titleist585 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 If you know anything at all about Scott Pioli, you know when it comes to football matters he is never unprepared, which is what makes recent claims about his interview with the Cleveland Browns difficult to fathom. If those reports are accurate, Pioli was so ill-prepared for his seven-hour interview with Browns owner Randy Lerner that he couldn’t think of a single thing he needed to turn around a billion dollar company with sinking football fortunes. Couldn’t think of anything he had to have to right a 4-12 team with personnel problems, salary cap problems and no head coach. Not one thing. That is what some folks would have you believe, perhaps never considering what that really means. It means Pioli showed up for dinner and didn’t even ask for a menu. Sat there for seven hours convincing Lerner he didn’t need a thing to fix the mess the Browns had become. Does that sound like the Scott Pioli who has been widely declared among the most well-prepared front office executives in the game? The same guy who spends endless hours working to find out everything he can about every player he looks at? The guy who keeps his team prepared for any possible personnel disaster? Yet when he gets in front of Lerner, he has no idea what to ask for to fix the Browns’ problems? “Didn’t ask for anything.” If that’s true, no wonder Eric Mangini is in Cleveland and Scott Pioli is not. The slant of SI.com’s Peter King was that Lerner was “sure Pioli was the top candidate to come into Cleveland to rebuild his team.” If that is true, how did Lerner come to that conclusion? By listening to Pioli’s iPod selections? What King wrote was that “Pioli never made any demands that gave Lerner cold feet.” So did he make demands or didn’t he? If that’s true, Pioli was as unprepared for one of the most important days in his professional life as any human being could be. Having seen Pioli in operation for as long as he’s been in New England, and having talked to many NFL executives and personnel people familiar with his work, I can assure you of one thing: Scott Pioli was not unprepared for that interview. He also is not some shrinking violet afraid to ask for what he needs to build a winner for fear the owner might run off screaming into the night. Pioli, a two-time NFL Executive of the Year, knew exactly what he believed was necessary to turn around Lerner’s troubled franchise. To suggest he, as NFL Network’s respected news maven Adam Schefter wrote, “never asked for anything from the Browns,” is absurd. That is not to say someone didn’t tell Schefter that. It’s just to point out if it’s true, it’s the first time in the history of NFL interviews that it happened. “Never asked for anything.” For that to be true, Scott Pioli would have to have concluded everything was right with the Browns and he needed nothing to improve them. Of course, if that’s the case, why hire him? Or he would have had to have thrown his old friend Romeo Crennel and his former boss Phil Savage under the bus and blamed them for every wrong that existed in Cleveland and thus made clear that simply getting rid of them was the answer. In which case, why hire him? Or he sat there like a bump on a log for seven hours without any idea what needed to be done in Cleveland to turn it into the kind of model franchise he has so greatly helped Bill Belichick build in New England. In which case, why hire him? Or there’s the last possibility. He “never asked for anything” because he had no idea what to ask for or how to go about it or even what he should be paid to do the job. If you believe that, you’ve never talked to Scott Pioli and you don’t think much of the quality of his work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
listercat Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 The man is not coming to Cleveland; I feel it is a shame. That said; however, I really think Kokoins (sp?) may be a real find Whatever makes our Browns a winner...that is all I care about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squintz Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 I have been a Pioli supporter and really worry that Lerner f'd this one up, big time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geech Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 “Never asked for anything.” I would assume that means Pioli didn't ask for the moon and the stars as his salary and total authoritarian control beyond what any GM has ever gotten or will get from an NFL team. To assume that he, "Couldn’t think of anything he had to have to right a 4-12 team with personnel problems, salary cap problems and no head coach. Not one thing," is foolish. Just plain foolish. I don't know who wrote that article, but whoever it is has a serious lack of imagination. -Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeSixPat Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 Kokinis is now the best man for Cleveland - not Pioli. That was determined as soon as Lerner decided that Mangini's track record and experience was more critical than having a GM like Pioli. Unfortunately, the smart thing to do would have been to be patient, keep Mangini on ice (seeing as not one other team owner had any interest in him) and hire both Kokinis and Mangini at the same time. By committing to Mangini so soon before Kokinis, Lerner all but told Kokinis he could name his price - which is why I think this might not now happen I also think Lerner's statement that HE'S the ultimate authority was an effort to make it seem like the GM and Coach were on par, but that backfired as it clearly has turned off other backup GM candidates who aren't about to abdicate authrority period - and certainly wouldn't do it for Randy Lerner or any effort to help him save face. No doubt SOMEONE will eventually take the job, but if it isn't Kokinis, Lerner's going to look very very stupid - more so than he already does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemosley01 Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 I would assume that means Pioli didn't ask for the moon and the stars as his salary and total authoritarian control beyond what any GM has ever gotten or will get from an NFL team. To assume that he, "Couldn’t think of anything he had to have to right a 4-12 team with personnel problems, salary cap problems and no head coach. Not one thing," is foolish. Just plain foolish. I don't know who wrote that article, but whoever it is has a serious lack of imagination. -Al That's exactly what Lerner meant, and one of the reasons he probably doesn't allow interviews. They guy clipped one sentence out and ignored it's context. Whoever 'wrote' this 'article' should be fired - that's sensationalism at it's purist, as well as outright lies. Even my 9 year old knows what was meant. xxxxing ridiculous, the 'reporting' nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YtownBrownsBacker Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 The bottom line is he didn't tell Lerner what he wanted to hear. Now, time will tell if that was good or bad. I actually think Pioli had the job if he wanted it, but he was playing us to see if something better was going to come up. You don't interview a guy for 7 hours and nothing transpires. I think the job was his and he didn't want to close on it. But this is all media spin and speculation because the only two that know what went on is Lerner and Pioli. And, know Pioli is irrevelent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.