Cleveland Browns: Players Frustrated with Jim O’Neil

Nov 1, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine looks on during the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Cardinals won 34-20. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Pettine deserves the opportunity to come back and be the head coach of the Browns next year and ownership. He is a successful defensive mind with a track record for effectiveness on defense who has a locker room filled with players willing to compete every week. Additionally, he appears to be have a capable offensive staff headed by John DeFilippo on offense and special teams are a quality unit under the guidance of Chris Tabor. He is, however, putting his faith in the wrong man to run his defense.

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It is imperative that Pettine embrace the fact that O’Neil is the weak link, has not been up to the task, and is actually holding the defense back. Taking a firmer grasp of the defense now and replacing him with someone that can bring more to the table after the season – preferably a candidate from the outside that can meld defensive philosophies to produce a better product could be a huge boost to the staff and team.

For example, bringing in a defensive coordinator that has a strong background in the defensive line or front seven in general – someone that is able to communicate the scheme effectively, teach players how to win individual matchups and then being able to scheme pressure at times would be ideal to pair with Pettine’s man coverage in the secondary.  This should also free up their safeties to drop back and potentially cause turnovers, which is something they did far better last year under Pettine.

In the meantime, Pettine has to take more control of the defense. From the calls being clearer, faster to improving player usage, there are opportunities to get players in better positon to succeed as well as being able to react as opposed to having to think. And some of this may simply be a matter of going with the gameplan that was in place all week and not changing things at the last minute, especially as it relates to player usage.

This goes beyond simply Pettine’s own professional survival as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. It is about the locker room. As bad as this all is, through 24 games under Pettine, the players have had his back in public as well as on the field. There has not been an ounce of quit in this team and they overachieved last year with their 7-9 record, which only adds to the frustrations this year, since perception suggest the team is regressing in light of their 2-6 record to this point. Pettine owes it to the players to step in and make changes, so they not only keep laying it all on the line for him, but they are also able to win for him as well as themselves.

None of this excuses players from being in the wrong positions, not executing assignments or simply missing tackles. Despite the issues taking place, the players still consistently talk in terms of what ‘I’ need to do better, what ‘I’ have to do to fix and what ‘we’ have to do as a defense to win. None of the players are shirking their responsibility or ownership of the struggles on defense and they own their own share of the blame, but they desperately seek guidance and clarity on how to make this defense work on a consistent basis.

If Pettine acts, he may find that both the players find a second wind and the defense becomes significantly more productive. Confusion is replaced by confidence in what they are doing – confidence which could enable players to look faster, look stronger because they are focused on the matchup rather than the assignment.

That should lead to more wins more in respective matchups. Instead of catching and responding to what offenses are doing, they may be able to dictate what offenses can do. Rather than talking getting four good quarters and ending up with maybe a good half, they may finally be able to put together an entire game in which they can be proud.

Pettine does not need to embarrass O’Neil in taking control of the defense for the rest of the year. There does not need to be a public spectacle made of it for the sake of appeasing anyone outside of the organization. Pettine just needs to act and do what is best for the Cleveland Browns, which is taking back a substantial amount of control over the defense, doing a better job of communicating the defense both during the week and in games and simply putting players in better positions to succeed.

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The players are expected to be accountable. The coaches and in this case, coordinators, need to be held to the same standard. If Pettine can make the changes needed and gets this defense to play better over the second half of the year, he should absolutely be the coach of the Cleveland Browns next season. Should he insist on living or dying with O’Neil, saving him may not be possible.