Fire Crennel

Chris Crowell

Romeo Crennel is no longer on the hot seat. That’s because there is no seat. It burst into flames. The fire started Sunday afternoon and continued into Monday morning. Reportedly, five people got black lung from the lingering soot and ash.

Listen, none of us want another regime change in Cleveland, but sometimes you have to call a fat man with a mustache, a fat man with a mustache. Crennel is a crappy head coach; he has to go.

During my postgame depression – while still pondering the Browns futility – I started reading for class this week. The chapter I read was about organization communication theory. What I read fully supports my thesis: Fire Crennel.

The chapter talked about structure, the degree of predictability within a system. The best organizations have the most efficient structure. A lack of order, or structure, brings about entropy.

What’s this have to do with the Browns? A pro football team needs structure. The team that executes efficiently and follows through with its plan wins NFL games. All parts must work together within the structure and, most importantly, avoid entropy.

I take that back, pro football teams don’t NEED structure, because the Browns, somehow, are a pro team and don’t have it. But successful teams do, most notably, the team Crennel left to come here, the New England Patriots.

The Patriots, like most teams that succeed every year, have a system in place and execute a game plan within the confines of that system, every Sunday.

The Crennel regime is entropy. When Crennel was hired, he planned to provide discipline, organization, leadership, and structure. We all nodded approvingly.

Phil Savage acquired some decent NFL players that, given the proper structure and management, could win some NFL games or at least be competitive. But they aren’t. Three years into Crennel’s regime, Sunday shouldn’t happen. But it did. He hasn’t done his job. Fire him.

“But that means we’ve given up and have to start over.” No crap! Did you watch Sunday’s game? Frye is a moron; Anderson is a bum; Brady Quinn is raw. The season is over. And guess what? If Crennel is still the coach next season, it too is over. There is talent on this team and it will continue to feed us turd sandwiches until the players function together on a consistent basis. That comes from a good head coach, which Crennel is not.

I want continuity just like you do. But what are we continuing at this point? Debacles? Travesties? Controversies?

Why waste more time? Browns coaches should be hired and fired until one provides structure, wins games, and ends this entropy. If we continue to watch Crennel flip coins and provide weekly embarrassments, the franchise may as well shut down.

I’d rather start over every year until the Browns put a legit structure in place than watch what I watched Sunday afternoon. Expansion is over. My patience is thin. Enough is enough.

Fire Crennel.

Contact sports columnist Chris Crowell at [email protected].