Browns lure away Mets’ Paul DePodesta to shift team’s direction
Days after firing head coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer, and promoting Sashi Brown to executive vice president of football operations, the Cleveland Browns have made another fascinating, if unconventional, hire.
Shocking might be another word for it.
The Browns have named Paul DePodesta as chief strategy officer, per several reports, hiring him away from the New York Mets. Yes, baseball’s New York Mets. DePodesta apparently will be overseeing player development and scouting for the Browns after filling a similar role … in baseball.
DePodesta is known among casual fans for being portrayed in the “Moneyball” movie by Jonah Hill. But his baseball resume is full. He worked for the A’s under Billy Beane, was the general manger of the Los Angeles Dodgers by 31 and has worked for both the San Diego Padres and Mets in recent years. As for football, he last worked in pro football in 1996. With the CFL’s now-defunct Baltimore Stallions. When he was in his early 20s.
So there you have it.
But before you scoff too much, know this: DePodesta played football at Harvard and has been open about a return to the sport.
This is either the most brilliant move of all football time, or — remember which team we are talking about — the worst. There’s plenty of room for innovation and fresh ideas in the NFL, and if ever there’s a franchise in need of a new vision it’s the Browns. But goodness, this has the earmarks of a possible disaster.
The Browns have now hired two excecutives to run their football operations, neither of whom have a football background. Sashi Brown is a numbers/analytics guy with a law background. DePodesta is one of the most well-known analytics guys out there.
But DePodest,a fairly or not, was a bit of a punching bag with Dodgers as one of the youngest GMs in baseball, and though he had success with the Mets, there is this sense that his organizational brilliance might not have been fully realized since he and Beane parted. It’s clear he’ll have to challenge the tried and true football norms and do a bit of paradigm shifting. Will he be a game changer? Can he start a revolution?
It’ll be interesting to follow, but … it’s also the Browns. There’s a lot of work to do and Jimmy Haslam hasn’t been known to be a patient sort. Will he really give DePodesta the amount of time necessary to make the changes he desires? We have our doubts.
– – – – – – –
Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
