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I haven't Babbled in two days, so, naturally there's a lot of babble
backed up. You wouldn't believe how uncomfortable that is.
Fortunately, there hasn't been any real news over the last couple of days, a
fact readily seen by the emptiness of the BerniesInsiders.com
Daily Newswire.
The Newswire has had some technical glitches this morning, but we'll get it set
up as soon as our web hosting provider gets the problem fixed.
Even The.Raw.Feed
has only been spitting out references it picks up regarding Kirk Ferentz (Browns
line coach in the Belichick era) and Nick Saban (Browns defensive coordinator in
the Belichick era).
Oh, yeah, and Belichick himself, who's
the NFL Coach of the Year.
Perhaps it's seeing the later success of the monumentally unpopular Belichick
is keeping us from calling for Davis' head after the 5-11 season. We Browns fans
are a grumpy lot these days, but we've got a good grasp of history, and seeing
what Belichick and his staff have done post-Betrayal give me, at least, some
pause. I imagine that's true for a lot of fans.
While we may be sparing Butch from our ire, Bruce Arians got run out of town
on a rail, nearly a thousand fan-generated goathorns in hand, and replacing him
dominates Rumor Central right now.
TOLLNER-WATCH: First, let's talk about Ted Tollner, who jumped to the top of
everyone's watch list after Bruce Arians was shown his walking papers. Last
Friday, Lane gave Ask
the Insiders denizens the heads-up that the Browns had tried a couple of
times to get permission to talk to Tollner and that the Niners are bouncing the
Browns all the way up to the ownership level. Lane also mentioned Gene Knapp as
someone who might move on out of San Francisco, but not to the Browns, as
Tollner is given a larger role running Erickson's offense.
We get some of that same stuff today from the Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi, who
offers up that
Knapp might be headed to Detroit.
FRONT OFFICE FUN: We also have Grossi trying to stop the "rumor" that the
Browns might go after Phil Savage. It's not so much a rumor as a hope - and was
actually kicked-off by Grossi's fellow columnist at the Plain Dealer, Roger
Brown. I started tracking it in Bernie's Insiders Rumor Central because, well, I
have no pride when it comes to mongering. Thanks for ruining our fun, Tony.
Party pooper.
The references to Knapp and Savage are in Grossi's "Rumor Central" area of
his Sunday column, which is labeled "Browns Insider" on their Internet site. He
really should get a better editor or something... those names are so, well,
lame. You would think that, in today's media-crazy world the Plain Dealer
would come up with branding that isn't so weak. I mean, that's just pathetic,
it's so.... oh, wait.... just remembered something. Never mind.
Another reference to the Browns showing up recently suggests that, while Pete
Garcia appears safe, the Browns could be looking to make
a change when it comes to college scouting. Finally, as we've been saying
here, there's
nothing to rumors that Randy Lerner is looking to deal the franchise. That
stuff was too weak even for me to run with, which is saying something...
ROBISKIE-ING IN THE WINTERTIME: Terry Robiskie season has broken out at last
here in Cleveland. His name
remains in contention for
the OC job, but will also continue to pop up as a candidate for positions
elsewhere in the league. With Bill Callahan being tossed out the door of the
Raidahs, Robiskie has already gotten
press
mention as a candidate in the Bay area. Robiskie has been a big topic in
Ask the Insiders.
COMING ON MONDAY: Tomorrow, we'll hit with some little-reported nuggets
from recent public statements by Carmen Policy and Butch Davis.