Is Cleveland the Place Where Head Coaching Careers Go to Die?

We are just three weeks into 2016 and already not one but two head coaches have been fired in the city of Cleveland. One was fired just a couple of hours after concluding his teams disaster of season. The other was fired exactly half way through his teams season despite leading their conference and coming off a trip to the championship series just seven months ago.

On January 3, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam pulled the plug on Mike Pettine following a 3-13 season. After beginning his coaching career at 7-4, Pettine only won three of his final 21 games.

Friday afternoon, Cavaliers general manager David Griffin dropped a bombshell by firing David Blatt just a year and a half into his tenure in Cleveland. A move that caught everyone by surprise.

“On behalf of the organization, I would like to thank David Blatt for his efforts and commitment to this franchise,” said Griffin. “He spent the last year and a half battling intense scrutiny, working to mold a very willful group and we all recognize that is not at all an easy task. But with that said, when you have the clarity of purpose that our ownership has instilled in this entire organization, decisions often make themselves. Every decision made is an answer to the following question: does it put us in the best position to deliver Championships to Northeast, Ohio.”

It's no wonder why the city of Cleveland can never get the championship monkey off of its back, not to mention the poor reputation the national media has placed on us despite having a loyal fan base.

Since 2010, the longest a head coach has spent with his team in the city of Cleveland is three years. Indians manager Terry Francona is that guy and will enter his fourth season beginning next month. Even though he is the most tenured head coach in Cleveland currently, there is no guarantee that the Indians won't make a change if the tribe gets off to a slow start again. Francona guided the Indians to the American League wild card game in his first season as the Indians skipper, but slow starts the last two seasons have ended any chance of playing baseball in October.

Cleveland has been labeled as the place where professional quarterbacks go to die. The same could be said for professional head coaches. The days of Paul Brown, Marty Schottenheimer, Mike Hargrove, Lenny Wilkens, and Mike Fratello are long gone but are certainly not forgotten.

The names of Pettine, Blatt, Rob Chudzinski,Mike Brown, Paul Silas, Byron Scott, Manny Acta, Eric Wedge, Pat Shurmur, Butch Davis, Eric Mangini, Romeo Crennel, and Chris Palmer are names we want to forget but for some reason we will never forget.

In just the last six years, how many coaching changes have taken place along the shores of Lake Erie. The sarcastic answer is too many, but it is also reality and a very disturbing trend. We all know that professional sports is a what have you done for me lately business. Fans and the media could care less what type of offensive systems a coach runs or how much previous experience they have. We care about one thing and one thing only, wins. If you win you will be loved, if you don't, get your resume updated because you will be hitting the unemployment line very fast.

The actual answer to the number of coaching changes that have taken place since 2010 here in Cleveland is ten. Yes, the revolving door doesn't just spin out of control every two years at the Browns training facility in Berea, it has also spun like crazy at Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence with the Cavaliers and at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario in downtown Cleveland with the Indians.

Out of all of the coaching changes that have taken place just this decade, has any of them been named a head coach after they left Cleveland. Yes there has been, Brown and Scott both went to the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the iconic franchises in all of sports. How has that gone?

Brown was fired just five games into his second season in Los Angeles and was hired and fired again by the Cavaliers after just one season. Scott is still the coach of the Lakers, but he is certainly not bringing the showtime days back to Laker land. If not for Kobe Bryant being on his retirement tour, would Scott be the topic of conversation in regards to his job security.

Wedge was another one when he managed the Seattle Mariners. With the exception of time missed after suffering a stroke, Wedge's time in the great northwest wasn't great at all and he resigned after only three seasons. Wedge could never get the Mariners out of last place during his three seasons in Seattle.

Crennel spent two seasons as the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Crennel coached the Chiefs for only 19 games and went 4-15. Crennel took over for the final three games of the 2011 season and was fired after the 2012 season. The 10-6 season of 2007 here in Cleveland was Crennel's only winning season as an NFL head coach.

So now the pressure falls on a Tito, a Hue and a Lue to try and lead a professional sports franchise in Cleveland to the promised land so a parade can finally take place on Euclid avenue or East Ninth street. If any of these guys can't get the job done, will their head coaching careers be over? Of course, only time will tell. Maybe one of our beloved teams finally got it right.

Perhaps we should have been a bigger supporter of Bill Belichick back in the early to mid 1990's. He's the only former Cleveland professional sports coach during my 40 years living in Northeast Ohio who went on to win multiple championships for another city and is certainly on a path to do it again, and with no spying or deflated footballs this time.

Without question, head coaches careers come close to being over when they leave the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame city. Add that to the list of things that need crossed off of Cleveland's list of problems. Hopefully that will change soon.