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CPD
1/18
Lerner says dispute is 'on me'
Wednesday, January 18, 2006Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter
What began as friction over business matters escalated to a personality conflict between Browns General Manager Phil Savage and President John Collins and forced Collins' resignation, owner Randy Lerner confirmed on Tuesday.
In his first interview since Collins resigned on Jan. 2, Lerner said it was a mistake to have Savage and coach Romeo Crennel report directly to "a non-football guy" in the new organizational flow chart drawn up last year.
Lerner said he would assume Collins' responsibilities and he has no immediate plans to reinstitute or redefine the position of club president.
"I should have been on top of it. Clearly, that's on me," Lerner said of the Savage-Collins rift. "Was I clumsy? Yes.
"What I need more than anything is time. We need to calm down and heal a while and get down to work and try not to lose any momentum we created on the business side, and make sure the football operation runs smoothly in the off-season.
"We have continuity in our football program and nothing's more important than that."
Lerner defended Collins' performance in creating a new business strategy model for the franchise after succeeding Carmen Policy as president in May of 2004. He said the friction between Savage and Collins arose over how future player contracts fit into Collins' business model.
The owner said he had no issue with Savage's time away from the office spent on scouting college players.
Lerner said he did not know the source of the story by ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Dec. 30 that Savage was about to be fired, but he acted quickly in Browns headquarters that day to discredit it.
"The first thing I said was, 'Phil Savage ain't leaving,' " Lerner said. "I said it to Phil, I said it to John and I said it to Romeo."
After a meeting of the four men, Collins emerged to announce the group had "renewed our vows." The day of the Browns' final game on Jan. 1, Collins continued to say the organization would remain intact. His resignation was announced the next day.
"Over the weekend, it became clear it was not resolvable," Lerner said of the working relationship between Savage and Collins. "It had devolved very rapidly."
Lerner said he considered it a major responsibility of any NFL team owner to resolve any internal problem without "compromising the integrity of your football program."
Lerner clearly is troubled by the perception that the Browns were in disarray as a result of Collins' resignation.
"What I don't understand is why the resolution doesn't speak for itself," he said. "It seems to me we got beyond that by making some real hard and strong moves.
"The burden is on our organization to be stable and produce a winner. This was obviously a moment of instability. Was it resolved? I would like to think so. I think if there were a far deeper problem, wouldn't more people have left? It was a personality conflict and one of the two guys left."
Lerner did confirm that Collins is still consulting on business matters that were unresolved prior to his departure.
The owner also verified that Lew Merletti will continue as the Browns' executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Lerner said although he will be more involved in club business matters, he does not plan to move full time to Cleveland. He said he wants the "faces" of the organization to continue to be Savage in the off-season and Crennel during the season.
"We don't need more [job] titles," Lerner said. "We need more championships."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4670.
1/18
Lerner says dispute is 'on me'
Wednesday, January 18, 2006Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter
What began as friction over business matters escalated to a personality conflict between Browns General Manager Phil Savage and President John Collins and forced Collins' resignation, owner Randy Lerner confirmed on Tuesday.
In his first interview since Collins resigned on Jan. 2, Lerner said it was a mistake to have Savage and coach Romeo Crennel report directly to "a non-football guy" in the new organizational flow chart drawn up last year.
Lerner said he would assume Collins' responsibilities and he has no immediate plans to reinstitute or redefine the position of club president.
"I should have been on top of it. Clearly, that's on me," Lerner said of the Savage-Collins rift. "Was I clumsy? Yes.
"What I need more than anything is time. We need to calm down and heal a while and get down to work and try not to lose any momentum we created on the business side, and make sure the football operation runs smoothly in the off-season.
"We have continuity in our football program and nothing's more important than that."
Lerner defended Collins' performance in creating a new business strategy model for the franchise after succeeding Carmen Policy as president in May of 2004. He said the friction between Savage and Collins arose over how future player contracts fit into Collins' business model.
The owner said he had no issue with Savage's time away from the office spent on scouting college players.
Lerner said he did not know the source of the story by ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Dec. 30 that Savage was about to be fired, but he acted quickly in Browns headquarters that day to discredit it.
"The first thing I said was, 'Phil Savage ain't leaving,' " Lerner said. "I said it to Phil, I said it to John and I said it to Romeo."
After a meeting of the four men, Collins emerged to announce the group had "renewed our vows." The day of the Browns' final game on Jan. 1, Collins continued to say the organization would remain intact. His resignation was announced the next day.
"Over the weekend, it became clear it was not resolvable," Lerner said of the working relationship between Savage and Collins. "It had devolved very rapidly."
Lerner said he considered it a major responsibility of any NFL team owner to resolve any internal problem without "compromising the integrity of your football program."
Lerner clearly is troubled by the perception that the Browns were in disarray as a result of Collins' resignation.
"What I don't understand is why the resolution doesn't speak for itself," he said. "It seems to me we got beyond that by making some real hard and strong moves.
"The burden is on our organization to be stable and produce a winner. This was obviously a moment of instability. Was it resolved? I would like to think so. I think if there were a far deeper problem, wouldn't more people have left? It was a personality conflict and one of the two guys left."
Lerner did confirm that Collins is still consulting on business matters that were unresolved prior to his departure.
The owner also verified that Lew Merletti will continue as the Browns' executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Lerner said although he will be more involved in club business matters, he does not plan to move full time to Cleveland. He said he wants the "faces" of the organization to continue to be Savage in the off-season and Crennel during the season.
"We don't need more [job] titles," Lerner said. "We need more championships."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4670.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
link
1/19/06
1/19/06
Bill Livingston
[FONT=arial,sans-serif]
<H1 class=red>Pity remains life of Cleveland party
</H1>
Wednesday, January 18, 2006 Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
The true Cleveland sports fan sees the glass not as half-empty or half-full, but dusted with flu pandemic starter viruses.
Given the "Final Four" of the NFL playoffs, the sane and sensible fans here - both of them - can brace for a week of what Browns General Manager Phil Savage correctly called "woe is us" comments. There's a lot to throw a pity party about, so let the wallowing begin.
Pittsburgh - or, as Walt Harris, one-time Ohio State quarterback coach and former Pitt Panther head coach calls it, "Picksburgh" - is only in the AFC title game because Nick Harper of the Colts turned out to be the Browns' William Green, only in disguise, in a different city, and on the other side of the ball.
[/FONT]Green once explained away a knife wound suffered in a domestic disturbance by saying he tripped going down some stairs, leaving out that he would have had to be possessed of the flexibility of a world-class gymnast in order to stab himself in the back by accident.
"Nicked" Harper would have run past Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for a 99-yard touchdown with a return of Jerome Bettis' fumble in the last two minutes, except the day before the game "Nicked" had had his own "domestic dispute" and therein had lost the battle of, literally, wounded knee.
Roethlisberger, who made the tackle, is an Ohio native who played collegiately at Miami in the Mid-American Conference. He can join the line of Ohio turncoats who did great stuff Over There, along with Kent State's Jack Lambert and former Brown/Benedictine Bengal Chuck Noll. It's Picksyourpoisonburgh.
Be sure to mention Bill Cowher, the current coach, used to be here and was even interviewed for the Browns' top post, although he had no shot at it, being too closely identified with the deposed Marty Schottenheimer.
And try to gloss over the fact that the Rooney family, the Steelers' owners, voted with Cleveland on every issue of consequence during the Browns' three-year absence.
Of course, if Denver wins, let's obsessively revisit The Drive and The Fumble.
Seeing all of those ex-Browns on the Denver defensive line at the Super Bowl might call into question some of Savage's moves, which is fair enough. The most galling of them is Gerard Warren, who, said the cop in Pittsburgh, was the nicest guy he ever arrested.
It's tougher in the NFC, but the resourceful Cleveland fan can always get the glooms over the thought that Carolina might go to its second Super Bowl since the team was born in 1995, while the Browns are 0 for 40.
Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme throws two or three balls per game that are up for grabs, and they're down to handbags and gladbags at running back, which just shows how much easier it is in the NFC. So there.
A Seattle victory will cross off one more team from the list of those never making it to the Super Bowl. Seattle used to be in the AFC, so why can't the Browns get one of those glorified Super Bowl byes, I ask you? And, no, it doesn't matter that the AFC was much easier back when the Browns were actually good.
Seattle usually affords good memories here, with the 1995 American League Championship Series and all, but surely we can come up with something. Game 5 of the 2001 AL Division Series, maybe? Let's all make hex signs and say, "Curse you, Jamie Moyer."
To reach this Plain Dealer columnist:
[email protected], 216-999-5754
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CPD
1/20
LERNER DIGGING IN
Browns owner is even more determined to make his team a success
By Terry Pluto
<!-- begin body-content --> BEREA - After spending 90 minutes Thursday with Randy Lerner, it's obvious the Browns' owner truly loves and cares about the franchise he owns.
It's just as clear that he was very unprepared to take over when his father Al Lerner died Oct. 23, 2002. It's also apparent that he still has a lot to learn about the job, as the blowup between former team president John Collins and General Manager Phil Savage demonstrated.
But for the first time since assuming control of the team, Lerner said he's ``really digging in'' and taking part in the daily operations of the team. He admitted having his football people report to Collins turned out to be ``a risk.''
That's an understatement.
It verged on becoming a disaster, since it led to a personality clash between Collins and Savage and nearly led to Savage being fired or quitting, until Collins resigned a few weeks ago.
``I can't let anything get between Phil Savage and myself,'' Lerner said. ``I handled this clumsily. I think we've got it right now.''
Lerner doesn't talk about this subject, but he has never managed an operation anything like the Browns. His background is banking. He has a very creative streak, loves fiction and art. None of that prepared him to work in a public arena such as pro sports.
No one expected his father to pass away at 69, at least not until the last few months of his life when it seemed the cancer was just getting worse. Just as Al Lerner relied on team president Carmen Policy, Lerner leaned on Collins.
Unlike Policy, who had experience working with football people from his days with the San Francisco 49ers, Collins came to the Browns from the NFL's headquarters in New York. Like Lerner, much of this was new to Collins.
Nonetheless, the 43-year-old Lerner should have known you can't allow the football people to feel threatened by those from the business department.
It's acceptable for the owner to ask the general manager, ``Is there anything I can do to help you with the salary cap?''
It's different when it comes from a marketing executive such as Collins, especially when the Browns are more than $25 million under the salary cap and seemingly have things under control.
Savage believed Collins wanted to hire someone and wrestle away control of the salary cap -- and that would limit his ability to sign players and allocate the funds available as he thought best.
Besides, Savage thought salary-cap coordinator Trip MacCracken had done a good job.
Lerner admitted, ``I think our cap is in great shape,'' and said he sees no reason to change the Savage/MacCracken setup.
Matter of divorce
Lerner said the problems between Savage and Collins weren't so much about power as personality.
``It was like a marriage gone bad,'' he said.
He talked about how deeply he cares for the Browns and for the city of Cleveland. While he still lives in New York, he commutes to Cleveland several days a week. He was stung by the criticism during the fallout of the Collins/Savage fiasco.
``It was a kick in the teeth, but I should have seen this coming and handled it better,'' he said.
Lerner declined to say anything negative about Collins. They were close friends during the 18 months that Collins served as team president. He believes Collins helped stabilize the business end of the operation.
Lerner plans to take over those duties himself. He will spend even more time on the team, more time communicating with Savage and coach Romeo Crennel.
``Rather than bring in someone else from the outside and create more uncertainty, I can have the various people report to me,'' he said. ``Will it be long-term? That's up in the air. But when they ask who is in leadership, the answer is me. I'm digging in to do this job.''
Savage is relieved by that.
Savage said Wednesday night that he's spoken to Lerner more in the past few weeks than in his entire first year on the job.
``I really think things are good now,'' Savage said.
Lerner agreed.
``I realize that this is how it should be,'' he said. ``If we don't keep our football in order, we'll be a perpetual expansion team. That's beyond unacceptable to me. That will lead to nightly vomiting, divorce and personal ruin.''
I asked Lerner if he wanted to repeat all that for the record.
He said he did, and he indeed repeated it. He stressed that his marriage is solid, but the point he wanted to make was he's passionate about reviving the Browns.
``As a boy, I lived here, I went to games. I love this team,'' he said. ``I know what the fans want. No one wants to hear my problems or anything about the internal operation. They just want to win, and I don't blame them.''
Committed to Savage
The Browns made the 2002 playoffs in the last year of Al Lerner's life.
Since Randy Lerner took over, the Browns have been 5-11, 4-12 and 6-10. Former CEO Policy has left. Butch Davis resigned as coach. Collins has come and gone.
Lerner said he long favored that the football operation be run by a general manager who picked the players for the coach. But he inherited Davis, who did not want a player personnel director with any real power.
When Davis resigned, Lerner was given a chance to put the classic model of a general manager leading the football operation in place. The GM then would pick the coach.
``I wanted Phil Savage, I recruited Phil Savage to come here and nothing that has happened since has changed that,'' he said. ``Phil and Romeo should be the public faces of the franchise. The business part should be as invisible as possible. I want us to be like the Dallas Cowboys of 1960-89, when (GM) Tex Schramm and (coach) Tom Landry were the faces of that franchise. For us, it's Phil and Romeo.''
Lerner stressed that he had no objection to Savage spending time on the road scouting.
``I don't know where those reports came from,'' he said.
He declined to talk about a report in which he said the Browns have been losing money.
``I don't see any reason to get into that,'' he said.
He said Collins ``is out of'' the Browns' operation, other than to consult and wrap up some deals he had been negotiating.
Lerner added that he talks regularly with Bernie Kosar, but indicated that Kosar was not interested in being a candidate to be the new team president. Kosar and his family live in Florida.
``I don't know about the title, but I want Bernie involved in some way,'' Lerner said. ``Bernie said he was available if I needed him. We're still talking. But as of now, I'm going to serve as president.''
Which is what Savage wanted, a clear and open line to the owner with no interference from anyone else.
``I'm doing all I can to make this work,'' he said. ``Phil and Romeo have given me reason for hope. I'm determined to do all I can to help them succeed.''
1/20
LERNER DIGGING IN
Browns owner is even more determined to make his team a success
By Terry Pluto
<!-- begin body-content --> BEREA - After spending 90 minutes Thursday with Randy Lerner, it's obvious the Browns' owner truly loves and cares about the franchise he owns.
It's just as clear that he was very unprepared to take over when his father Al Lerner died Oct. 23, 2002. It's also apparent that he still has a lot to learn about the job, as the blowup between former team president John Collins and General Manager Phil Savage demonstrated.
But for the first time since assuming control of the team, Lerner said he's ``really digging in'' and taking part in the daily operations of the team. He admitted having his football people report to Collins turned out to be ``a risk.''
That's an understatement.
It verged on becoming a disaster, since it led to a personality clash between Collins and Savage and nearly led to Savage being fired or quitting, until Collins resigned a few weeks ago.
``I can't let anything get between Phil Savage and myself,'' Lerner said. ``I handled this clumsily. I think we've got it right now.''
Lerner doesn't talk about this subject, but he has never managed an operation anything like the Browns. His background is banking. He has a very creative streak, loves fiction and art. None of that prepared him to work in a public arena such as pro sports.
No one expected his father to pass away at 69, at least not until the last few months of his life when it seemed the cancer was just getting worse. Just as Al Lerner relied on team president Carmen Policy, Lerner leaned on Collins.
Unlike Policy, who had experience working with football people from his days with the San Francisco 49ers, Collins came to the Browns from the NFL's headquarters in New York. Like Lerner, much of this was new to Collins.
Nonetheless, the 43-year-old Lerner should have known you can't allow the football people to feel threatened by those from the business department.
It's acceptable for the owner to ask the general manager, ``Is there anything I can do to help you with the salary cap?''
It's different when it comes from a marketing executive such as Collins, especially when the Browns are more than $25 million under the salary cap and seemingly have things under control.
Savage believed Collins wanted to hire someone and wrestle away control of the salary cap -- and that would limit his ability to sign players and allocate the funds available as he thought best.
Besides, Savage thought salary-cap coordinator Trip MacCracken had done a good job.
Lerner admitted, ``I think our cap is in great shape,'' and said he sees no reason to change the Savage/MacCracken setup.
Matter of divorce
Lerner said the problems between Savage and Collins weren't so much about power as personality.
``It was like a marriage gone bad,'' he said.
He talked about how deeply he cares for the Browns and for the city of Cleveland. While he still lives in New York, he commutes to Cleveland several days a week. He was stung by the criticism during the fallout of the Collins/Savage fiasco.
``It was a kick in the teeth, but I should have seen this coming and handled it better,'' he said.
Lerner declined to say anything negative about Collins. They were close friends during the 18 months that Collins served as team president. He believes Collins helped stabilize the business end of the operation.
Lerner plans to take over those duties himself. He will spend even more time on the team, more time communicating with Savage and coach Romeo Crennel.
``Rather than bring in someone else from the outside and create more uncertainty, I can have the various people report to me,'' he said. ``Will it be long-term? That's up in the air. But when they ask who is in leadership, the answer is me. I'm digging in to do this job.''
Savage is relieved by that.
Savage said Wednesday night that he's spoken to Lerner more in the past few weeks than in his entire first year on the job.
``I really think things are good now,'' Savage said.
Lerner agreed.
``I realize that this is how it should be,'' he said. ``If we don't keep our football in order, we'll be a perpetual expansion team. That's beyond unacceptable to me. That will lead to nightly vomiting, divorce and personal ruin.''
I asked Lerner if he wanted to repeat all that for the record.
He said he did, and he indeed repeated it. He stressed that his marriage is solid, but the point he wanted to make was he's passionate about reviving the Browns.
``As a boy, I lived here, I went to games. I love this team,'' he said. ``I know what the fans want. No one wants to hear my problems or anything about the internal operation. They just want to win, and I don't blame them.''
Committed to Savage
The Browns made the 2002 playoffs in the last year of Al Lerner's life.
Since Randy Lerner took over, the Browns have been 5-11, 4-12 and 6-10. Former CEO Policy has left. Butch Davis resigned as coach. Collins has come and gone.
Lerner said he long favored that the football operation be run by a general manager who picked the players for the coach. But he inherited Davis, who did not want a player personnel director with any real power.
When Davis resigned, Lerner was given a chance to put the classic model of a general manager leading the football operation in place. The GM then would pick the coach.
``I wanted Phil Savage, I recruited Phil Savage to come here and nothing that has happened since has changed that,'' he said. ``Phil and Romeo should be the public faces of the franchise. The business part should be as invisible as possible. I want us to be like the Dallas Cowboys of 1960-89, when (GM) Tex Schramm and (coach) Tom Landry were the faces of that franchise. For us, it's Phil and Romeo.''
Lerner stressed that he had no objection to Savage spending time on the road scouting.
``I don't know where those reports came from,'' he said.
He declined to talk about a report in which he said the Browns have been losing money.
``I don't see any reason to get into that,'' he said.
He said Collins ``is out of'' the Browns' operation, other than to consult and wrap up some deals he had been negotiating.
Lerner added that he talks regularly with Bernie Kosar, but indicated that Kosar was not interested in being a candidate to be the new team president. Kosar and his family live in Florida.
``I don't know about the title, but I want Bernie involved in some way,'' Lerner said. ``Bernie said he was available if I needed him. We're still talking. But as of now, I'm going to serve as president.''
Which is what Savage wanted, a clear and open line to the owner with no interference from anyone else.
``I'm doing all I can to make this work,'' he said. ``Phil and Romeo have given me reason for hope. I'm determined to do all I can to help them succeed.''
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