Puskas: Will Browns' brass let Pettine succeed?

The Cleveland Browns got their man — or was it their 11th man? — on Thursday.

Who’s counting?

The meandering search for the fired Rob Chudzinski’s replacement ended with the hiring of Mike Pettine as the 15th full-time coach in Browns history. He wasn’t on my short list of candidates, but for the sake of the most loyal, long-suffering fans in the NFL, let’s hope owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner got it right this time.

Never mind that there is more than enough empirical data to suggest that this search was a lot like the one that brought Chudzinski back to Cleveland a year ago. In each case, the Browns ended up with a guy who wasn’t on anyone else’s short list.

The Browns settled this time because of their own impatience with Chudzinski, who was fired after one season. The combination of that move and other obvious examples of dysfunctional tendencies within the organization — did someone say Mike Lombardi? — led Josh McDaniels, Adam Gase and perhaps others to kick the tires and keep moving.

None of the known candidates were short-list material. The Browns actually interviewed Greg Schiano and Dirk Koetter a couple of days ago.

That’s not to say Pettine won’t turn out to be a good hire. He seems to be a tough-minded, no-nonsense guy. He began his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens, so he knows a certain amount of punches to the nose — both given and received — are necessary to win in the rugged AFC North.

Pettine admitted he isn’t comfortable in front of a bank of microphones, but no one cares about that. As he said, winning news conferences isn’t important. He was hired to win football games.

But so was Chudzinski. The Browns, however, gave their last coach few tools — especially at quarterback and running back — and actually took some away, then fired him when he wasn’t able to produce chicken salad from what we’ll call lesser ingredients.

The question isn’t necessarily if Pettine will be able to do what his predecessors could not. It is whether or not Haslam, Banner and Lombardi will provide what their newest hire needs to succeed and then get out of his way.

My best guess? Don’t count on it. Pettine figures to be fourth — at best — within the Browns’ power structure. He said Thursday he’s “betting on himself,” but I’m betting he’s going to deal with some of the same organizational issues Chudzinski did.

The Browns did Pettine no favors by waiting almost a month to hire him. Six other NFL teams fired coaches and hired replacements since the end of the 2013 season. Most of those teams now have their coordinators and other assistants in place.

Pettine? Not so much. In fact, he went straight from his news conference to an office upstairs to start working the phones and assembling his staff.

Then there is the issue of the holes on the team he has taken over. Brian Hoyer is coming off a catastrophic knee injury and frankly isn’t a franchise quarterback. Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden aren’t long for Cleveland, nor should they be. The Browns also do not have a legitimate NFL running back. And Lombardi will be running the draft.

But at least the team’s latest coaching search is finished.

Good luck, Mike. You’re going to need it.

Write Vindicator sports editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @edpuskas85.