BEREA: Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s decision to give Sashi Brown the ultimate authority on player personnel decisions has raised eyebrows because the executive is known as a business man, not a football expert.
Haslam named Brown executive vice president of football operations on Sunday after he fired General Manager Ray Farmer and coach Mike Pettine.
Brown has been given final say on the 53-man roster after spending nearly three years as executive vice president/general counsel for the team.
Since ex-Browns CEO Joe Banner hired Brown on Jan. 16, 2013, he has worked on the business side of the organization, managed the salary cap and led player contract negotiations. Brown, 39, spent the previous eight seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Sashi, I believe, is the right person to do this for the Cleveland Browns,” Haslam said Sunday. “He’s been in the NFL for 10-plus years, has been involved in the cap and has been heavily involved in our football administration and operations for the last year or two. He’s very smart, very organized, good at systems and processes and an outstanding team player. He’s also very strategic.”
When asked why Brown is qualified to make the final call on football decisions considering he’s primarily been a salary-cap guru, Haslam explained he believes the traditional GM job includes so many responsibilities nowadays that it can be split between two people. Brown will have some of those duties. A yet-to-be-hired GM who’ll report to Brown will have others.
“We’re going to have one person who’s really focused on talent acquisition, and that will be our GM,” Haslam said. “Then we’re going to have [Brown] manage the cap and ensure we have the proper systems and processes in place, that we use analytics and is thinking about medium- and long-term strategies.”
Brown hasn’t met with the media because he’s busy assisting Haslam, his wife, Dee, and Jed Hughes of the Korn Ferry consulting firm conduct a search for Pettine’s replacement. Interviews begin this week. Once the coach is hired, he will aid the search for a GM, who’ll set up the draft board and run the scouting department.
“My focus in heading up our football operations will be building the best department possible and incorporating extensive resources so that we can maximize our ability to make the best decisions for the Cleveland Browns,” Brown, who has two sons with wife Paige, said in a statement released Monday. “We must capitalize on every opportunity to develop our players to the fullest.
“Having spent 11 years in the league, working as a football executive, I have a deep respect for the critical role of talent evaluation, and we will look to find an individual who excels in that area and is a good leader for the scouts and personnel. My family and I have quickly embraced living in Northeast Ohio and want nothing more than to be a part of a successful turnaround for the Browns.”
Several Browns players said Monday they don’t know Brown well but are being open-minded about his new role.
“I have had a few conversations with Sashi,” wide receiver Andrew Hawkins said. “He is very impressive. I am a fan of Sashi Brown and the way he approaches things. I think he has the knowledge. If he has been in it long enough to understand everything, then I am all for it. I am on the side of putting Sashi Brown in charge.”
Changes on the roster and in the player personnel department are guaranteed with Brown’s rise to power.
ESPN reported the Browns fired two of Farmer’s right-hand men, executive chief of staff Bill Kuharich and vice president of player personnel Morocco Brown. But a Browns spokesman said the team could not confirm those moves.
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.