CBA timing puts Browns in a position that is tough

INDIANAPOLIS: Everything about Pat Shurmur made it feel like the Browns are in very capable

hands.

Including the fact that he gets up at 4:40 in the morning during football season.

Joined by General Manager Tom Heckert for an hourlong session with Northeast Ohio media Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine, the new Browns coach seemed down-to-earth, confident, poised, intelligent and organized. He shared a good rapport with Heckert, whom he worked with for eight years with the Philadelphia Eagles.

But all of that might not matter when it comes to the team's record in 2011. Shurmur's first season could be doomed before it begins by events totally out of his control.

Heckert and Shurmur are charging ahead with changes to the Browns' offensive and defensive schemes even as the storm clouds continue to darken before Thursday night's expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

And despite Shurmur's insistence that all 32 NFL teams are in the same boat, that really isn't the case. If there's a lockout, the Browns will be one of the ones that suffer the most.

Some teams didn't change coaches because of the offseason uncertainty. Not only did the Browns fire Eric Mangini, but Shurmur is installing the West Coast offense and switching to a 4-3 defense, following the model he and Heckert learned in Philadelphia. Any other year, that would be cause for celebration, especially blowing up the low-scoring, too-predictable attack of the past two seasons. But at this point, their plan on both sides of the ball seems fraught with danger.

Asked about the labor battle and what a lockout could bring, Shurmur said, ''We're proceeding like business as usual. I think it's important that we do that and whatever happens, 32 teams will be in the same situation. I'm not worried about it, just moving forward.''

But when it was pointed out that few teams are changing both schemes, even those with new coaches, Shurmur felt confident that he and his staff can get them taught when the time comes.

''I feel as though we've hired some great teachers,'' he said. ''The systems we are going to teach and employ are proven. I trust and I'm confident that we'll get it done.''

To his credit, there was not a hint of panic in Shurmur's voice.

But there could be no minicamps, no training camp, no offseason training activities. Heckert wouldn't say whether the Browns will be allowed to give their players under contract new playbooks to study during a lockout. Starting quarterback Colt McCoy might be able to stop by Berea early next week to get a head start, but with NFL execs mum this week on all things CBA, even that is unclear. And if the clock strikes midnight on Thursday without a new deal or an extension of the current one, the facility will be locked down tighter than Stalag Belichick.

The Browns are devoid of game-changing talent, their roster filled with Mangini's smart, tough and somewhat pedestrian guys who might not fit the Shurmur-Heckert mold. Their seven draft picks won't be enough to fill all the holes and make all the upgrades necessary. Free agency, if and when it happens, could be reduced to a short, frantic frenzy. Heckert also ruled out the possibility of signing quick-fix free agents with checkered pasts.

A lockout would make it all the more difficult for Shurmur to improve on the Browns' two consecutive 5-11 seasons. It would also make it tough to close the gap on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.

''That's the million dollar question. Hopefully it's soon,'' Heckert said of the pursuit of division relevance. ''We do have some good players. Obviously we have to get better in a lot of positions. We should be able to compete. Even last year we played well in a lot of games. I know our record was the same, but I do think we're a better football team.

''I think we're getting there and we have a lot to do, but I guess this season we'll find out.''

Even though the Browns lost seven games by seven points or fewer in 2010, Heckert didn't dispute the national perception that the cupboard is still bare.

''That's valid,'' he said. ''We have to wait and see what happens this offseason and then reassess that, but right now we acknowledge that we have to get better players.''

As surprising as that reaction seemed, it also was self-serving, trying to buy more time with the disgruntled masses who recently received season-ticket renewal packets.

Browns president Mike Holmgren wasted his first year by giving Mangini another year when he had to suspect they'd never mesh. The second year under Holmgren could be in peril as well.

Change was necessary for the Browns' long-term future. The president, general manager and coach must be on the same page.

But their pedal-to-the-metal revamping of the offense and defense with a rookie coach and a possible lockout looming could make for many sleepless nights, no matter what time Shurmur's alarm clock chirps.

Original story by Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports columnist