The Cleveland Browns organization is notoriously dysfunctional, but there are rumblings that there could be tension between coach and front office before any of them really even get to do anything.
ESPN the Magazine’s David Fleming did a scouting report-style profile of new Cleveland chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta, and spoke to a former NFL executive who believes that the relationship between Cleveland’s old-school coaching staff and their new, analytics-driven front office will go sour quickly.
New head coach Hue Jackson is at the heart of the issue, as he said at the Combine that analytics was “not going to drive our organization.” The executive feels that Jackson is “a very bad fit” for what the Browns are trying to do.
“It’s not just Hue Jackson,” the executive said. “When data overrides gut, the majority of his coaching staff will all be there screaming, ‘What the f— are these computer guys doing? They don’t understand football, they don’t understand the locker room. They’re killing us.'”
Sounds like Moneyball being transitioned to football. Considering DePodesta was one of the central figures in Billy Beane’s early analytical front office, that’s not much of a surprise. This may be a product of the significant skepticism that this Browns project is being met with. You can’t accuse Jimmy Haslam of not knowing the score. We’ll see if this tension plays itself out – and how quickly it does.
