The Browns fired whoever their latest head coach was when the regular season ended, and they still haven't found a replacement. They are the only remaining NFL team without a head coach. That might not seem like a huge deal, but that job is poisonous and everyone seems to know it. Todd Bowles, Arizona's defensive coordinator, withdrew his name from consideration. Josh McDaniels, the Patriots' offensive coordinator, has also elected not to pursue the position. And today, Broncos' OC Adam Gase he wouldn't interview for the job so he could focus on Super Bowl 48, so at least he let them down a little bit easier.
So what gives? Why doesn't anyone want to coach the Browns? There are a few reasons:
1. Every other job is better
McDaniels and Gase design offenses around two of the best quarterbacks in history. Heck, with Peyton Manning being one of them, I'm not even sure Gase has to do anything. Bowles, I know nothing about, because no one knew about the Cardinals this year but they put up double-digit wins, so it must be all right there.
2. You will lose the job very soon
The Browns are terrible. They had a rotating cast of throwaway QBs in 2013. Willis McGahee was their leading rusher with 377 yards. Did you even know McGahee was still in the NFL? Their awful roster sputtered to a 4-12 finish, despite the efforts of "who-is-this-guy" receiver Josh Gordon, who had a stellar year. Rob Chudzinski still got canned. After two years or Eric Mangini, two seasons of Pat Shurmur, and one season of Chud, why expect anything different? The job is toxic.
When you're in a mess, you're stuck in a mess. One player or one coach can't get you out of it. Organizational instability has plagued the Browns for years, and it doesn't figure to go away any time soon, which is a shame.
So when you think about how bad Mike Tomlin is at clock management and start thinking about finding a new leader for the Steelers' organization, look around the NFL and remember how good we really have it here.
