NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
A John Harbaugh and Cleveland Browns pairing is a no-brainer here. The Browns need to do whatever they can to bring Harbaugh into the fold as their new coach. It’s time to build a foundation, and that starts with the coach.
Kevin Stefanski was shown the door and rightfully so. Harbaugh was shown the door in Baltimore, and rightfully so. Now it’s payback time for both parties.
The Ravens have been the foundation of success in the AFC North with Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson at the helm. However, they have no Super Bowl wins or appearances to show for it. Meanwhile, the Browns have been the laughingstock of the division with nothing but a coaching and QB carousel to show for it. Something has to change here.
Bringing in John Harbaugh gives them experience, a leader, and culture. But what it also does is give the organization a reason. While players love to play with certain players, they also want to play for certain coaches. While the Cleveland Browns have faltered over the years, Harbaugh is still considered a winner, and that alone will draw interest from free agents.
The Browns have a stout defense; they just need to get that offense right, and that starts at the QB position. What Harbaugh understands is that good coaches will get the best out of whoever is under center for them. But the real reason for that hire is the fire it will light under Harbaugh. Even if the dismissal was mutual, Harbaugh is a competitor at heart and would love nothing more than to be the one to send the Ravens into the basement of the North.
For the Browns, it’s a storyline that couldn’t be written better by a Hollywood scriptwriter. Get the coach who has helped in your decline and let him lead you back to relevance while bringing his former team heartache along the way.
The Bengals are stuck in the mud. They possess a powerful offense, but the defense and maybe the coaching needs an upgrade. The Pittsburgh Steelers are just treading water. Mike Tomlin has plenty of holes to fill, and they’re just winning off emotion at this point. The Ravens need a new voice. The Browns may not have all the missing pieces, but what they do have is the ability to make a powerful statement by hiring a nemesis who understands pressure and what it takes to get a team in position to be better than it was before he arrived.
It will be an uphill battle for the Super Bowl-winning coach, but this is one that John Harbaugh and the Cleveland Browns must embrace. Yes, Harbaugh will be the most sought-after coach this offseason, but staying in the AFC just to stick it to the Ravens, well, that makes perfect sense, and to do it with a division rival, well, you can’t come up with a better story than that.
