In a bizarre offseason twist, the Browns are parting ways with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains after just one season, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Thursday, per a source informed of the plans. The team announced both coaches' leaving on Saturday.
From a schematic standpoint, the move makes little sense. Shanahan and Loggains were more than admirable in 2014 considering a myriad of unfortunate circumstances surrounding the team's offense this season.
Not only was their first-round pick, Johnny Manziel, not NFL ready, but their No. 1 weapon, Josh Gordon, was suspended for almost the entire season. That resulted in a team still averaging 324.6 yards per game with Brian Hoyer at quarterback. Shanahan managed to put enough pieces in place to keep the team in playoff contention through almost the entire season.
Shanahan has been looked at as one of the brightest young minds in football, which makes the move even more puzzling. Unless he was let go under the assumption that he would be receiving a head-coaching job elsewhere, Browns coach Mike Pettine might have some explaining to do.
The timing is interesting, seeing as Shanahan is interviewing for the Bills' head-coaching job in Buffalo on Thursday.
The Browns will now have to start over with a new coordinator and position coach, hoping that this group will be able to install a system for Manziel in one summer that Shanahan and Loggains couldn't do in almost six months.
The belief was that Manziel could get better with repetition and experience in the offense -- which, believe it or not, included some elements that tailored to Manziel's strengths -- but will now need to internalize a new set of plays, checks, audibles and signals.
If it sounds difficult to accomplish, that's because it is. Veteran quarterbacks have a difficult enough time adjusting to new schemes, but moldable rookies are a different entity altogether.
Of course, Manziel could be part of the reason Shanahan was let go in the first place. According to NFL Media columnist Michael Silver, Shanahan was unhappy with having a quarterback switch "rammed down his throat" by management (Silver's words, not Shanahan's).
If this is more like a mutual parting of ways, then the next coordinator will certainly have his work cut out for him.
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