Cleveland Browns Coach Mike Pettine talks to Terry about everything from texts to trades to fans -- Terry Pluto (photos) | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf...t_story_packageBEREA, Ohio -- When Mike Pettine talked about the need to "play like a Brown," the Cleveland Browns head coach knew what was coming.
"Until the Browns win, people are going to make fun of it," he said. "We know that."
Pettine doesn't care. He can't care. He has to stay fixated on what he thinks can fix the Browns.
But he has real compassion for the fan base that hasn't seen a playoff win since 1994, or a winning season since 2007.
"Given the history here, it's not fair to ask Browns fans to take a leap of faith," said Pettine. "We have to show it. We have to earn it. We're beyond selling something. We have to earn the right for them to put hope in us."
It was early Friday morning when I met Pettine in his office. The opener against the New York Jets was two days away.
Pettine was finishing up a week when General Manager Ray Farmer started his four-game suspension. And a week when offensive line coach Andy Moeller was suspended indefinitely for an ugly incident involving a woman that is being investigated by the Berea police.
Also, 2014 third-rounder Terrance West was traded to Tennessee for a conditional seventh-round draft pick. It was virtually giving away a guy who wasn't "playing like a Brown." Or at least, West was not playing like Pettine wants his Browns to play.
And Terrelle Pryor was cut, surprising most of the local media and fans who had high hopes for the former Ohio State quarterback trying to learn to play receiver.
"I learned a lot of things last year (as a rookie head coach)," said Pettine. "But it starts with 'expect the unexpected.' You can plan for training camp. You can plan a roster. You can plan for the draft, for a season and for a game. But it's never going to go exactly how you plan."
Especially with the Browns.
PLAYING LIKE A BROWN
Pettine wants his players to "have that 'Play like a Brown' mentality. They need to be accountable, competitive and mentally tough."
Which brings us to the decision to trade West.
"It was difficult not seeing Terrance make progress," said Pettine.
But he did see it in West's fellow running back, Isaiah Crowell?
"We did," said Pettine. "Crow made tremendous progress in pass protection, in running the right routes, in catching the ball."
He paused.
"We learned we can trust Crow," he said.
Then Pettine talked about trust in the football sense.
"It's being in the huddle and looking at the guy next to you and knowing he knows where to line up," he said. "It means knowing he'll do the job to the best of his ability. When I'm in the huddle and a guy doesn't do those things, that's extra mental baggage for me to carry."
Pettine didn't say it, but his actions screamed that even though West has talent (673 yards rushing as a rookie), he could not be trusted to carry out the assignments.
Meanwhile, fellow 2014 rookie Crowell earned the trust. Like West, Crowell was benched during the season for some poor practice habits. But he learned from that.
PETTINE AND FARMER
I asked Pettine if he needed to "repair" his relationship with Farmer after all the stories of texting during games came out.
The coach quickly said "repair" was the wrong word.
"It's unfortunate that it happened," he said. "It was born out of Ray's competitiveness."
Pettine then talked about how he wanted the general manager to take part in the Monday evening meetings with each coordinator where they "did an audit of the game" by watching video.
"He played in the league," said Pettine. "He's a football guy. I don't want this division between the player personnel and the coaches."
Pettine talked about how their relationship grew, and how Farmer now has a better idea of the kind of players that Pettine needs.
"You can talk about it, and you can even look at video," said Pettine. "But where you really can tell is when you watch a team play."
Pettine said the Browns are prepared to go on without Farmer for the four games with Executive Chief of Staff Bill Kuharich filling in.
"Bill and Ray have been joined at the hip," said Pettine. "It's not like we're a rudderless ship, or that I have to step into a void and make personnel decisions. When I'm talking to Bill, it's like I'm talking to Ray."
Pettine appreciates how Farmer has said, "My job as GM is to make the coaches successful."
Owner Jimmy Haslam set up the organization where Farmer is in charge of the 53-man roster. Pettine picks the 46 who are active on game day. He says it's a good system because the roles are clear.
THE QUARTERBACKS
Pettine said that other than Steve McNair (Baltimore, 2006), he has not been with a team with an exceptional quarterback. The Ravens were 13-3 that year,and McNair was coming to the end of his career.
"I was with Baltimore when Joe Flacco was a rookie," said Pettine, meaning that Flacco was just learning the league. He was not the accomplished quarterback that he is today.
With the Jets (2009-12), it was Mark Sanchez. With Buffalo (2013), it was E.J. Manuel. Last year with the Browns, it was Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel.
"You have to work within your circumstances," said Pettine. "Do we have an elite quarterback? No. But you can still win games if you build it right around the quarterback. I don't think you should just throw resources (drafts, trading players) just to get any quarterback because you need a quarterback."
Pettine said Josh McCown "is our answer now as we continue to develop Johnny (Manziel)."
He added that Manziel is "doing much better, headed in the right direction. He's not there yet, but I feel much better about him."
Pettine praised McCown for the 36-year-old veteran's ability "to teach those young guys how to prepare for games."
McCown models what the coaches preach.
THE COACHING STAFF
When Pettine was hired, he was able to bring in five coaches whom he had known before. Four of them were on defense.
"That gave us a head start," he said.
When he was looking for an offensive coordinator, he interviewed the man who now has the job -- John DeFilippo.
But in 2014, Pettine decided to hire Kyle Shanahan instead of DeFilippo, who had never called plays in the NFL.
"I was a rookie head coach," said Pettine. "I was breaking in a rookie defensive coordinator (Jim O'Neil). I knew I would be heavily involved with the defense, so I went with Kyle. He had been a coordinator for six years."
Pettine said he has "no regrets" about hiring Shanahan. He didn't know him before they worked together.
"It unraveled a bit at the end and Kyle didn't want to be here," said Pettine. "We let him go (to Atlanta). It's a hard enough job with guys who want to be here."
While DeFilippo was the runner-up to Shanahan in 2014, Pettine did not immediately turn to the Oakland quarterback coach. Pettine said he interviewed several experienced coordinators such as Chan Gailey and Mike Martz.
He also planned to be more involved with the offense this season. His coaching staff really liked DeFilippo. Pettine and DeFilippo had worked together with the Jets in 2009.
"With Flip, if I come into a meeting, it won't be him thinking, 'Who is this guy forcing himself into what we are doing?'" said Pettine. "We'll work together."
Pettine admitted that he was not happy with quarterback coach Dowell Loggains, who was fired and now has that same job with Chicago.
He talked about the quarterback room "being a better place." He explained how DeFilippo and new quarterbacks coach Kevin O'Connell give more assignments to the backup quarterbacks.
"It's beyond them being ready to play," he said. "I want them (the backups) like quality control guys. One week, they'll look at our red zone packages. Another week, something else. I want them fully engaged and accountable. We are getting that this year."
JOB SECURITY
Pettine laughed when I said that Romeo Crennel was the last Browns coach to have the job for more than two years. Crennel was here from 2005-08. Since then, it's been Eric Mangini (2009-10), Pat Shurmur (2011-12), Rob Chudzinski (2013). Pettine took the job in 2014.
"People ask me about job security," he said. "They ask me if I need to get to eight wins or whatever. You know what I want right now? I want to be 1-0 (beating the Jets). That's how I think, win each game."
But don't all the coaching changes cause pressure?
"The most pressure comes internally," he said. "I'm not going to make the 'safe move' just to help keep my job or whatever. I don't think like that. I make the moves that I think will help us win."
CAN IT CHANGE?
"No one wants to hear that it's a process and it takes time," said Pettine. "How do we get this turned around quick, that's what we talk about. Given the draft, free agency and all the rules, the NFL is built so you can turn things around quickly."
Pettine said that nearly every year, a team that finished last in its division the previous season wins it the next year.
"It usually happens at least once," he said. "That's why we say internally, 'Why not us?' We talk about breaking off the rear-view mirror. We don't want to go into the season with the burden of past failures."
Pettine knows that the scoreboard is the final judge and jury, and that the fans have earned their right to be skeptical. Since Pettine and Farmer joined forces in February of 2014, the team has only 19 players left from previous regimes. That's 34 new players in 19 months.
"When I was hired here, I spent a lot of time talking to (former coaches) Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells," said Pettine. "They are vastly different personalities and they have different opinions about a lot of things. But they both almost said, word-for-word, 'If you want to change the culture, change the people.' We've been doing that."
Of course, Browns fans have seen almost nothing but change since the team returned.
"The one thing left for us to do here is to win," said Pettine. "We (the coaches, front office, etc.) are very much on the same page. The only real thing left for us to do is win -- and make fans proud of the Browns again."
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