Banner and Lombardi dodged a bullet but Haslam has more in the gun.

Lombardi Banner

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Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi were looking at candidates that would have brought an abrupt end to their reign as King and Duke of Cleveland football. For example Josh McDaniels smartly decided not to take the job. He would have been a disaster. None of leaves of the Bill Belichick tree have been successful. McDaniels’ “Belichickian” attitude in Denver forced the two best players on that team out of town. He lost QB Jay Cutler when he tried “secretly” to get his buddy Matt Cassel out of New England. Somehow he believed that no one would ever find out. Then McDaniels got into a spitting contest with his best receiver Brandon Marshall and the latter forced a trade. The head coach was fired less than 2 seasons after he was hired.

 

Supposedly the other prime candidate when the mighty duo fired their 1 year coach was Bronco OC Adam Gase. Like the girl that rejects a potential prom date by saying she has to wash her hair Gase first put off the Browns by saying he did not want to interview while his team was in the playoffs. Then he got honest as just told them he had seen that job and did not want anything to do with it.

Gase may be a very bright guy. However, anyone that would claim that the success of the team’s offense was Gase and not Payton Manning needs to be checked for a concussion. If I had to guess, I would speculate that 75 percent of the plays are changed by Manning based on what the defense is doing.

 

Banner and Lombardi could have picked Greg Schiano. Late in the search as Banner was chewing Lombardi’s fingernails to the quick, Schiano’s name emerged. Unlike McDaniels, Schiano managed to piss off his entire team and every coach that played the Bucs. The “jump the center and kill the QB move against a kneel down showed that Schiano was not mentally prepared to coach in the NFL.

 Mike Pettine

By hiring the Bills’ DC Mike Pettine Banner and Lombardi avoided the three potentially catastrophic disasters that could have befallen them. I do believe that Pettine is a good but not great choice. We will see how he does preventing the game ending collapses they suffered in 2013. The key to the team’s success will likely be who they pick as OC and as QB. For those that dislike Banner and Lombardi there is still a lot that could get them fired by this time next year. The most likely cause will be if they end up picking QB Johnny Manziel. He will be their ticket out of town.

 

That is what I think. Tell us what you think.

 

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Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on and a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/. Follow him on twitter @NNRonDSN to get the schedule of Special News, Notes and Rumors broadcasts. You can hear the previous shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/ and the live show Mondays at 6 PM Eastern time on .

He also edits .

To keep up with the News, Notes & Rumors podcasts, follow me on twitter @NNRonDSN.

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