According to Mary Cay Cabot, if Holmgren and the Brownies have their druthers, St Louis Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will be signed, sealed and delivered in time for a Friday press conference. In fact, Wikipedia already has him listed as the Browns head coach. Shurmur has strong ties to the organization's brain trust, having worked with GM Tom Heckert for 8 years in Philadelphia and calling former Holmgren DC, Fritz Shurmur, uncle. Having no head coaching experience at any level, it is impossible to predict Shurm's level of success on the North Coast, although a coalescence of opinion between president, GM and coach can't hurt. Shurmur coached QBs for the Eagles prior to his St Louis gig and he has an excellent track record in maximizing the performance of signal callers with substandard arms (see McNabb, Bradford). This skill plays directly into my assertion that, given the right system, Colt McCoy would lead this team to a truck load of wins. Let us hope that this is the first yellow brick in that road.
Also...
Tate Forcier has left the Michigan football program.
The Indians #1 option for a free-agent starter is now Kevin Millwood. The stumbling block is that the man in question would have to be willing to sign a minor league contract. Mill was 4-16 last season.