Not picking a fight here but wouldn't 31 other GMs say exactly that?
It may not be up there with 'run the ball more' but it's pretty close to a cliché
Saw this saying recently and think it applies and is a good thought to share since I don't assume the worst.
"People will question the good things they hear about you but believe all the bad without a second thought."
I agree that what Lombardi said may sound trite but I shared that becuase I've noticed that the new front office has said things and then gone out and done exactly what they've said.
CEO Joe Banner hired Lombardi and Joe stated he felt that he knew how to build a team. Joe isn't shy, he stated an action plan to build the team. Banner stated a very direct and simple team building philosophy. He said you need a really good QB and offensive line and have a really good defensive line (front seven for 3-4 defense that the Browns run) before you can even compete.
They aren't assuming Weeden is 'really-good' QB and obviously in the draft they didn't think a 'really-good' QB was their so they moved onto to address the front seven both in free agency and the draft.
Banner stated the over-all team building philosophy and Lombardi stated a specific action plan.
No, its not earh shattering stuff but if Lombardi focuses on something then I think its significant.
Sounds trite but what these guys have said has been backed up by their actions.
Oh and for a comparision this is what was said by last year's defensive coordinator when he was asked about his defensive philosophy you can clearly see a difference between what last year's DC said and how Banner viewed the defense.
Browns defensive coordinator from last year, **** Jauron, explaining his defense said: "We'd love to be a balanced defense, so by that, I guess, generally you'd say some kind of middle-of-the-field open defense a third of the time, some kind of middle-of-the-field closed a third of the time and then some kind of pressure about a third of the time… "
This is what Joe Banner said about last year's defense: "I think we felt like the defense wasn't good enough to be very direct about it. … we wanted to have a more aggressive, attacking defense, because we want to bring in more aggressive-minded players, we want to be risk-takers, we want to be attacking, we want the other team to be on the defensive. It doesn't mean it was wrong, but that wasn't the scheme we were running…"
Now keep in mind the above statements from last year and what Banner thought of last year's defense.
What did Banner do after making those statements? He hired Rob Chudzinski as his head coach and Rob said this about what he expected from his defense. "… attacking defense ….We're going to focus on critical situuations in games. We're talking third down. We're talking about red zone, two-minute, four-minute because those things are the things games come down to.
We're going to be an attacking style defense" We want to get after the quarterback and affect the quarterback's play. That's the number one thing you want to do as a defense. — it will tie in more with the coordinator that I hire. .."
Chudzinski then backed up his words by hiring Ray Horton as his defensive coordinator. This is what Chud said after hiring Horton as his defensive coordinator. "His pressure packages are outstanding. He brings 'em from all over the place, different guys, but he's still sound in his schemes."
Following the chronology this is what Banner said at the Indiapolis Combine in February before free agency and ofcourse before the draft.
Question to Browns CEO Joe Banner in February:
How do you assess your … pass rush?
"… I think as we switch to the 3-4 and as I said beforre even if we stayed in the 4-3, the defensive front [seven] needs some additions" ….
Going back to you saying we still need players on the defensive front to compete with the best in the league,
do you mean the front seven or the defensive line?
"Front seven."
"… getting pressure on the opposing team's quarterbacck. If you can do that, you have a chance to win any game against any team. When you can't do that, you're at a risk in any game. "¦ if the other quarterback has a lot of time and he's able to pass the ball you're in trouble no matter what else is going on. When we .. consistently pressure the other team's quarterback, then we'll be in the mix. When we get to that point we'll be in every game every single week."
When Banner was hired he made benign general statements about his overall football philosophy but was more direct as he followed that up a few months later when asked about last year's defense by saying last year's defense wasn't good enough and he was gong to address it. One of the three key ingredients of his overall team building philosophy was to have a very good front seven and since he didn't think last year's defense was very good he went out to fix the front seven. In free agency he acquired, OLB/DE Paul Kruger and OLB/DE Quentin Groves, and then used the 6th pick in the draft on OLB/DE Barkevious Mingo.
I have noticed that what Banner says, he does. I think Lombardi is the guy who comes up with action plans so what seems like a general-benign statement by Lombardi probably has a bit more meaning to-it.
Certainly last year's defensive wishy-washy philosophy was not as 'aggressive' and 'attack' oreiented and Banner went to work with his head coach hire and the defensive coordinator hire and his free agency dollars and his top pick in the draft to address it after he made what appeared very common statements.
Considering these guys have backed up what they've said by action, I've learned to pay attention to what seems like benign front-office-speak because, so-far, these guys have backed it up with their actions.
