BEREA: A Browns fan approached Ray Horton in Nashville International Airport last year and told him Cleveland missed him.
So now that Horton is back with the Browns for a second tour as their defensive coordinator, he said he’s determined to reward the Cleveland sports fans with whom he developed “a great love affair” in 2013.
“Here’s where I think our unfinished business is: When I watch the passion of the fans here, to bring a winner here, that’s what is unfinished,” Horton said Thursday during his second introductory news conference with the Browns in three years.
“We are going to make a heck of a run at winning games and winning our division. Now, are we going to win our division this year? I don’t know if we are or not, but we are going to give them hell.”
Horton has his work cut out for him.
Last year under the guidance of coach Mike Pettine and defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil, the Browns ranked 29th in points allowed (27) and 27th in total defense (379.2), 22nd against the pass (250.8) and 30th against the run (128.4).
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Horton said. “I’m excited. The guys last year, as we watched film on the guys, they played hard. They really did. We’ve got to improve.
“We’ve got to find a way to become a suffocating, championship defense. That’s what we’re trying to do. Do we have work [to do]? Yeah, we do.”
The run defense has been a glaring problem the past two seasons. It ranked last in the league in 2014 and third from last in 2015.
“It takes guys who are willing to get down in the dirt and do their job,” Horton said. “If that means you have to take on two blockers, you take on two blockers. It means that we are going to be fundamentally sound, and we are going to be aggressive. Am I a miracle worker? I am not. Are we going to bust our butts to be better? Absolutely. Do I think we are going to be better? I think we are. I expect it. I am going to demand it.”
When Horton became the Browns’ defensive coordinator the first time, he inherited a unit that ranked 19th in points allowed (23) and 23rd overall (363.8), 25th against the pass (245.2) and 19th against the run (118.6), the previous season in 2012.
The Browns improved in three of those four categories with Horton’s direction in 2013. They ranked 23rd in points allowed (25.4) and ninth in total defense (332.4), tied for eighth against the pass (221.1) and finished 18th against the run (111.3).
But they also blew several leads at the end of the second and fourth quarters. They surrendered a league-high 145 points in the fourth quarter.
“We just need to finish better,” Horton said.
The late-game letdowns contributed to a record of 4-12. Owner Jimmy Haslam and ex-CEO Joe Banner fired coach Rob Chudzinski after his lone season on the job, and the vast majority of his assistants, including Horton, left in the aftermath. Horton spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans before new Browns coach Hue Jackson hired him last month.
Horton conceded “there was emotion” when Chudzinski was fired, but he didn’t hold a grudge against Haslam. Instead, he kept in touch and even texted Haslam photographs of Pilot Flying J properties. Haslam is the CEO of the truck-stop company.
“This business is a win-now business,” Horton said. “... I am sitting here [because] somewhere at some level somebody appreciated something [I did in 2013]. You hope you do a great job for your people. In my case, it’s the owner, it’s the team and it’s the fans.”
Horton hopes the transition to his 3-4, multi-front scheme will be aided by several Browns players already having experience in the system.
He still wants big men who can run and little men who can hit, and he will always be seeking dominant edge rushers to elevate his defense. The Browns ranked 28th in the league with 29 sacks last season.
“Every year, it’s going to be that situation,” Horton said of looking for edge rushers. “You better affect the quarterback. Now, I go back to the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl. [The Denver Broncos] affected the quarterback. Next year, we’ll be looking for a rusher. The year after that, we’ll be looking for a rusher. ... We will be looking for a guy who can get around the corner and hit the quarterback.”
The Browns had the league’s highest-paid defense last year, yet it underachieved along with cornerback Joe Haden, free safety Tashaun Gipson, outside linebacker Paul Kruger, nose tackle Danny Shelton and others.
“If you give me the names that you mentioned, I’ll be ready to go,” Horton said.
Speaking of players, Horton discussed several of them. The highlights are below.
• Horton met with Haden early this week and expects the two-time Pro Bowler to bounce back after suffering two concussions and playing only five games last season.
“Joe will be a vital part,” Horton said. “He is one of our elite players who has to play better. I told him that. I said, ‘Are you ready to go?’ He said, ‘Yes, sir.’ And I said, ‘I’ll see you on April 4 [when the offseason conditioning program begins].’ I love Joe’s athletic ability. I love his leadership ability. As long as he is healthy, he will be on the field starting for us. I expect good things from Joe Haden.”
• Gipson, who’s scheduled to become a free agent March 9, became a full-time starter on Horton’s watch and a Pro Bowler the following year.
“I always, from the moment I met him, appreciated his ability on the field and in the classroom,” Horton said. “I loved who he was as a young man. I believe he is a free agent. Those things in the NFL business take care of themselves.”
• The Browns drafted outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo sixth overall with Horton aboard in 2013. However, Mingo has just seven sacks in three seasons, including none last year.
“He is a tall, lean, fast, young man,” Horton said. “We have to utilize that. Now, what do we have on the table for him? Some things different than it’s been in the past. Hopefully, he will come in and say, ‘I embrace what you are trying to do with me, and I’ll do whatever you ask me to do.’ We have to do something to utilize his God-given ability.”
Is Mingo an edge rusher?
“I see him hopefully as a playmaking member of our defense,” Horton replied. “Where he will line up, I don’t know yet. It depends on what he can handle for us.”
• Horton wants Shelton, the 12th overall pick last year, to receive more playing time than he did as a rookie.
“Danny was not the first person that contacted me but the first player that came in [to meet with me],” Horton said. “Danny can be a unique player for us. He’s really, really bright, intelligent, very outgoing. He wants to do well. He wants to succeed. He wants to be part of a championship defense. We are going to try to give him every opportunity to do that. One of the things I don’t want for Danny is I don’t want him to always have to come off the field. I want him to be able to stay on the field as much as we want him on the field. ... He is going to be a big part of our plans. Obviously, he was our No. 1 draft pick last year, and we want to utilize his talent.”
• The Browns signed Kruger to a five-year, $40 million deal with Horton on their staff three years ago. Kruger had 4.5 sacks in 2013, 11 in 2014 and 2.5 in 2015.
“We have to help him,” Horton said. “We have to be able to give him a Batman to his Robin or a Robin to his Batman, whoever he wants to be in the equation. We have to give him help on the other side.
“He is one of our elite players who has to play better for us. He is going to rush, so I want him to stay in and rush. He won’t be going out. I want him to stay in and rush. He will get his opportunities.”
• Cornerback Justin Gilbert has struggled so mightily since being drafted eighth overall in 2014 that he’s barely played. The only thing Horton recalls from Gilbert’s brief but disappointing NFL career is his interception return for a touchdown against Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck in 2014.
“I want him to use his God-given ability to play football at a high level,” Horton said. “That’s what I want from Justin Gilbert.”
• Inside linebacker Chris Kirksey “is going to be probably a starter for us,” Horton said. Horton added: “We obviously want our players to get better. Chris is one of those guys.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.