Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is a fascinating study in leadership.
There are times that I am convinced that the decisions he makes reflect his (and those of wife/co-owner Dee Haslam) strong convictions. For instance, when it became apparent that then-CEO Joe Banner and then-GM Michael Lombardi could no longer function together in early 2014, he dismissed both of them.
Both Jimmy and Dee Haslam have had successful non-football careers of their own. Jimmy as CEO of Pilot Flying J (no rebate fraud jokes), one of the 10 largest privately-held companies in the U.S. That doesn't happen without a considerable amount of business acumen.
Dee Haslam has blazed her own path to success as CEO and Executive Producer of RIVR Media. Both are involved in countless charitable organizations. It's not an accident that they've risen to the position where they could afford to buy a billion dollar NFL franchise.
Having said all of that, there are times I wonder if they key to working for Jimmy Haslam, Browns owner, is being the last one to have his ear at the end of a day.
Think back to late 2012 when Haslam was assembling his leadership team after buying the Browns from Randy Lerner. Banner became Haslam's top lieutenant after his divorce from the Eagles. It was obvious that then-president Mike Holmgren along with hand-picked GM Tom Heckert, and head coach Pat Shumur weren't going to be a part of the new regime.
Suddenly the rumors of Lombardi coming back to the Browns surfaced. For weeks, I was a part of sports talk shows on ESPN Cleveland that begged Haslam and Banner to not hire Lombardi. Besides being a sub-par GM, he was radioactive from his days serving with Bill Belichick in the early 1990's. 'Hiring Lombardi would be a PR nightmare, please don't do it,' fans told us on the radio.
Haslam, listening intently to Banner, did it anyway. The marriage of Ban-ardi lasted barely a year.
At the end of the 2015 season, we were on course for another Browns regime change as the Ray Farmer-Mike Pettine combo was imploding. The time seemed right for a football CEO or president to be hired to help clean out the friction, bring in the right coach and personnel people, and stabilize a listing franchise.
Amazingly enough, Haslam decided to give complete power to a man who had been general counsel to the franchise for two years. Someone who had experience in managing the salary cap and negotiating contracts, but had no background in scouting, personnel, talent evaluation, etc.
I've often wondered if Sashi Brown was always the last guy in the room when Haslam was deciding the team's future. Analytics, processes, strategic thinking, all because new buzz-phrases around the organization. When he announced the hiring of Brown, Haslam said at the time: "He’s very smart, very organized, good at systems and processes and an outstanding team player. He’s also very strategic, so we will use those skills and working for him will be a GM whose primary job will be talent acquisition.”
We all know how well the 'systems' worked. The Browns are 1-28 over the past two years.
When John Dorsey was hired last week to replace Sashi Brown, I was astonished that someone of his pedigree and experience would agree to come work for any NFL team, without having the power to hire his own coach.
It seemed that this time, it was Head Coach Hue Jackson who had the last word with Jimmy Haslam. He had won the power-play against Brown and had convinced his boss that he deserved another year, this time with no analytics being shoved in his face.
Despite everything Haslam said about Jackson coming back for 2018, maybe it's not as set in stone as we think. According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, those in league circles believe Dorsey will eventually make the case for making his own hire at head coach. And if the Browns go 0-16, Dorsey’s case may be much more persuasive.
I know this much, Dorsey sure had the ear of Haslam during the game on Sunday.
Can't you see Haslam coming to the podium in January saying something like: "Candidly, I thought Hue deserved another year, but upon further reflection, it wouldn't be fair to John not to let him put his own team in place. Hue's a good man, but we need to let John hire someone he's gonna be comfortable with."
Or maybe Jackson will be allowed to depart south on I-71 to take over the Cincinnati Bengals.
When asked about Florio's report during his conference call on Monday, Jackson's first instinct was to laugh and say, "I think it's funny that you guys comment on that kind of stuff."
Just keep your eyes on Jimmy Haslam these last three weeks to see who he's listening to.
