Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the Browns would only essentially be applying a band-aid fix to their soon-to-be head coaching vacancy by hiring Marty Schottenheimer.

In fact, it sounds exactly like something Lerner would do if he can’t land Cowher and that’s what should concern you. It would be taking the easy way out. Hire a coach with experience primarily because the last one you hired had never been a head coach and it showed.

But with Schottenheimer, all you’d be doing is rinsing and repeating two or three years from now.

Maybe Lerner wants a quick turnaround so he can sell. But that kind of short-term thinking doesn’t do Browns fans any good.

If you make the right choice based on a wide knowledge of the coaching talent around the league, it makes it easier to ride out the bumps. In picking Crennel from New England and Savage from Baltimore, Lerner was intent on borrowing from successful organizations. But within a year he was ready to fire Savage and had serious concerns about Crennel.

Getting the right people is what’s most important, not taking one from Column A and one from Column B as if you’re ordering in Chinese.

This next hire demands foresight. Sorry, that’s not Marty Schottenheimer, whose time here came and went 20 years ago.

What’s ironic about Shaw’s criticisms of Lerner “borrowing from successful organizations” is that Shaw goes on to note that the Ravens were wise in taking a chance on John Harbaugh, who came from Philadelphia…a successful organization.

As I wrote when the news first broke, the Browns could do a lot worse than Marty Schottenheimer – a lot worse. Would he be a band-aid fix? Yeah, probably. It’s Lerner and Savage’s responsibility then to make sure that Schottenheimer’s eventual replacement is already on staff so when it’s time to move on, you already have someone familiar with the organization and the direction it wants to go in. Don’t just write off Schottenheimer because he’s not a long-term answer. Bring him in to establish structure and to get his players to believe in a system and then make a transition to one of his coordinators that could be a long-term solution.

I say this assuming the Browns can’t land Cowher. Because if they can, than clearly he’s the ideal choice.

The Tennessee Titans became the first team to win their division after beating the Cleveland Browns 28-9 on Sunday. Unless you want to break down Ken Dorsey’s passing chart, there’s really not much to discuss regarding this game, although Titans’ RB Chris Johnson made another case to win Rookie of the Year after rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown.

The most significant news regarding this matchup is that the Browns are apparently interested in former San Diego Charger head coach Marty Schottenheimer.

The Cleveland Browns are formulating a plan that ultimately could lead to the return of Marty Schottenheimer as their coach for the 2009 season, according to sources.
The Browns would also be open to considering Bill Cowher if he sends stronger signals that he’s ready to return, the sources said.

The Browns plan to fire coach Romeo Crennel after a disappointing year, regardless of injuries the team has suffered, the sources said. Pubicly, owner Randy Lerner has only said he will evaluate Crennel after the season.

Schottenheimer was the Browns’ defensive coordinator under Sam Rutigliano in 1980 but took over as head coach when Rutigliano was fired midway through the 1984 season. Schottenheimer had a 44-27 record with the Browns, won three divisional titles, had four playoff appearances and two AFC Championship Game appearances before he was fired by owner Art Modell.

Schottenheimer might not be as sexy a name as Cowher, but he’s a proven winner and the guy has a history of turning around morbid franchises like the Browns. Cleveland needs structure and they need a coach to get the players to buy into a system. Schottenheimer can do both of those things and over time, he could probably build a winner, too. Granted, he doesn’t come without his flaws, but the Browns could do a hell of a lot worse than Schottenheimer if they can’t convince Cowher to come out of retirement.