Steelers former OC Todd Haley struggling to understand how the Browns operate

As the league’s most unsuccessful franchise of the modern era, the Cleveland Browns are desperate to rehabilitate their public image. The punchline to so many jokes about how not to run a team, they likely believed an appearance on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ would show the team in a different light this offseason. However, just one episode into the latest series, it seems the Browns might be even more out of touch with the rest of the NFL than fans could ever have imagined.

After six season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, offensive coordinator Todd Haley is one of several new faces experiencing life in training camp with Cleveland for the first time this year, and like many viewers watching ‘Hard Knocks’ on Tuesday night, it appears he cannot believe how the Browns organization is run either.

During a coaches meeting to discuss the availability of injured players, Haley seems to be struggling to understand the team’s policy when it comes to allowing individuals to sit out practice and his thoughts on the matter did not appear to mesh with Hue Jackson’s vision.

Disturbed that some players are being given too much time to rest, Haley even used a popular Mike Tomlin quote when trying to address the issue with his head coach.

“We need to get so much done, you know, and I know I said that to you and we joked about it, but if we live in our fears. Our team has to get mentally tougher and be able to fight through the (expletive) that we’ve got to fight through. We’ve got to change this drastically and if we’ve got guys that haven't done (expletive) sitting around doing nothing, I just don't know how we’re gonna it.”

Sadly his opinion fell on deaf ears after Jackson made it clear who the boss was, but it was interesting to note the look on Haley’s face when listening to Jackson’s defense of his reasoning. A response reported by Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

“I used to sit in the same chair you guys sit in and I used to feel the same way. I just wanted to kill ‘em, okay? Until all of a sudden, I sat in this chair and then they’re not there, and you don’t get them to practice, and you can’t get them through and then you don’t have them for three weeks. and I’m not living in my fears. That’s real, and I think we all can appreciate that.”

Although Jackson has a room full of experienced coaches to work with in Cleveland, many of whom have been head coaches themselves in the past, it perhaps surprising to note how dismissive he is of their opinions. All of them have been more successful in that role than Jackson has been with the Browns after all.

Considering recent free agent signing Jarvis Landry was filmed giving a similar and less PG rated version of the same speech to a room full of wide receivers earlier in the episode, it seems safe to assume that Haley is far from the only member of the team frustrated by how soft some of the players in the organization actually are. However, while Jackson remains inexplicably in charge of the team, it is unlikely the situation will improve this season.