Apparently the Cleveland Browns front office contains many die-hard fans of the movie “Moneyball.” How else could you explain the team’s most recent moves?
The Browns ended a painfully bad season this past Sunday, sending GM Ray Farmer and coach Mike Pettine packing as a result. Afterwards, owner Jimmy Haslam unveiled his new plan moving forward, much of which is centered around Sashi Brown. The team’s former general counsel will apparently have a lot of say on the final 53-man roster, as well as input on draft and free agency moves.
The reasoning for Brown’s significant promotion seemed to be because he’s an “analytics guy.” It’s an interesting angle to take in a sport which hasn’t really embraced the strategy made famous during Billy Beane‘s time as GM of the Oakland A’s.
However, anyone questioning if this new approach was really the route Haslam was taking to fix the Browns got their answer today when the team announced its newest hire. Paul DePodesta, who has been serving as the New York Mets‘ vice-president of player development and scouting, is heading to Cleveland as the new “chief strategy officer.” For those wondering, Jonah Hill‘s character in “Moneyball” was based on DePodesta.
So, it looks like the Browns are going full sabermetrics now. Whether it ends up working still remains to be seen. However, the question now is whether or not Cleveland is making a shrewd and savvy move, or if it’s once again guilty of trying too hard to be the smartest team in the room.
A lot of the feedback regarding these personnel moves seems to be relatively similar, essentially saying, “if it works it could be huge, but this is the Browns we’re talking about.” The reason for this is the fact Cleveland has had plenty of recent examples of trying to outsmart the NFL.
Forcing GM and coach pairings together. Hiring people nobody else was even remotely considering. Spending tons of money on a study which determined Teddy Bridgewater was the best player to draft at quarterback, then drafting Johnny (Billy?) Manziel instead.
These are all prime examples of Cleveland trying to be unique, and said attempts blowing up in its face. Each may have sounded like a good idea at the time, and the Browns may have patted themselves on the back for doing something nobody else thought of. However, each episode ended in disaster.
So, is that what’s happening here?
For one, yes, it sure is another example of Cleveland doing something nobody else was considering. Brown has no GM experience, but the team’s next general manager will have to report to him. DePodesta may have reinvented the game of baseball, sure, but he’s never worked in football, much less made decisions at an executive level in this sport. Overall, this is an incredibly unique approach.
However, is it one which will end up blowing up in the Browns’ face? Will everybody (well, everyone except Cleveland fans) be laughing about this two years from now when Haslam has just finished cleaning house again, swearing his new strategy is totally the one which will turn the team around?
It’s a little difficult to say right now. It’s incredibly outside the box, but it also has never been tried before. Mismanaging hires, going after no-name coaches, drafting drunks — those things have been tried around the league and have had poor results. While analytics-based strategy seems to work in baseball and basketball, nobody’s given it much of a look in football.
I’m not saying this might be the first time the Browns do something right. However, there’s nothing here to indicate this is a failure from the get-go. Well, other than the team involved.
My initial bet is, based on how often Cleveland hits the reset button two years after trying something new, there probably won’t be any productions of “Moneyball 2: Somehow Even the Browns Made it Work.” However, the team does deserve praise for trying a new approach when nothing else has worked. Who knows, maybe Cleveland will forever be known as the team that successfully ushered analytics into the NFL.
