As Cleveland Browns fans sit back and await the next leader of their beloved team, you can’t help but get impatient and anxious. The Browns’ upper management has put the state of the franchise in disarray with the firing of their hand picked assistant coach, Rob Chudzinski. With each passing day, the team “lies” coach-less and remains a main attraction embarrassment in the NFL. But, with one swift move, the Browns could answer their critics and start a new long lasting positive era. Could former head coach, Ken Whisenhunt be the answer?
Out of all the names in the hat, I like Whisenhunt. The Browns have “been there, done that” with college coaches and assistant coaches. At 51 years old and experienced resume, Whisenhunt would be the perfect fit for Cleveland. While his head coaching record isn’t gleaming by any means at 45-51 (.468), the fact that the guy has been at the helm of 96 NFL games could be enough to win me over. Despite the hatred for the team east of here, Whisenhunt is a small branch off of that tree that fits into everything Jimmy Haslam and company have pitched. So candidly, get moving Jimmy and Joe, he is a hot commodity and these fans’ patience is growing very thin with the situation you put yourself in.
Before the Browns hired Chudzinksi, Whisenhunt had multiple interviews and appeared to be a front runner for the vacant position just over a year ago. As we know now, the rest is history with Chud winning the job and Whisenhunt becoming the San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator after being dismissed by the Arizona Cardinals. And while you might say – why is Whisenhunt the answer? Let’s look at what he did do for the Cardinals, let alone his nice run as offensive coordinator with San Diego this season.
Well, if it wasn’t for the toes and hands of Santonio Holmes, he would have defeated his former Jedi-Master and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXXIV. He was 35 seconds away from being a Super Bowl winning head coach.
It’s no secret that the brown-and-orange needs a consistent fluid offense. In ’07 and ’08, Whisenhunt guided the Cardinals to 831 points of offense. Just to put that in perspective, in the last two seasons (2012 & 2013), the Browns scored 556 points of offense. These are facts from statistics on team’s website. Whisenhunt would do wonders for any of the young rookie quarterbacks that is soon to be wearing an orange helmet. There is some famous clock in London that rings a bell.
In his first three seasons in Arizona, Whisenhunt went 27-21 and led the Cardinals to back-to-back division titles in 08-09. While he did have a future Hall of Fame quarterback for those three seasons, Whisenhunt quickly turned the team around and produced positive results. That is what this Browns team needs – a stable head coach with relevant NFL head coaching experience that could be in Berea for the next ten years. It’s not what they need, it’s what they deserve.
Out of all the names that have saturated the rumor mill, Whisenhunt is the name that now intrigues me the most. For what it’s worth, it may just keep some stability on defense too with defensive coordinator Ray Horton more likely staying on board. Josh McDaniels withdrawing his name from the pool was a blessing in disguise. Why? Because we want the “Whizz”. The saga continues…
Ryan Ruiz is the Cleveland Browns Beat Writer for The Inscriber: Digital Magazine. You can follow him on Facebook: Ryan (BrownsWriter) Ruiz and Twitter @ryanpruiz24. Ryan is also a Browns correspondent for The Sportsfix. Tune in every Friday at noon on www.thesportsfix.net. Have a question or comment for the “ASK Ryan” column on Fridays? Email Ryan at [email protected]
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
