At about 4:05pm PST on Monday, while gearing up to write a column about +/- statistics in the NBA, I saw this article posted by Cleveland.com on Twitter. The headline:
“Sources: Cleveland Browns GM George Kokinis Escorted Out By Security”
I haven’t had many good days recently, but this made me burst into laughter. I walked into the other room and said to Tim, “Have you heard this sh*t about the Browns? Kokinis…escorted out by security. That’s what you do - get rid of the guy who doesn’t do shit.”
What else can I say besides that?
I’ll say this…
Rather than clarifying or fixing anything that’s wrong with the Browns - and there’s a whole lot that’s wrong with the team and, more importantly, the organization right now - this only serves to upend the franchise further than it already is.
Unless Alpha is escorted out a couple hours from now, too.
I’m only speculating, but presumably, this move was made to clear the way for Randy Lerner to bring in the Overseer he referred to yesterday. Ostensibly, this position was going to be something like a VP of Football Operations since the team already has a President - now it can clearly be a GM.
The problem is that no one credible will come in to an organization that already has a coach who is vehemently disliked around the league and perceived to be a terrible communicator. That’s why Scott Pioli said “no” to Lerner, and it’s also why Rich McKay of the Atlanta Falcons turned down an interview.
In other words, the firing of Kokinis is only going to make Alpha more powerful in the intermediary and eventually Lerner will realize he has to fire Alpha as well, just to be able to fill the vacancy above him.
All of this means Lerner might as well get to it now - dump Mangini ASAP. I’d rather read Rob Ryan’s press conferences multiple times a week in a dismal season anyway. Always great to hear someone say they hate themselves, complain about having to pay for a house in Oakland that they’re not residing in, and even take some shots at the behavior of their own son.
I thought that Alpha was saying all of the proper things at the start of training camp and even throughout the early part of the season. He was committed to a plan, had a vision, and was building a program. I also understood that he had made at least one questionable move - trading away the #5 pick for a scrap heap of Jets players - and a second relatively debatable one, dealing Braylon Edwards for a bigger scrap heap.
But now, the team is clearly not working, and it’s not improving. If anything, it’s getting worse. Alpha’s refusal to acknowledge the failures of Brian Daboll is disturbing. The fact that both D.A. and Brady Quinn have gotten worse is also unnerving since they were better under a coach, Romeo Crennel, who Lerner determined wasn’t good enough. Granted, the talent surrounding Quinn and Anderson has also deteriorated (Jamal Lewis) or been eliminated (Edwards, Winslow, James Davis), but combined with the questionable talent decisions (Alex Mack and, arguably, Massoquai are the only draft picks really producing), it all adds up to signs of the apocalypse.
Oh wait. I keep writing about Mangini, but this post is supposed to be about Kokinis. Why is that? Of course! It’s because Kokinis was a figurehead that had almost no impact on the organization. In his podcast this morning, Tony Grossi said that Kokinis had to ask Alpha to get permission to speak to the media. Grossi added that he’s never covered a team in which the GM does not speak to the press after a blockbuster trade (Edwards) goes down.
Great points.
And here we are…between weeks 8 and 9 and Randy Lerner’s Cleveland Browns are a sinking ship. Things have gotten so disreputable around here that Lerner is going to meet with a couple of fans who are organizing the lamest protest in the history of mankind - refusing to sit down until after the opening kickoff of the Monday night game against Baltimore on November 16th. Not only does this protest amount to nothing - boycotting concession purchases would be a whole hell of a lot more meaningful - but now Lerner is taking time away from trying to fix this organization to meet with a couple of malcontent fans as, I don’t know, some kind of PR stunt?
Maybe Lerner can explain to these guys why Kokinis was let go - and, better yet, what he plans to do now that George is gone. Install Kosar as GM? Yes, Bernie is a smart football man and a cherished Brown…but he needs just as much help as this organization. You’ve read about his problems. I’ve heard his speech on the Michael Reghi radio show. I have fond memories of Bernie, but like my favorite Cavalier Delonte West, Bernie needs a support system more than anything else. And bringing in Ernie Accorsi as a consultant, which Chris Mortensen reports is Lerner’s desire, is a desperate, living in the olden days maneuver.
What the Browns need right now is Randy Lerner to assert himself, to illustrate to the organization that HE - not Eric Mangini, not Bernie Kosar, not anyone else - has a plan on how to make this organization work. Lerner has to take control of the team he owns. I don’t know if he’s capable of doing it, but he’s the man in charge, and he has to act like it. Talking about soul searching and publicly rambling on without specificity about all of the problems the team has won’t cut it - and neither will passing the problems off to someone else.
