Mr. Brownstone
Footballguy
Linked to Browns for last decade, Jaguars have separated themselves this year
From 2008-16, the Jaguars and Cleveland Browns were closely associated for all the wrong reasons.
They rolled through head coaches, coordinators, first-round draft picks and organizational re-sets, all in the name of climbing to NFL respectability.
The top commonality: They lost.
A lot.
Entering this year, Cleveland’s 38-106 record during that span was worst in the league, trailed by the Jaguars’ 42-102 mark. The moving target that is sustained pro football success proved impossible to hit.
Their fan bases had hope in July only to lose it by mid-October. Their locker rooms had belief in Week 1 only to be beaten down by Week 8. And their ownership groups supported their leaders in the off-season only to hire search firms in December.
The Jaguars, though, have flipped the script, entering Sunday’s game at Cleveland with a 6-3 record and a chance to enter Thanksgiving as the solo leader of the AFC South. The Browns, meanwhile, are 0-9 a year after going 1-15.
The toilet bowl days could be over for the Jaguars.
“You always feel like things are going to get better,” said tight end Marcedes Lewis, the Jaguars’ longest-tenured player (drafted in 2006). “Every day you wake up, you believe that will be the best day, right? It’s exciting to finally see some of the fruits of our labor.”
The Browns went 7-9 in 2014, but have won three, one and no games since.
Why have the Jaguars separated themselves with the Browns?
Quarterback
(The Jaguars haven’t whiffed nearly as often.)
The most eye-popping statistic in comparing the Jaguars and Browns: Number of starting quarterbacks.
DeShone Kizer, a rookie second-round pick, is the Browns’ 18th different quarterback to start a game since the start of 2008, an astonishing pattern of attrition.
Blake Bortles, the third overall pick in 2014 by the Jaguars, will make his 55th consecutive start.
Bortles has a 17-37 career record and never cracked a 60 percent completion percentage — he may not be the Jaguars’ quarterback of the future.
But the point is, at least the Jaguars have entered all of those Sundays knowing who their guy would be.
In the last 10 seasons, 11 Browns quarterbacks have attempted at least 200 passes and none more than Brandon Weeden’s 784. None has started more than Colt McCoy’s 21 games or thrown more than Weeden’s 23 touchdowns.
“The one thing that has hurt them is they haven’t had a guy who can take over the reins and be that true quarterback,” said Jaguars free safety Tashaun Gipson, who played four years for Cleveland (2012-15).
Veteran Browns observers point to passing on Ben Roethlisberger in 2004, and not drafting Deshaun Watson might turn out to be just as painful.
The Jaguars have four quarterbacks since 2008 who have attempted at least 777 passes, made 22 starts and thrown 27 touchdowns. Bortles is at 1,991 passes and 80 touchdowns.
The Jaguars haven’t won a lot of games (until this year), but they aren’t chasing their figurative tails in the quarterback department.
They swung for the fences on Blaine Gabbert (No. 10 in 2011 after trading up with Washington) and that didn’t work.
Bortles has at least allowed the Jaguars to prioritize other positions in rounds 2-3 over the last three drafts instead of covering up for his failure.
Cleveland waited until the end of round 1 to draft Brady Quinn (No. 22 in 2008), Weeden (No. 22 in 2013) and Manziel (No. 22 in 2015) and rounds 2-3 (McCoy No. 85 in 2010, Cody Kessler No. 93 in 2016 and Kizer No. 52 in 2017).
Coach-turned-front-office chief
(Tom Coughlin has so far been more successful than Mike Holmgren.)
On Dec. 21, 2009, Mike Holmgren, a Super Bowl-winning coach in Green Bay who also built Seattle into an NFC champion as coach/personnel chief, was hired as Browns president. Then-owner Randy Lerner signed him to a five-year contract. But Jimmy Haslam bought the team and hired former Philadelphia Eagles executive Joe Banner.
Holmgren’s touch didn’t travel with him from Seattle. By October 2012, he announced his retirement. The Browns went 5-11, 4-12 and 5-11.
Holmgren was criticized by letting general manager Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur make too many football decisions while he served as face of the franchise. Under his watch, drafting tailback Trent Richardson and Weeden in the first round of 2011 was on pace to be the worst in franchise history until a later regime drafted cornerback Justin Gilbert and Manziel in the 2014 first round.
On Jan. 9, Tom Coughlin, a two-time Super Bowl-winning coach with the Giants who built the original Jaguars teams that reached two AFC title games, was brought back to Jacksonville by owner Shad Khan with the title of executive vice president-football operations. General manager Dave Caldwell remained in place and offensive line coach Doug Marrone was promoted to the big chair.
Coughlin and Co. went 3-for-3 in veteran free agency (defensive end Calais Campbell, strong safety Barry Church and cornerback A.J. Bouye).
Khan added a layer at the top of the Jaguars’ football foundation with Coughlin, a veteran hand who he felt could help the Jaguars reach new heights. So far, so good.
Since 2008, the Browns have employed five general managers (not including Holmgren). In January 2016, Cleveland threw the NFL a curveball in January 2016 when it hired New York Mets executive Paul DePodesta as chief strategy officer. The Browns have won one game since.
Continuity
(The Jaguars went 3-13 … and retained both coordinators.)
Since 2008, Cleveland is on its sixth defensive coordinator, seventh if you count Ray Horton’s two stints. The Browns are on their eighth offensive play-caller (sixth coordinator); current coach Hue Jackson calls the plays.
Both Haslam and Khan have gone the quick-trigger route.
In 2012, Khan turfed coach Mike Mularkey after a 2-14 season, two weeks after Gene Smith was fired as general manager. But Khan wanted Caldwell to be able to hire his choice, which was Gus Bradley.
In 2013, the Browns fired coach Rob Chudzinski and was a sign to fans that Haslam was getting the wrong advice from the wrong people.
Hurting Jackson’s cause as head coach have been allowing so many veterans to walk in free agency, including Gipson, center Alex Mack, right tackle Mitchell Schwartz and receiver Travis Benjamin in 2016.
The Jaguars have made it a priority to re-sign their core players – talent hasn’t been walking out the EverBank Field doors. And after last year’s 3-13 record, Khan hired Coughlin, signed Caldwell to a contract extension and the team promoted Marrone and retained coordinators Nathaniel Hackett (offense) and Todd Wash (defense). Khan was convinced he saw untapped potential on the roster, potential that could be developed without wide-spread upheaval even though Hackett introduced a new system.
“[Keeping Wash] has had an enormous impact,” linebacker Paul Posluszny said. “If we were starting from scratch back in April, it would tough to say we’re in the same spot we are now. But we had worked with him, we knew what we were going to be asked to do and we had great respect and a great relationship with him.”
For players like Lewis and Posluszny, their Jaguars’ road has been difficult, but they have finally distanced themselves from struggling franchises like the Browns.
“It’s different when you’re playing for something in November,” Lewis said. “It hasn’t been that way in a while. It’s fun coming into the building, the days are flying by and we’re winning some games, but obviously, we still have a long way to go.”
Said Posluszny: “We always felt like we were close or 1-2 players away. We had solid players and great guys, but weren’t able to put things together like we have now.”
From 2008-16, the Jaguars and Cleveland Browns were closely associated for all the wrong reasons.
They rolled through head coaches, coordinators, first-round draft picks and organizational re-sets, all in the name of climbing to NFL respectability.
The top commonality: They lost.
A lot.
Entering this year, Cleveland’s 38-106 record during that span was worst in the league, trailed by the Jaguars’ 42-102 mark. The moving target that is sustained pro football success proved impossible to hit.
Their fan bases had hope in July only to lose it by mid-October. Their locker rooms had belief in Week 1 only to be beaten down by Week 8. And their ownership groups supported their leaders in the off-season only to hire search firms in December.
The Jaguars, though, have flipped the script, entering Sunday’s game at Cleveland with a 6-3 record and a chance to enter Thanksgiving as the solo leader of the AFC South. The Browns, meanwhile, are 0-9 a year after going 1-15.
The toilet bowl days could be over for the Jaguars.
“You always feel like things are going to get better,” said tight end Marcedes Lewis, the Jaguars’ longest-tenured player (drafted in 2006). “Every day you wake up, you believe that will be the best day, right? It’s exciting to finally see some of the fruits of our labor.”
The Browns went 7-9 in 2014, but have won three, one and no games since.
Why have the Jaguars separated themselves with the Browns?
Quarterback
(The Jaguars haven’t whiffed nearly as often.)
The most eye-popping statistic in comparing the Jaguars and Browns: Number of starting quarterbacks.
DeShone Kizer, a rookie second-round pick, is the Browns’ 18th different quarterback to start a game since the start of 2008, an astonishing pattern of attrition.
Blake Bortles, the third overall pick in 2014 by the Jaguars, will make his 55th consecutive start.
Bortles has a 17-37 career record and never cracked a 60 percent completion percentage — he may not be the Jaguars’ quarterback of the future.
But the point is, at least the Jaguars have entered all of those Sundays knowing who their guy would be.
In the last 10 seasons, 11 Browns quarterbacks have attempted at least 200 passes and none more than Brandon Weeden’s 784. None has started more than Colt McCoy’s 21 games or thrown more than Weeden’s 23 touchdowns.
“The one thing that has hurt them is they haven’t had a guy who can take over the reins and be that true quarterback,” said Jaguars free safety Tashaun Gipson, who played four years for Cleveland (2012-15).
Veteran Browns observers point to passing on Ben Roethlisberger in 2004, and not drafting Deshaun Watson might turn out to be just as painful.
The Jaguars have four quarterbacks since 2008 who have attempted at least 777 passes, made 22 starts and thrown 27 touchdowns. Bortles is at 1,991 passes and 80 touchdowns.
The Jaguars haven’t won a lot of games (until this year), but they aren’t chasing their figurative tails in the quarterback department.
They swung for the fences on Blaine Gabbert (No. 10 in 2011 after trading up with Washington) and that didn’t work.
Bortles has at least allowed the Jaguars to prioritize other positions in rounds 2-3 over the last three drafts instead of covering up for his failure.
Cleveland waited until the end of round 1 to draft Brady Quinn (No. 22 in 2008), Weeden (No. 22 in 2013) and Manziel (No. 22 in 2015) and rounds 2-3 (McCoy No. 85 in 2010, Cody Kessler No. 93 in 2016 and Kizer No. 52 in 2017).
Coach-turned-front-office chief
(Tom Coughlin has so far been more successful than Mike Holmgren.)
On Dec. 21, 2009, Mike Holmgren, a Super Bowl-winning coach in Green Bay who also built Seattle into an NFC champion as coach/personnel chief, was hired as Browns president. Then-owner Randy Lerner signed him to a five-year contract. But Jimmy Haslam bought the team and hired former Philadelphia Eagles executive Joe Banner.
Holmgren’s touch didn’t travel with him from Seattle. By October 2012, he announced his retirement. The Browns went 5-11, 4-12 and 5-11.
Holmgren was criticized by letting general manager Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur make too many football decisions while he served as face of the franchise. Under his watch, drafting tailback Trent Richardson and Weeden in the first round of 2011 was on pace to be the worst in franchise history until a later regime drafted cornerback Justin Gilbert and Manziel in the 2014 first round.
On Jan. 9, Tom Coughlin, a two-time Super Bowl-winning coach with the Giants who built the original Jaguars teams that reached two AFC title games, was brought back to Jacksonville by owner Shad Khan with the title of executive vice president-football operations. General manager Dave Caldwell remained in place and offensive line coach Doug Marrone was promoted to the big chair.
Coughlin and Co. went 3-for-3 in veteran free agency (defensive end Calais Campbell, strong safety Barry Church and cornerback A.J. Bouye).
Khan added a layer at the top of the Jaguars’ football foundation with Coughlin, a veteran hand who he felt could help the Jaguars reach new heights. So far, so good.
Since 2008, the Browns have employed five general managers (not including Holmgren). In January 2016, Cleveland threw the NFL a curveball in January 2016 when it hired New York Mets executive Paul DePodesta as chief strategy officer. The Browns have won one game since.
Continuity
(The Jaguars went 3-13 … and retained both coordinators.)
Since 2008, Cleveland is on its sixth defensive coordinator, seventh if you count Ray Horton’s two stints. The Browns are on their eighth offensive play-caller (sixth coordinator); current coach Hue Jackson calls the plays.
Both Haslam and Khan have gone the quick-trigger route.
In 2012, Khan turfed coach Mike Mularkey after a 2-14 season, two weeks after Gene Smith was fired as general manager. But Khan wanted Caldwell to be able to hire his choice, which was Gus Bradley.
In 2013, the Browns fired coach Rob Chudzinski and was a sign to fans that Haslam was getting the wrong advice from the wrong people.
Hurting Jackson’s cause as head coach have been allowing so many veterans to walk in free agency, including Gipson, center Alex Mack, right tackle Mitchell Schwartz and receiver Travis Benjamin in 2016.
The Jaguars have made it a priority to re-sign their core players – talent hasn’t been walking out the EverBank Field doors. And after last year’s 3-13 record, Khan hired Coughlin, signed Caldwell to a contract extension and the team promoted Marrone and retained coordinators Nathaniel Hackett (offense) and Todd Wash (defense). Khan was convinced he saw untapped potential on the roster, potential that could be developed without wide-spread upheaval even though Hackett introduced a new system.
“[Keeping Wash] has had an enormous impact,” linebacker Paul Posluszny said. “If we were starting from scratch back in April, it would tough to say we’re in the same spot we are now. But we had worked with him, we knew what we were going to be asked to do and we had great respect and a great relationship with him.”
For players like Lewis and Posluszny, their Jaguars’ road has been difficult, but they have finally distanced themselves from struggling franchises like the Browns.
“It’s different when you’re playing for something in November,” Lewis said. “It hasn’t been that way in a while. It’s fun coming into the building, the days are flying by and we’re winning some games, but obviously, we still have a long way to go.”
Said Posluszny: “We always felt like we were close or 1-2 players away. We had solid players and great guys, but weren’t able to put things together like we have now.”
