There's little doubt the Cleveland Browns needed a change in direction after last season's listless 3-13 showing. Linebacker Karlos Dansby recently provided some insight on just how difficult it was to keep the locker room motivated and together as another season slipped away under erstwhile coach Mike Pettine.
"The coaches and the front office, there was just a lot of mess going on, a lot of things going on, a lot of distractions," Dansby, now a member of the Bengals, told SiriusXM NFL Radio this week. "Because at a certain point, guys had just shut down."
"Guys shut down, the organization just wasn't clicking. The coaches and the front office, there was just a lot of mess going on, a lot of things going on, a lot of distractions."
Pettine went 10-22 in two years as coach, losing 18 of his final 21 games. Former general manager Ray Farmer served as one of the distractions Dansby references -- he was suspended the first four games of the 2015 season for texting Browns employees on the field during games in 2014. Pettine and Farmer were both fired in January.
Dansby said he and safety Donte Whitner found it a struggle to get other teammates motivated "to play for just the guys." Dansby and Whitner were each cut loose after the season as the Browns undergo an extensive rebuild under new coach Hue Jackson and Sashi Brown, executive vice president of football operations.
In a post-"curse" world in Cleveland (thanks LeBron), anything seems possible. So how do the Browns finally start trending in the right direction? 1. Get some guys who can play. 2. Find some stability. Owner Jimmy Haslam has dismissed three coaches and three GMs since purchasing the team in 2012.
