Romeo Crennel is going nowhere - except up to his office every morning as the
Browns head coach.
General
Manager Phil Savage on Thursday during a 45-minute press conference squelched
any rumors about Crennel being fired. Crennel has been under the gun since last
Sunday when the Browns were awful losing 30-0 to the Bengals. Compounding the
problem was Braylon Edwards going through a tirade on the sideline.
Savage
said he and team owner Randy Lerner both support the coach.
"Randy and I are 100 percent behind him," Savage said. "We are going to do
everything in our power to help him over the next five games, the upcoming
offseason and next year.
"Romeo and I
are in this together. When he has failure, I have failure. When he has success,
I have success. You can't put some of the problems we've had this year at the
feet of one person. It’s a team and an organization."
Savage
talked with Crennel before talking with reporters. Crennel was obviously happy
to hear what Savage had to say.
"It should be the end of the story," Crennel said. "In my tenure in the NFL,
I know it won’t be the end of the story. Just like I have to deal with a team
with different personalities and age ranges, you all have different thoughts and
opinions in your job. You have to write those thoughts and opinions and it
probably won’t be the end of it. That’s part of the territory and we’ll work
with it and deal with it the best we can."
The Browns were 6-10 last season and are 3-8 this year. They are 1-9 against
the AFC North under Crennel. They have division games left against Pittsburgh
next Thursday and in Baltimore Dec. 17.
Savage used the Ravens and Steelers as teams that win because of continuity.
This is Bill Cowher's 15th season in Pittsburgh. Brian Billick is in his eighth
year in Baltimore. The Browns are in their eighth season and already on their
third head coach.
"When you
look at the constant turnover at the key positions, Randy realizes the only way
to do it is to maintain some continuity," Savage said. "You look at Pittsburgh
in our own division. Look at Baltimore. This time a year ago, everyone was ready
to cash the chips in on that particular setup. They’ve been able to persevere
because they’ve been together a long time.
"It permeates
through an organization. We are on the right track in doing that and I think
Randy is 100 percent on board with that approach."