Eight Months ago when the Browns named Eric Mangini Head Coach I became enraged. I couldn’t understand how an underachieving coach who was fired a few weeks earlier could get another opportunity so soon. “Why Me!?” I yelled. It doesn’t make sense! How could the team’s owner Randy Lerner be so stupid!? He’s always making the worst possible decisions. He’s obsessed with the Bill Belichick coaching tree despite Belichick failing when he was Cleveland’s Head Coach.

I always get upset when Dan’s coaching argument carries over into football. I understand that coaching is overstated. However, in football, coaching matters more than any other sport. A good chunk of football is scheming and game planning. I think a really bad coach can affect a team much more than a good coach. Players won’t give up on a good coach this early in the season.

Believe it or not I’m not that angry with Eric Mangini. He’s being what he’s always been. I can fault him for that anymore. This disasterous season falls squarely on the team’s owner Randy Lerner. For a franchise that restarted in 1999 we’ve spent nearly all of our 10 years back rebuilding. In 2007 the Cleveland Browns finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs because of a tiebreaker. The same record as the Super Bowl winning New York Giants. The same New York Giants team we destroyed a season later. Even though the team had a so-so defense and an easy schedule anyone could see they were close. Two years later the team has traded away Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow, signed Donte Stallworth to a contract he didn’t really deserve based on past performance, kept the same aging running back, and refuse to give Brady Quinn a fair chance at quarterback because of incentives in his contract. Yes, they’ve had some tough luck with Donte Stallworth and LaCharles Bentley. For the most part though they can only blame themselves for the position they’re in. It’s a shame because I honestly believe had they taken care of the running back position and made slight improvements on defense they could still be a fringe playoff team.

Randy Lerner(who also owns Aston Villa) seems like a nice enough guy. He and his family do so seem to love the Cleveland Browns franchise. However, despite being good person and not being an incredibly difficult or stubborn owner, he’s his own worst enemy. He wants to become a success so badly that he can’t imagine a quick turnaround possible without the help of someone who was a part of the Bill Belichick system in New England. In a perfect world I’d love to hire a new owner. That’s just not at all possible. The only solution I could offer without knowing the head-coaching candidates next season would be to simply fire Eric Mangini. He shouldn’t have been the choice in the first place obviously. Besides what’s the worst that could happen? We rebuild for another year?