smith - IR, probably a big part of why our pass rush always seems a split-second too late to actually bring down the QB
• Montario Hardesty - IR, gave Hillis the starting gig, which isn't a bad thing, but also gave Hillis 264 of the team's 326 carries by a RB, which is a bad thing.
• D'Qwell Jackson - IR, much-debated whether he's actually any good, but hard to tell when he's not playing 
• Scott Fujita - IR, hard to ignore the team's defensive slide with him out of the lineup, especially on 3rd downs and in the running game
• Josh Cribbs - dinged up all year, hasn't shown the same burst and big-play capabilities we've grown accustomed to
• Eric Wright - IR, seemed lost this year when healthy, which could be more a result of a lack of confidence after Sheldon Brown and Joe Haden were brought in, but still a body we could use right now in the secondary
• Evan Moore - IR, his height and sure hands are sorely missed on 3rd downs right now, and his absence allows defenses to focus solely on Watson and Hillis in crucial situations
• Blake Costanzo - IR, without the ST ace, opponents have averaged 18.3 yards/KR (17.6 before he went down) & 13.5 yards/PR (5.5 when he was playing) - not sure if that's solely due to his absence or just a coincidence
• Billy Yates - IR, the right side of the line leaks like a sieve, and needs all the help it can get
• Kaluka Maiava - IR, showed some promise late last season, and is more athletic than anyone in the LB corps right now
• Dave Zastudil - IR, one of the best punters in the NFL, although Reggie Hodges has filled in admirably
• Don Carey - not on the team this year, since he was injured before the '09 season started after Mangini drafted him in the late rounds of the 2009 draft, and subsequently waived with the assumption that he would clear waivers and they'd be able to re-sign and place him on IR. The Jags jumped on him, however, and now he's a starting safety for them, while our secondary's depth is paper-thin.

In closing, while Mangini has made some questionable calls and been guilty of poor clock management at times, overall, I feel he's done a good job as Head Coach in Cleveland. It's this fan's opinion that many of the Browns' misfortunes this year can be blamed on poor physical conditioning resulting in too many injuries, and a lack of talented/athletic depth to replace the injured players (which is the responsibility of the front office to supply, not the head coach), not coaching.