As it turns out, Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen wasn't the only top-secret candidate the Cleveland Browns pursued during their extensive wintertime organizational reshuffling.
Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman reported Wednesday that team owner Jimmy Haslam, at one point, spoke to Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells about running Cleveland's football operations, according to multiple sources.
Parcells met "extensively" with Haslam in South Florida, according to the report, but the legendary coach told Freeman that no official job offer was made, saying that he merely shared with the team "how I believe organizations succeed and others fail."
Haslam spread a wide net after firing coach Rob Chudzinski. The owner dialed up a laundry list of fellow NFL luminaries and spoke with everyone from Bill Belichick to Urban Meyer about putting the right people in place to salvage his troubled franchise.
Swayed either by those opinions or his own, Haslam, on Tuesday, dropped the guillotine on CEO Joe Banner and general manager Mike Lombardi after souring on the pair during the team's winding coaching hunt.
TheMMQB.com's Peter King reported Wednesday that new Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt removed himself from Cleveland's search after being insulted by Banner during his interview, while Bill O'Brien didn't want to coach the team "because of either Banner, Lombardi or both."
With at least one NFL general manager telling The Plain Dealer that he'll "do business with the Browns again" after seeing Banner and Lombo tossed to the street, it's hard to argue with Tuesday's moves. Less defensible, however, is Haslam's short but definitive track record of swinging his axe to and fro, eliminating high-ranking employees at a dizzying pace.
In the latest "Around The League Podcast," the guys ponder the future in both Seattle and Denver and break down the teams who intrigue them most this offseason.
