Browns Fire Rob Chudzinski… Was It The Right Move?

​The Cleveland Browns have fired Rob Chudzinski. Being a Cleveland fan like I am this is just more of the same.

Many people have sounded off about how embarrassing this move is for the organization as a whole. In my own wanderings of the internet throughout the day I’ve seen things like, “You don’t trade away your franchise running back, have a QB debacle, and fire your ROOKIE head coach.” Yes, this season has been awful personnel wise for Cleveland. It began when the Browns thought it better to rid themselves of what was thought to be a sure thing. 

While we won’t know if that was a good trade until Cleveland drafts with the pick the Colts gave to them, we do know that the Browns are way better off without Richardson. In an offense with the electrifying Andrew Luck you would expect Richardson to be able run all over the place and even open up the passing game for Luck. It hasn’t been that way. Richardson hasn’t eclipsed 100 yards once this year and is only averaging 3.0 yards a carry. From my standpoint, good riddance to Richardson. If he can’t perform on that offense then he isn’t an NFL back.

Ok, so the QB debacle. Brian Hoyer was looking like someone who could manage the game before his leg committed suicide in the Bills game earlier in the year. Then the season was basic flip-flopping between Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden. For some reason, Weeden got the nod before Campbell did and if you have watched any Cleveland game in which Weeden has played… it looks like a Peewee QB playing against Michigan State’s D.

Ok, so Chudzinski can kind of get a pass on that one. Cleveland sure as hell doesn’t have a QB for the future and who knows where they are going to from here. That UCF QB doesn’t look to bad, but I’m not Mel Kiper Jr… nor am I his hair and I can’t consider myself a draft expert, and I don’t have whatever hair product he uses (It must be the source of his power).

So, now we see that Chudzinski is a rookie and honestly… one and done is kind of shitty to do to him. Granted, the team ended the year on a 7 game losing streak, but this was after Hoyer who was doing fairly decent went down. Look what happened to the Colts after Manning went down… it’s not good when the guy who is doing his job goes down.

But, all of that aside let’s look back to the past.

Rob Chudzinski used to be the Browns OC when a man named Derek Anderson was the QB for the Browns. The Browns at one point, had a 10-6 year and missed the playoffs by one game (this is bullshit and pisses me off… a lot, even today) because they couldn’t get the job done in division play. This team itself was an anomaly as it had one of the easiest schedules in the league and the offense and it’s schemes were a fluke.

Chudzinski’s offense was 10th in the league in third down efficiency that year. Not bad, but the following year they were THIRTY FIRST OUT OF THIRTY TWO, fluke confirmed… Then you look at the Panthers. The Panthers have been clawing (I’m a tool) away the past several years at getting to the playoffs. With Chudzinski at the helm of the offense they had the 8th best 3rd down efficiency in 2011 and dropped to 12th in 2012. Not bad really, but Steve Smith had a serious problem with Chudzinski as he stated earlier in the year. Smith said the team got “cute” as Chudzinski was “setting himself up” to get a head coaching job (Full Story at: http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2013/09/carolina_panthers_steve_smith.html) and that made the team suffer.

As a Cleveland fan, I got severely pissed at Chudzinski and his offensive schemes in Cleveland, mainly his awful 3rd down playcalls mixed with receivers running awful routes. 

So, was firing Chud a bad move for Cleveland? I think the one-and-done is a bad move, but I’m glad Chudzinski is gone because I never thought it was a good hire in the first place. Mainly because of Chudzinski’s past. I’m moving on and I don’t care. It sucks that it was one and done, while also being very shitty. If this was going to happen why was he hired in the first place? 

See you on Sundays next year Cleveland….