Browns Hire Pat Shurmur

"St. Louis offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is Cleveland's new coach. The Browns hired Shurmur on Thursday, ending a search that began when Eric Mangini was fired on Jan. 3. Shurmur was the first candidate interviewed by Browns president Mike Holmgren. Shurmur is the Browns' fifth coach since their expansion return in 1999 (ESPN)."

I'm not going to sit here and tell you I know a lot about Pat Shurmur. I do know that he made a decent offense from a bunch of no-bodies in St. Louis, and he is going to have to do it again in Cleveland.

You just knew there was no chance the Browns would land a big name coach. No one wants to coach with Mike Holmgren over their shoulder, since a lot of people aren't buying that he is done with coaching. So, instead they are taking a guy who has no head coaching experience, but I guess Holmgren will tell him what to do.

I give Shurmur a year and a half before he is fired.

Mike Holmgren To Coach Browns Next Year?

There has been speculation that Holmgren has his eyes on coaching again ever since he went to the Browns, and his latest quote has done nothing to kill those rumors...

Mike Holmgren said he fully intends to fulfill his promise to turn the team around, but "if I keep wearing a suit or not, we'll see (ESPN)."

Ummm, goodbye Eric Mangini. To be honest though, I don't think it is a good idea. I don't like when coaches are running everything, even though Belichick seems to do it well. I'm not saying that they should keep Mangini, but I do think they should hire someone else other then Holmgren to be the coach.

Mike Holmgren To Join Browns As President

The 61-year-old Holmgren is coming to Cleveland strictly in an executive role. Last week, he indicated his job offer with the Browns could include a return to the sideline. But Holmgren will remain upstairs and serve as the camera-shy Lerner's top executive. ESPN

I don't care what this means right now, it will eventually mean he will be the coach when the team struggles. Right now the Browns are just awful. They are restarting because Brady Quinn has failed, Jamal Lewis is retiring, and the team doesn't gel well with their head coach. The Browns are going to need a couple of miracles to even come close to making some noise in the NFL and the AFC North.

Rainy Days in Seattle

I really feel bad for the Seattle Seahawks. Matt Hasselbeck will miss his 3rd straight game, and Seattle is already sitting on a 1-5 season. In short their season is over. This was supposed to be Mike Holmgren's send off season. I didn't think they would win it all, but I really thought that this team would easily win their division. Hasselbeck has been Holmgren's boy since Green Bay, yet now it looks like both their careers are starting to come to a close. Holmgren will most likely retire after this season (if not fired), and Hasselbeck is battling a bad back, which is not a good thing as he will be 34 going into next year. Even if he is able to get healthy, what does he have to look forward to? His coach will be gone. They have little to no WRs, and it rains constantly in Seattle. The city of Seattle has some of the highest suicide attempts every year. I think it is time to put a suicide watch on Holmgren, Hasselbeck, and Seahawk fans.

-BMack