Cleveland Browns: Ray Horton has to Overcome Culture

Ray Horton has a unique challenge in his second stint with the Cleveland Browns as defensive coordinator. Obviously, he has to take one of the worst defenses statistically and get it to perform better, but the X’s and O’s are secondary in this equation. His biggest challenge is getting them to believe they can be effective.

There is a dark cloud that hangs over the Cleveland Browns, and it isn’t going away anytime soon. The ineptitude of the team for a decade and a half combined with much of the media and a loud portion of the fanbase that won’t give anyone a fresh start and holds current people responsible for the past creates this hostile environment that feeds into itself with every misstep or loss.

In the event the team does make a smart move, it is often met with skepticism because of their track record. Moves that would be accepted as good or great moves if they are made by other teams, are questioned heavily in Cleveland.

Imagine being a 23 year old kid coming to play for the Cleveland Browns. Dealing with the pressure and expectations from both fans and media to fix 15 years of failure. And when it doesn’t happen immediately, being criticized into the ground for it by the loudest and least informed voices.

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It’s not easy.

I actually had a player ask me why the media was so negative in Cleveland. When I explained that baggage, it made sense to him. But make no mistake about it; as he said and have had confirmed from plenty of other places, players hate the media here.

They don’t see any value in giving them additional ammo that will be used to simply crush them later either. There are certain members of the football media in Northeast Ohio that will never get anything from a player on this team.

As a result, there is somewhat of a bunker mentality on the team from the start. On an organization that is run well and has coaches guiding players in the right direction, this can be an extremely positive way to operate. The New England Patriots are a good example.

When that bunker mentality involves a mess of an organization and poor coaching, it makes a bad problem even worse. And as I’ve discussed at length, Jim O’Neil was a disgrace to the defensive coordinator position. Combining that with Mike Pettine’s negligence to act on the issues O’Neil caused, a lot of damage was done to the defensive players on this roster.

A good coaching staff builds confidence and empowers players while guiding them on the best way executive assignments, playing their positions and act like a professional. This doesn’t mean they can’t coach hard or hold players to a certain standard, but getting them to believe they can and will succeed.

Instead, O’Neil, opted to be staunchly loyal to a few players including cornerback Joe Haden. While putting all of his faith in Haden, who was never healthy or performed in 2015, he crushed confidence of other players by giving them the impression that the team couldn’t survive without Haden. This was a prophecy that O’Neil ensured would come true.

Players drafted by the Browns and signed as free agents fell victim to this approach. O’Neil, through his message and actions, managed to convince players that have had success in the NFL that they simply weren’t good enough to win.

Tramon Williams’ play dropped off precipitously at the end of last year. That dropoff in play seemed to coincide with Williams publicly pleading for help from Mike Pettine to step in and act in regards to O’Neil and the things he was doing so poorly. When things didn’t change and their corners kept being hung out to dry, Williams played like someone that was resigned to his fate. He was a beaten man.

Had Pettine stayed, Williams may have simply retired. The whole experience sapped his will to live (from a football perspective). He likely would have simply moved onto the next stage of his life rather than being put through another year of being put in position to fail, getting beaten up physically and mentally and hating every second of it.

Memo to the San Francisco 49ers: Good luck.

So both Hue Jackson and his defensive coordinator Ray Horton have a lot of work to do to undo the damage that has been done by O’Neil. Simply getting these defensive players to believe they can succeed should immediately produce improvement from one of the league’s worst defenses last year.

This is easier said than done because they have to cut through all of the negativity and breathe life into a group of players who were essentially abused by O’Neil and under a dark cloud in Cleveland. The X’s and O’s of his defense and everything he wants to do in terms of strategy and tactics come in at a distant second. If this coaching staff can truly revitalize this group in terms of their confidence, it will go a long way in establishing meaningful improvement.

Sep 9, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden (23) during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Philadelphia won 17-16. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

The good news is that the players that the Browns have and Jackson and his staff are inheriting on that side of the ball, showed some rare mental toughness at the end of last year. There was a pretty large number of players that either played for themselves or their teammates and kept fighting through the negativity.

Hopefully, Horton comes in with a plan to use that group to build some real confidence that can be used as a rallying cry for his defense. Often when asked, Pettine and O’Neil talked about stopping the run as being an attitude.

They’re right. Horton needs to properly instill and build that attitude to get real results to improve it. Go from there to get a more productive pass rush and pass defense in general.

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The past 15 years have created a real challenge for both Hue Jackson and his staff. The environment here is every bit as real of a problem as the talent questions they face.

Figuring out how to combat the negativity of the Cleveland experience and restoring the confidence lost under O’Neil are real issues that this team faces before a single ball is snapped or tackle is made.

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