Shurmur stays upbeat as Browns’ futility grows

Associated Press

BEREA

Not long after he was named Cleveland’s coach, Pat Shurmur went unrecognized in local restaurants. These days, he doesn’t go out very often.

“My wife Jennifer is an outstanding cook so I have no problem being home,” he said, smiling.

In the middle of a season sliding the wrong way, Shurmur limits his public appearances to Sundays.

These are tough times for the first-year coach, the Browns and their passionate fans, many of whom have grown so tired of the losing that their anger has turned to apathy. On Thursday, an upper-deck seat for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars could be purchased from an online ticket brokerage for just $5.

This is Cleveland, where football and faith are intertwined but where the local team has been breaking hearts for decades.

The Browns (3-6) shattered a few more last week when Cleveland’s dependable field-goal unit botched a snap and kicker Phil Dawson, who had made four field goals, hooked a 22-yard attempt in the final minutes of a 13-12 loss to St. Louis. For a few Browns loyalists, whose devotion was already hanging by a thread, losing to a one-win Rams team was the final straw.

Sports talk radio shows have been filled all week with calls from irate fans venting about Shurmur, whose conservative play-calling in the fourth quarter was perfect fodder for Monday morning quarterbacks. The Browns ran the ball six straight times — once with third-string tight end Alex Smith carrying and fumbling — in the red zone to set up Dawson’s ill-fated try.

Shurmur staunchly defended his strategy.

“I’ll go to the well with what I did,” he said.

There’s a segment of Browns fans who wish he’d jump in, too.

Shurmur, the club’s fifth coach since 1999, said he understands what Cleveland fans have endured since the Browns returned as an expansion team. A fellow Midwesterner, he appreciates their passion and pain in rooting for a team that has gone 67-134 and made just one playoff appearance in 13 years.

When he ventures out now, Shurmur encounters fans who support him and others who aren’t as comforting.

“There are people that are encouraging and then there’s also folks that may be a little bit frustrated,” he said. “It’s just part of it. I think I understand it. I think I do and I appreciate everybody’s passion. I think I get it.”

The negativity outside the Browns’ headquarters may be growing, but Shurmur has insulated himself to block out the criticism. His job is to build a young team into a consistent winner, and he can’t fall back on injuries, inexperience or rotten luck as excuses for failure.