As we found out yesterday, the Cleveland Browns are taking a brand new approach to attempt to fix the many years of losing. Well, new to the NFL at least.
After promoting Sashi Brown and hiring sabermetrics specialist Paul DePodesta, it’s clear Cleveland is trying to be the team which ushers analytics into the league. While the strategy has worked well in baseball and basketball, it’s yet to be tried in football.
If this all ends up working, it could be the first time in a while the Browns find themselves painted in a positive light. However, this will be a very complicated move, one which will need the right people in place in order for it to succeed. Everyone Cleveland hires from here on out needs to be fully on board with this brand new plan of attack.
Most importantly, the team will need a coach who embraces the analytics approach, and this is the first hurdle which needs to be overcome. The Browns are in dire need of a coach they can stick with for more than two years, and finding one who will be on board with analytics and can also make it work is going to be a very tricky process.
Part of the reason why this will be a complex procedure is the fact the Browns have hardly shown they know how to hire the right guy to coach the team. They’ve swung and missed on essentially every coach hired since 1999. If any Cleveland coach made it past two years, he’s sadly considered a success story.
So, Cleveland making the right coaching hire in general is already something it has struggled with in the past. Trying to hire the right candidate who can successfully implement this new strategy is only going to make things more difficult.
Again, analytics is brand new to the NFL. Because of this, big-name coaching candidates may have already lost interest in where the Browns are going. Veteran coaches may scoff at the idea of focusing on the “Moneyball” strategy — just as longtime baseball vets did when it was introduced in that sport — and therefore might not even consider Cleveland as a potential landing spot.
As a result, there’s a very good chance the Browns once again end up hiring somebody no other team was considering. It may be seen as yet another underwhelming hire by fans and pundits, but when you’re asking candidates to be on board with this new approach, you’re really narrowing the field.
Additionally, the new coach can’t just say in his interview, “Oh, analytics? Yeah, I can do that.” Cleveland has to hire someone who will be willing to make all calls based on analytics. If statistics say you should go for it on a specific fourth down situation while traditional coaching says punt, whoever the Browns hire is going to have to go for it.
This is just a small example of why Cleveland simply cannot screw this hire up. Picking a coach who only mildly supports the new strategy, or who will eventually clash with the front office over it will only set this franchise back further.
So, yes, the Browns certainly plan on making analytics their new strategy. However, all it takes is one mismatched coaching hire to send this all off the rails. Finding the right coach is easily the most complicated part of getting this process off the ground.
I certainly hope the Browns both realize this and have a plan on how to get it done right. As we all know, making smart hires isn’t really their specialty.
