Finally, the Cleveland Browns are going brand name with the West Coast: Bud Shaw's Sunday Sports Spin

By Bud Shaw, The Plain Dealer  

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- After 12 years of buying generic, the West Coast offense Mike Holmgren is selling offers an identifiable brand name and more...
 
The West Coast offense stands on its resume.


With references from Bill Walsh, Holmgren and Andy Reid, it looks even better when compared to what was on display here in various forms from 1999-2010:


The Seinfeld Offensive System -- an offense about nothing.


The S.O.S., as it deserved to be called, was marked by a little of this and even less of that, immediately followed by urgent calls for help every couple years.


An abridged chronology: Tim Couch's dinks, Charlie Frye's dunks, Jeff Garcia's GPS-gone-haywire scrambling, the do-not-adjust-your-TV-set vertical lines of the passing game under Derek Anderson one minute, the horizontal hold of Brady Quinn the next.


And then a 2010 season in which the most remarkable statistic offensively was three -- count 'em, three -- high ankle sprains.


"Quarterback in this league is so important," new head coach Pat Shurmur said. "I anticipate the vision of this football team being seen through the eyes of the quarterback."


The hiring of Shurmur is nothing sexy. The allure is in the men flanking him at Friday's press conference -- GM Tom Heckert and team president Holmgren -- and in the West Coast offense as their shared model for how to win in the NFL in 2011.


Don't get too hung up on Pittsburgh and Baltimore going all MMA on each other once again Saturday. The West Coast isn't hammer-and-tongs football, but it doesn't preclude a strong defense and running game
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Holmgren operated it in Green Bay and in better climes in Seattle where running back Shaun Alexander led the league in rushing yards, TDs and Pro Bowl votes in 2005. West Coast backs Roger Craig and Ricky Watters weren't exactly afterthoughts either
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In Philly, LeSean McCoy rushed for 1,080 yards and 5.2 per carry in the West Coast this season. Even if you subtract Michael Vick from the rushing yards gained by the Eagles, Reid's team still ran for more yards than the Browns did.

The West Coast uses the pass to set up the run. Colt McCoy is suited for it. But even if he weren't, they had me at "uses the pass."


"It's very important to run the ball," said Shurmur, "but you have to be able to efficiently and explosively throw the ball in the NFL."

After the last 11 years, either would be welcome.
To the dismay of some, Shurmur showed up with the love of his life and it wasn't McCoy...

Joshua Gunter / The Plain DealerColt McCoy is clearly the quarterback for 2011, even if new coach Pat Shurmur didn't swear undying devotion at his press conference.

Someone asked if I agreed Shurmur and Heckert fell short of a rousing endorsement of McCoy as next year's starter. I don't agree.


First of all, it's not Heckert's place to declare McCoy the starter. Shurmur, on the job for less than a day, wasn't about to pledge his allegiance to anyone except his wife, kids and maybe Holmgren.
(And God, too, though God was said to be otherwise occupied this week revenging everyone who ever did LeBron James wrong)

Short of synching his words about McCoy to a well-timed press conference balloon drop, Shurmur had enough good things to say to project the job being McCoy's to lose going into camp.


If Shurmur announces in July a training camp competition between McCoy and Jake Delhomme, you have my permission to ride a bus 10 hours to Hartford to Eric Mangini's football camp and bring him back as head coach
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SPINOFFS
Asked about his plans for the defense, Shurmur showed a Holmgren-like sense of humor when he joked, "There's a defense?" At least I think that came from Shurmur, who was sitting on Holmgren's knee at the time...
Of 55-year-old John Fox replacing Josh McDaniels as Broncos head coach, Denver Post columnist Dave Krieger wrote, "It may not be quite Mr. Wilson replacing Dennis the Menace, but it's close..."
Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson says certain New York Jets should tone down the rhetoric. For the record, Rex Ryan had considered declaring himself "the straw that stirs the drink" but was told Jackson already did that when he played for the Yankees...


One night after sending out his "Karma's a B****" tweet and saying "God sees everything," James turned his ankle in a loss. Next game, with James sidelined, Denver beat the Heat 130-102...
That proves nothing about karma. It just felt good writing it...
New Broncos' football chief John Elway, following an organizational mandate to be "transparent," kept the fan base in the loop with tweets and Web site updates on Denver's coaching search. Nice try, Elway. But Bill Belichick still plans on spying on you...

Former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez turned over 12 bags of UM apparel to a Detroit-area Salvation Army for auction. There was no need to wash Gatorade out of anything Rodriguez donated...
SHE SAID IT
 
"The only way to test them is to let them do what they were intended to do." -- Diane Dietz, Big Ten chief communications officer, on the decision to keep "Legends" and "Leaders" as new division names through 2011.


If by that she means letting "Legends" and "Leaders" establish a pomposity unmatched since Kanye West declared himself "the voice of a generation," they already did that.


SEPARATED AT BIRTH
 
Desmond Howard and Michigan QB Denard Robinson. -- Angelo, Cleveland.
Juli Inkster and Mick Jagger. -- Jim Heide
Kelsey Grammer and Phil Dawson. -- Jack Chase
YOU SAID IT
(The Biannual Browns Coaching Hire Edition)
"Bud:
"Where would you be today with a sports agent like Bob LaMonte?" -- Tom Hoffner, Broadview Heights
I'd be part of the tree. The sap, no doubt.
"Bud:
"Pat Shurmur? Phyllis Diller would have been a sexier pick." -- JJ, Twinsburg
Kids, YouTube it.
"Hey Bud:
"Did God see Game 5?" -- Vince G., Cincinnati
Yes. And He duly noted that, while He didn't quit his work until the seventh day, LeBron did so on the fifth.
"Whoa Bud:
"Aside from being attention-getting device Number 329, what is the purpose of all the (fake) hair extensions hanging out of football players helmets?" -- Christine Louise, Warren
With players facing a lockout and loss of wages, what you're seeing is a concerted effort to get noticed by the producers of "Jersey Shore."
"Bud:
"How about making Cavalier tickets out of wood so we can use them in winter?" -- Emma Schmidt
First-time "You Said It" winners receive a T-shirt from the Mental Floss collection.
"Bud:
"Twenty years ago I made a wager. What would happen first? A Cleveland sports championship or 5,000 birds falling out of the sky for no reason. I bet on Cleveland." -- The Albatross
Repeat winners receive a box of yellowed confetti.
"Hey Bud:
"Ran into a weary Mark Shapiro at the airport, and when I pressed him on possible pitching prospects, he blurted out 'Craig Slist.' Is he in our farm system?" -- Steve Miller, Cleveland
Repeat winners also receive an invasive airport security pat-down.

Tags: afc , breaking , cleveland browns , coaches , Colt Mccoy , feature