LERNER SAYS COACH, G.M. WILL BOTH REPORT TO HIM

With plenty of Browns fans up in arms and plenty of media types scratching their heads over the Browns’ decision to hire a head coach before locking down a General Manager, owner Randy Lerner continues to try to win hearts and minds as to the reasons for the move. ''Fans say I don’t get it, I’m not a football guy, but I’ve been doing this six years in a row,’' Lerner told the Akron Beacon-Journal. ''When you think about it every day of your life, you do pick up one or two things. The Browns are trying to become a legitimate organization with checks and balances, roles and responsibilities.’' The checks and balances will include both men will report directly to Lerner. ''These are going to be two guys reporting to me, not one reporting to the other,” Lerner said. “I’m not going to fall into that trap.” Trap? It’s not a trap. It’s the manner in which many successful teams have been constructed, with the G.M. typically superior to the head coach. Of course, with the head coach hired, it makes it hard to lure a G.M. whose top employee already has been hired for him. So Lerner and the Browns are avoiding that problem by not establishing a reporting obligation from coach to G.M. But this only makes the G.M. job look less attractive to the potential candidates, which Lerner suggested now include Pats director of player personnel Nick Caserio and former Redskins and Texans G.M. Charley Casserly. Moreover, it creates a possible Jaguars-style situation, in which the head coach and the top personnel guy are engaging in continuous tugs-o-war regarding this player or that player or who should start at quarterback or who should be signed to a long-term deal. But there’s still hope for the Browns, Mr. Lerner. If you make your coach and G.M. equally accountable, this arrangement could work. By making it clear to both men from the get-go that either the team will succeed and both will be rewarded or the team will fail and both will be fired, Lerner will force a sense of teamwork upon them. And that’s better than any set of checks and balances. Get your top two football employees on the same page by making it clear that their job security is identical, and they won’t try to undermine each other -- they’ll realize that they need to work together. Take it from me. I’ve been doing this seven years in a row. And when you think about it every day of your life, you do pick up one or two things.