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Paul DePodesta

Browns Have Not Extended Paul DePodesta; Team Still Foresees Long-Term Relationship

August 4th, 2024 at 12:53pm CST by Rory Parks

Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta was hired by the team in 2016 after a lengthy run in Major Leage Baseball front offices. Though his hire was an unconventional one, DePodesta has clearly gained the favor of Cleveland ownership.

In 2021, we learned that DePodesta was given a five-year extension the prior season, a deal that ran through the 2024 campaign. At the time, his contract term matched those of head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry, both of whom were hired in 2020.

Upon the announcement of the extension, owner Jimmy Haslam noted the logic of having his top power brokers on deals of the same length, saying, “it lines up with [Berry and Stefanski]. That makes all the sense, and we’re super excited about that. Paul’s going to be with us for a significant amount of time. Paul’s not the type, you don’t need to announce something on Paul’s behalf, but he’s going to be with us for a significant amount of time.”

The Browns have earned a playoff berth in two of the first four seasons of the Berry/Stefanski partnership, and despite the much-criticized acquisition and extension of quarterback Deshaun Watson, the club has a talented roster that has the makings of a championship contender. Berry and Stefanski were rewarded with new deals in June, though DePodesta — who also has a significant role in personnel matters and who recommended the current GM/HC pairing to Haslam — is still under contract for just one more year.

That does not mean, however, that the relationship will end at the conclusion of the 2024 season. Speaking at a recent training camp practice, Haslam said, “we’re working through the situation with Paul. It’s a little bit different because he lives in San Diego, but we’re comfortable Paul will remain with us in some very important fashion for the long term” (via Kelsey Russo of the team’s official website).

It therefore sounds like an extension for DePodesta is still in the cards, and it would not be surprising if his contract again matches the Stefanski and Berry deals in the near future.

Hue Jackson Accuses Browns Of Incentivizing Tanking

February 3rd, 2022 at 7:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

THURSDAY: Haslam denied paying Jackson to lose games, saying during an appearance on Knox News the current Grambling State HC has lobbed salvos at the Browns to cover up his poor performance as a head coach. While Jackson was saddled with terrible rosters in 2016 and ’17, Haslam pointed to the 2018 season — when the Browns finished 5-3 after starting 2-5-1 before Jackson’s ouster — as evidence Jackson deserves more of the responsibility than he has accepted for the failures of that period. The former Cleveland coach’s claims center on the 2016 and ’17 slates, though Haslam said “unequivocally, Hue Jackson was never paid to lose games.”

WEDNESDAY: Former Browns head coach Hue Jackson plans to speak with Brian Flores‘ attorneys about the latter’s class-action lawsuit against the NFL, Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com reports. While Flores named the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos in his suit, the Browns would come to the forefront if Jackson signs on as a plaintiff.

The former Cleveland HC has expressed a willingness to reveal proof Browns owner Jimmy Haslam incentivized tanking during the 2016 and ’17 seasons, Robinson adds. The executive director of the Hue Jackson Foundation, Kimberly Diemert, accused the Browns of paying bonus money to Jackson, current GM Andrew Berry, current chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta and former executive VP Sashi Brown to tank during those seasons (Twitter link).

Jackson has replied to several tweets on this matter as well. In a tweet Tuesday night, Jackson said, “I stand with Brian Flores. I can back up every word I’m saying.” While the Browns were attempting a radical rebuild during those seasons, ones that pitted Jackson against a new-age front office, the team strongly denied Diemert’s allegation. Jackson is currently the head coach at Grambling State, which hired him in December.

“The recent comments by Hue Jackson and his representatives relating to his tenure as our head coach are completely fabricated,” a Browns spokesperson said, via Robinson. “Any accusation that any member of our organization was incentivized to deliberately lose games is categorically false.”

In a separate Twitter reply, Jackson made another claim the Browns were incentivizing losses, saying, “Trust me it was a good number” when asked about the Dolphins’ alleged $100K payments to Flores. The Browns, who hired John Dorsey as GM late in 2017, fired Jackson midway through the 2018 season. Jackson went 3-36-1 in Cleveland. This tenure included the league’s second 0-16 season in 2017.

“We were paid for it. You’re going to see it as losing, but the way the team was built there was no chance to win at a high level,” Jackson said when asked about being incentivized to tank during a SportsCenter appearance on Wednesday (via ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter, on Twitter). “My record that year [2016] was 1-15. There was a four-year plan that was crafted, and I have documentation that any coach would cringe if he saw it, because it talked things that had nothing to do with winning. Aggregate rankings, being the youngest team, having so many draft picks — none of those things lead to winning.

“I didn’t understand what the plan was. I asked for clarity because it did not talk about winning and losing until Year 3 and 4. That told you right there that something wasn’t correct, but I still couldn’t understand it until [seeing] the team that I had. And once being in the midst of it and finding out the team that I had and understanding that, ‘Wait a minute. At the end of the year there’s money coming in?’ Like I said, I didn’t understand it, here’s this money and percentages based on what you did, that didn’t make any sense to me.

“I remember very candidly saying to Jimmy, ‘I’m not interested in this bonus money,’ because I’ve never known that to be a bonus. I was interested in taking whatever money that was and putting it toward getting more players on our football team, because I didn’t think we were very talented at all.”

Fielding a team bad enough to go 1-31 in a two-year stretch and offering payments to a coach and execs for losses are obviously two different things. The latter accusations levied against the Dolphins and Browns being proven would certainly double as one of the biggest scandals in NFL history. Having not been an NFL coach since 2018, Jackson also has less to lose than Flores, who interviewed for four HC jobs during this year’s cycle. Attorneys for Flores anticipate other coaches joining the since-fired Dolphins HC’s litigation, Robinson adds.

Browns Gave Paul DePodesta Five-Year Extension In 2020

August 1st, 2021 at 11:27am CST by Rory Parks

The Browns’ young GM/HC combo of Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski, both of whom were hired in January 2020, appear to have the team headed in the right direction. Although much of the current roster was constructed by former GM John Dorsey, the Browns finally got back to the postseason with Berry and Stefanski at the helm, and they look poised for an extended run of competitiveness.

Berry and Stefanski are signed through 2024, and so is the man who is largely responsible for their hirings, chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta. As Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal writes, DePodesta was given a five-year extension in 2020, which club owner Jimmy Haslam just revealed yesterday.

“It lines up with [Berry and Stefanski],” Haslam said of DePodesta’s contract. “That makes all the sense, and we’re super excited about that. Paul’s going to be with us for a significant amount of time. Paul’s not the type, you don’t need to announce something on Paul’s behalf, but he’s going to be with us for a significant amount of time.”

Haslam brought DePodesta on board in January 2016, and his hire was an unconventional one to say the least. He had no previous football experience, having made his name as a Major League Baseball executive with the Moneyball-era Athletics before becoming the GM of the Dodgers. He also worked in the front offices of the Padres and Mets.

His analytics-based approach to roster construction is what initially caught Haslam’s attention, and he has clearly earned the owner’s trust over his first few years in Cleveland. DePodesta has outlasted former executive VP of football operations Sashi Brown and Dorsey, and Berry and Stefanski were the GM and head coach candidates that DePodesta preferred. For the first time in a long time, the organization’s top power brokers appear to be completely in sync, and Haslam has acted to maintain that unified vision.

Browns Notes: Stefanski, DePodesta

January 15th, 2020 at 4:34pm CST by Zachary Links

Recently, there were rumblings that candidates in the Browns coaching search had to agree to turn in game plans to owner Jimmy Haslam and the team’s analytics department. That won’t be the case, new head coach Kevin Stefanski says.

“It’s not true,’’ he said (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). “I like that report. That was a good one. It’s silly season for that type of stuff. I understand that. But, to me, analytics — I can’t say it enough — it’s a tool, it’s a tool that helps.’’

Stefanski told the Browns that he is willing to use analytics, which may have helped his cause, but Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta says his willingness to use the stats was not the deciding factor in the hire.

Here’s more from Cleveland:

  • Curious about DePodesta’s role in Cleveland and why he performs his job while living in San Diego? This piece from Cleveland.com’s Scott Patsko tackles many of the questions surrounding the former MLB exec. When it comes to the draft, DePodesta says he’ll just be one voice in the figurative room and not the final decision-maker. “I’m not going to pick the players, but I am going to try and make sure that the players we do pick align with our vision of what we believe is a winning franchise,” he said. “My charge is not to watch tape and say, ‘Oh, man, this guy’s got great feet.’ We’ve got scouts who are way better and way more qualified than I am to do that. But when we come down to make a selection, it is my role to say, ‘Okay, are we making a decision here that actually aligns with our way?’”
  • In 2019, first-year head coach Freddie Kitchens refused to turn play-calling duties over to Todd Monken, even though Monken was the more experienced coach. Stefanski, who is still searching for his OC, says he’s undecided as to whether he’ll handle the play-calling. “I have had really good conversations with a bunch of head coaches, some that have called the plays, some that have not,’’ Stefanski said (via Cabot). “Again, I am all about what is best for the Cleveland Browns. If that is me calling the plays, great. If it’s not, I am fine with that too.”

Latest On Browns’ HC Search

January 7th, 2020 at 8:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns are no longer competing with any team for coaching candidates, with the Panthers and Giants having made their choices. However, neither hired a coach the Browns were considering. Both were linked to Josh McDaniels, who remains set to interview with the Browns on Friday.

But with Jim Schwartz entering the derby and Kevin Stefanski remaining a Browns target, McDaniels’ status as frontrunner may be slipping. The Patriots offensive coordinator may not have the edge Schwartz or Stefanski, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link).

Stefanski wowed Browns brass in his 2019 interview, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer adds. But then-GM John Dorsey promoted Freddie Kitchens instead. With Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta running this year’s search, the team appears to be seeking analytically geared coaches. Schwartz and Stefanski profile as embracing analytics, per Rapoport.

McDaniels, however, still has support in the Browns building, Cabot notes, adding that DePodesta and ex-Browns exec Andrew Berry (now with the Eagles) would be interested in a reunion. However, Cabot points to said reunion being most likely to commence with Stefanski as the head coach.

McDaniels’ interview will occur Friday — two days after Schwartz’s and one day after Stefanski’s. A northeast Ohio native, the 43-year-old McDaniels has interviewed with the Browns twice before. He met with the Browns during previous owner Randy Lerner‘s tenure in 2009, but the team hired Eric Mangini. McDaniels withdrew his name from consideration after interviewing in 2014, when current owner Jimmy Haslam was in charge. The Browns conducted a lengthy search in 2014; McDaniels was once believed to be the favorite during that process as well. The Browns want to make their hire by Saturday, so second interviews do not appear to be on tap.

Here is where the Browns’ process stands as of Tuesday night, courtesy of PFR’s Head Coaching Search Tracker:

Browns Notes: GM Search, DePodesta, McCarthy, Saleh, Daboll

January 5th, 2020 at 6:58pm CST by Marc Delucchi

While the primary focus in Cleveland remains on their search for a new head coach, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the Browns could have their eyes on a pair of front-office employees with the Seahawks for their general managerial opening. Via Garafolo’s report, Seattle’s co-directors of player personnel, Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer, are two well-respected executives that could emerge as leading candidates.

Here’s more notes from the Browns organization:

  • NFL.com’s Ian Rapaport noted that two head coaching candidates in the Browns search that align with Kirchner and Fitterer are former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. McCarthy’s connection to the two Seattle executives is unclear, but Saleh started his coaching career in Seattle and has built his defensive scheme upon the Seahawks 4-3 at the peak of the “Legion of Boom.”
  • The Browns pushed back their interview with Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for Cleveland’s head coaching position, according to Ian Rapaport of NFL.com. Daboll remains a candidate, but since the Bills were eliminated from the playoffs in Saturday’s overtime loss to the Texans, the team decided to delay his interview to this week so he could meet more of the team’s current front office staff.
  • Browns chief strategist Paul DePodesta has been the center of a lot of coverage surrounding the power struggle in Cleveland. The onetime assistant general manager of the Oakland Athletics is spearheading the Browns head coach search, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, but is not under contract with the team beyond next week. With that said, DePodesta is still wanted in Cleveland and the team may want to extend the executive at the same time of the team’s general manager and head coaching hires to put the organization on the same page.

Browns’ Next GM Will Come From Outside Organization

January 2nd, 2020 at 8:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns are planning to retain chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta, and Eliot Wolf remains in place as assistant GM. But the franchise plans to look outside its current power structure to find its next GM.

Jimmy Haslam indicated Thursday that John Dorsey‘s replacement will be an outside hire, per Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The Browns plan to first hire their head coach, which will determine where they go with the GM role, Haslam added (via ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter). However, the Browns’ new head coach will not have final say over which GM candidate is hired, Cabot notes.

Cleveland’s new HC and GM will each report to Haslam, which was the setup when Hue Jackson and Sashi Brown were in power. Haslam added that the GM will oversee the 53-man roster, which flies in the face of rumors that the new Browns HC would obtain more power. The Browns’ new HC must be more analytically inclined, with Haslam indicating (via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal) a “tremendous opportunity” exists for the Browns to be better than they were in this area under Dorsey and Freddie Kitchens.

Wolf will remain in his assistant GM role, per Haslam. This poses an interesting setup, given a new regime’s imminent arrival. The longtime Packers exec joined former Green Bay coworker Dorsey last year and has been a GM candidate in the past. DePodesta will run the coaching search, but the former MLB GM-turned-fifth-year Browns exec will not rise in the team’s front office hierarchy.

“Paul’s’ job will stay exactly the same as it is now,” Haslam said, via Ulrich. “He is in charge of strategy. He reports to ownership. Nothing will change. … We think Paul is really good at this type of position [in the searches]. If you think about it, all he has done his whole adult life is gather data to help make good decisions, so we think he is ideally suited to lead this process.”

Paul DePodesta To Run Browns Coaching Search

January 1st, 2020 at 10:06am CST by Zachary Links

The Browns’ head coaching search will be run by chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. Apparently, this wasn’t established until just recently. Up until now, candidates were receiving mixed messages about who was directing the search.

[RELATED: Browns Considering Mike McCarthy-Eliot Wolf Pairing]

After firing head coach Freddie Kitchens and parting ways with GM John Dorsey, the Browns’ power structure was thrown into flux. DePodesta, it seems, will be leading the charge for owner Jimmy Haslam and it’s not hard to imagine the team’s next GM reporting directly to him.

Mike McCarthy will be the Browns’ first HC interview. The team is mulling the possibility of hiring McCarthy and elevating assistant GM Eliot Wolf, which would reunite the two after a long run together in Green Bay.

Other candidates on the Browns’ radar include Josh McDaniels, Eric Bieniemy, Greg Roman, Kevin Stefanski and 49ers assistants Robert Saleh, Mike McDaniel and Matt LaFleur. Baylor head coach Matt Rhule, meanwhile, turned down the opportunity to interview with the Browns.

Browns Considering Mike McCarthy-Eliot Wolf Pairing

December 31st, 2019 at 8:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite John Dorsey and the Browns parting ways, assistant GM Eliot Wolf remains in his position. And the Browns are considering pairing him with another former Packers coworker.

Mike McCarthy will be the Browns’ first HC interview, with Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer noting the longtime Green Bay coach will meet with the Browns on Thursday. The Browns, who have gone through numerous front office structures under Jimmy Haslam, are considering a McCarthy-Wolf power structure, Cabot adds.

Wolf was in Green Bay for each of McCarthy’s nine playoff appearances as Packers coach, working with the Packers from 2004-17. The final four of those years featured Wolf as either the Packers’ director of player personnel or director of football operations. The second-generation NFL executive left for Cleveland in 2018, when former Packers exec Dorsey joined as Browns GM. The Browns appear to be considering a promotion for the son of Hall of Fame exec Ron Wolf. Eliot Wolf has interviewed for GM jobs in the past, and he may be back on the radar — despite the latest upheaval at Browns headquarters.

McCarthy, 56, has already interviewed with the Panthers and will meet with the Giants this weekend. He was on the Browns’ radar during the 2019 hiring period but did not meet with team brass. The Browns ended the 2010s with seven head coaches and are obviously hoping for some semblance of stability entering the next decade.

Several other candidates are on the Browns’ HC radar. Josh McDaniels, Eric Bieniemy, Greg Roman, Kevin Stefanski and 49ers assistants Robert Saleh, Mike McDaniel and Matt LaFleur. Baylor head coach Matt Rhule turned down the opportunity to interview with the Browns.

Cleveland’s next head coach may need to make a greater commitment to analytics, with Cabot adding that Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta is planning to incorporate more analytical concepts into the team’s game plans. This blueprint did not appear to be a hit with Dorsey or Freddie Kitchens, with a source informing Cabot it only complicated matters further for an “in over his head” Kitchens.

Latest On Browns’ Front Office

December 31st, 2019 at 6:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns’ disappointing season produced the firing of Freddie Kitchens and prompted Jimmy Haslam to approach John Dorsey about stripping his power. That led to the constantly retooling franchise having another GM vacancy. The Haslams confirmed the 2019 Browns’ underachievement helped lead to Dorsey departing.

“While John helped greatly improve our team’s talent and we are excited about the core players on our roster, we fully recognized that our team did not meet its potential on or off the field and additional changes in leadership give us the best opportunity for success in the future,” Jimmy and Dee Haslam said in a statement. “As the role of the general manager continues to evolve in this league we felt there were areas that needed to be reassessed. Over the last 48 hours, we’ve had discussion with John about his role but could not come to an agreement on a position that would enable him to remain with the organization.”

The Browns have now gone through five GMs or de facto GMs during Haslam’s seven-plus-year tenure. They will be looking for No. 6, along with a seventh head coach under current ownership.

Here is the latest on the state of the Browns’ front office:

  • It is not certain Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta will survive a second regime change during his tenure, but that looks to be the case. Former football operations boss Sashi Brown‘s right-hand man, DePodesta stayed on during Dorsey’s run and is now playing a key role helping Jimmy Haslam find the Browns’ next head coach. The former MLB GM is taking a “very heavy hand” in Cleveland’s latest coaching search, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link).
  • DePodesta, however, is not necessarily in charge. The fourth-year executive is not currently running the football operation, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. This does beg the question as to who exactly is running things at this point.
  • Top responsibility may now fall on assistant GM Eliot Wolf. Although Wolf came aboard shortly after Dorsey did and worked with Dorsey in Green Bay as well, the second-generation NFL exec is still a part of Cleveland’s front office, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. That could certainly change soon, once a new GM or head coach with GM powers arrives in Berea.
  • Dorsey received a nice exit package from the Browns. The two-time NFL GM will walk away with two years’ severance, according to Pelissero (on Twitter). This marks the second time in three years Dorsey will be on the market, with the Chiefs having fired him during the summer of 2017.
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