At this time a year ago, John Dorsey could have walked across the water to Canada.
Now he’s just another name tossed on Jimmy Haslam’s scrap heap of former coaches and administrators. The sweatshirt, the shorts, the folksy approach, the football focus, the “buddy boy” monikers … it’s just one more memory in the absurdity that has been the Cleveland Browns since 1999, and since Jimmy Haslam took over the team in 2012.
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Dorsey joined the Browns late in the winless season of 2018.
He traded for Jarvis Landry.
He drafted Baker Mayfield first overall.
He drafted Denzel Ward fourth overall.
He drafted Nick Chubb in the second round.
He traded for Odell Beckham Jr.
He signed Sheldon Richardson.
He retooled a roster that was depleted to the point of absurdity.
He also talked shortly after he was hired about how “cool” it was to join a team that had Marion Motley and Bill Willis, two of the first African-Americans in the NFL. Dorsey was one of few to come in who respected the team’s history, and he did not merely give it lip service.
When the Browns finished 2018 strong to go 7-8-1, Dorsey was revered in Cleveland. Given complete authority to hire a coach, Dorsey chose Freddie Kitchens. At his introductory news conference, Jimmy and Dee Haslam sat in the front row as Dorsey and Kitchens sat on the podium, an arrangement that now seems prophetic.
The hire proved problematic, as Kitchens seemed overwhelmed from the season-opening 30-point loss to Tennessee. In the hire of his career, Dorsey chose a coach who had been in the league for 13 years and whose only experience as a coordinator was as interim with the Browns in the second half of 2018. The team’s lack of discipline, order and structure under Kitchens were glaring.
He lasted one season, Dorsey two seasons and a month.
Only in Cleveland. Only with the Browns. Only with Jimmy Haslam, the one constant in all these changes that have taken place since he took over as the owner.
In the predictable news release in which Jimmy and Dee Haslam explained the move, the Haslams said the team “did not meet its potential on or off the field” in 2019.
“As the role of the general manager continues to evolve in this league, we felt there were areas that needed to be reassessed,” the statement said. “Over the last 48 hours, we’ve had discussion with John about his role but could not come to an agreement on a position that would enable him to remain with the organization.”
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What needed to be “reassessed” might come out in time; clearly, there were some issues the Haslams wanted to “assess.” But … it’s anyone’s guess how the role of GM continues to evolve in the NFL; there are winning teams who have had the same GM doing the same job for years, including in Pittsburgh. The last sentence makes clear that the Haslams wanted to change the terms of Dorsey’s agreement with the team to have him focus exclusively on player personnel. That’s not the GM deal he signed, so the two sides agreed to the proverbial “parting of ways” and the Haslams pulled the “wish him well” statement out of the file and used some Liquid Paper to change the name.
How the Browns will be structured in the future remains to be seen. But it sure sounds like they are back to the arrangement in which the coach helps choose the GM. Why not? They’ve tried everything else, from strong analytics to strong GM to strong coach to pick-up in the street with the telephone pole a first down.
This move would seem to set up a full-out effort to persuade New England’s Josh McDaniels to become the coach. Nobody in the league believed McDaniels would join the Browns without bringing his own personnel man, and few believed McDaniels would take the job with Dorsey picking players.
That points to perhaps Nick Caserio, the Patriots general manager whose contract is up, or pro personnel director Dave Ziegler. Ziegler was hired by McDaniels in 2010 in Denver and is next in line behind Caserio. Those moves would give McDaniels Bill Belichick-like control over personnel, a necessity in hiring him. Former Browns front office personnel man Andrew Berry’s name also has been floated; Haslam is very high on him. Don’t discount the possibility of Scott Pioli, who knows McDaniels from his tenure in New England; Pioli also has worked for the Chiefs and Falcons after starting with the Browns in the Belichick years.
There are some in the league, though, who are not convinced McDaniels would join the Browns. Haslam does not have a track record for stability, which would be McDaniels’ first issue. And while Mayfield was the first pick in the draft, the way he played and conducted himself this past season — criticizing trainers late in the season, getting into a shouting match with a fan before the finale — goes against everything McDaniels has learned under Belichick.
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If McDaniels does not take the job, the Browns have a long list that includes former Packers coach Mike McCarthy, Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and former Browns offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as well as the lead tenors from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. “Comprehensive approach” and all.
If it’s not McDaniels, it’s not clear who it is.
What is clear is that this hire is back in the hands of the Browns owner.
Happy Old New Year.
(Photo: Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
