Aloysius said:

You're right, it does make intuitive sense, but this is the first time I've heard this, that's all.

[You have your facts wrong. Charley Casserly didn't pick Mario Williams. Gary Kubiak did.--Richard]

It makes intuitive sense. After another horrible season, everyone knew that Casserly was about to get fired. If so, why would the owner let him decide who to take with the #1 overall pick?

What the owner did do was allow Casserly to take the heat for Kubiak's decision to make the unpopular choice. For that, Casserly does deserve a little credit.

mz. said:

Casserly had an outstanding career with the 'Skins, and learned from one of the best (Bobby Beathard). I don't see much to not like here.

In retrospect Casserly did the right thing in chosing Mario Williams and he was road kill because of that

@vegasdogg said:

The TV comment was obviously (well, maybe not) tongue-in-cheek.

Casserly had an outstanding career with the 'Skins, and learned from one of the best (Bobby Beathard). I don't see much to not like here.

@pl4tinum said:

Instead of doing that, he's going around bragging about a decision that wasn't his.

Here's an interview of Casserly from earlier this year:

What was the single most difficult decision you had to make as a GM?

Well it was probably the last one I ever made — taking Mario Williams as the number one overall pick in Houston in the 2006 draft. It came down to three names: Vince Young, Reggie Bush and Mario Williams. The popular pick was Vince Young. The second popular pick was Reggie Bush. And nobody wanted us to take Mario Williams. But we thought it was the right decision. We did it. And I think now, after Mario’s successful season, people are starting to see why we made that decision.

@pl4tinum said:

As I've mentioned, that's not at all what happened. He had already lost his job, but the owner had him stay on & resign after the draft.

@sony-reed said:

I don't want to hire another assistant coach with no track record as a head coach, how many times have we seen these great coordinators fail when they become the head coach, yes Spagnola (sp) McDaniel, Rex Ryan and others are top coordinators but they have not been the head man.

I say a guy like Urban Meyer who has turned every team he has coached into a winner and looks like he is about to win his 2nd NCAA Championship, Meyer is ready to be a head coach in the NFL he is also very innovative something this team needs and personality wise he is the total opposite of RAC

Now lets get a experienced GM in here and quit making the Browns the Detroit Lions of the AFC, Reece can get the front office in order and he also has many years experience as a NFL GM with the Titans.

Sorry people Phil Savage is a glorified scout and not a GM and for all the pro Savage people who want to mention how he upgraded the roster from Butchies days well with 2 draft choices in the top 3 and close to 150 million in free agent money to spend on free agents who could not have upgraded the talent, but look what Savae got for all the money he spent and it does not look very good and I won't get started on his draft picks which for where the Browns were drafting have not been what you would expect.

Please lets not hear any Mr. Sweatervest Jim Tressel talk about being head coach, I think Tressell has proven he can't make in game adjustments or beat anyone outside the Big Ten and this is the same guy who thinks the punt is a good offensive play.

Great post...............I like the Urban Meyer idea.........NOT THE FLOYD REESE IDEA.........To me Tennessee has improved the last two years without Reese

As far as Tressel is too sad you throw him under the bus for having the best record of all coaches in football the last 23 years..............but heh do what you wish because he lost two successive National Championship games when no one even plays in two straight.........too cool

But I do like your thinking about SEWAGE he is totally useless

mz. said:

Casserly, the guy who was the Houston GM when they drafted Mario Williams, couldn't deal with the fans hating on him and quit? No thanks... Turns out he made a decent decision. Young and Bush aren't exactly tearing things up.

mz. said:

Casserly had a reputation for being good with the media when he was GM, which is great...as long as you know how to draft players.

Actually, what I would be interested in is brining in Casserly to work the media/management side of the front office, letting Savage focus exclusively on scouting. However, I doubt Savage would accept what would amount to a quasi-demotion.

@dtbh said:

No matter who's call it was, Casserly shouldn't get any credit. He quit very shortly after drafting Williams, so he either couldn't stand behind his own decision like a man or it was Kubiak's decision and he wanted out for it.

I don't think he "quit" as much as he was forced out. The Texans retained him through the draft season, but it was understood that it was Kubiak's decision which way to go on the #1 pick.

I'm not sure how much control Casserly had over the later picks, but I bet he's claiming he made those as well. Looking back, the Texans had a frickin' awesome '06 draft:

• Round 1: Mario Williams - 'nuff said
• Round 2: DeMeco Ryans - Defensive ROTY, great linebacker
• Round 3: Charles Spencer - Looked like a possible franchise LT before suffering a devastating injury
• Round 3: Eric Winston - Currently their starting RT.
• Round 4: Owen Daniels - Promising young TE's on pace for 70 catches & 850 yards.
• Round 6: Wali Lundy - Contributed as a rookie, but is no longer in the NFL
• Round 7: David Anderson - Solid depth receiver who contributes on special teams

mz. said:

You want to hire a guy because he sounds good on the TV?

Aloysius said:

No matter who's call it was, Casserly shouldn't get any credit. He quit very shortly after drafting Williams, so he either couldn't stand behind his own decision like a man or it was Kubiak's decision and he wanted out for it.

Where's Russ Grimm? We need an NFL guy, IMHO.

Aloysius said:

I thought the same RE: Casserly, but I have really grown to respect him and his insight. I just feel like the guy "gets it."

And Gary Kubiak can kiss my Bronco-hatin' ass.

second, his gimmick offense won't work in the NFL. it's a gimmick offense that takes too much time to develop. it would get the QB killed. it also relies on a key difference between NFL and college rules: in college, offensive linemen are allowed to be beyond the line of scrimmage when someone attempts a forward pass. in the NFL, that's a penalty.

he'd have to design a traditional offense, something we have no idea if he's capable of doing.

And I'm not too high on Charley Casserly either. The guy's trying to get a GM job by telling owners, "I was the genius who picked Mario Williams," when it was actually Kubiak's call.

Inasmuch as I'm frustrated with Savage's management style, he's much better at drafting talent than Reese or Casserly.

@sony-reed said:

My only disagreement with your post is Reese. He pretty much screwed up the Titans and got them in all kinds of cap trouble. Remember a few years ago when they were giving players away and cutting them to get under the cap. One of the best HCs in the game was going to quit if they didn't get rid of him. After firing Reese, it took them until last year to get the team rebuilt.

I think whoever takes over may only do it if given both HC and GM duties.

Bah, screw it. Hire Jim Mora Sr