Recent fans of the Cleveland Browns have been riding a head coaching carousel unlike almost any other team in the NFL. Since 2002, the Browns have had 10 head coaches, with the latest being Todd Monken, who is taking over this season after Kevin Stefanski was fired.
But those fans who are more well-versed in Browns history will realize that they can claim one of the greatest head coaches in football history as one of their own. Paul Brown was an icon in Cleveland who not only won at an extraordinary rate but was also one of the game’s great innovators.
Based on his impeccable credentials, CBS Sports has named the legendary Browns head coach among the greatest NFL coaches of all time, placing him at No. 4.
“After legendary runs at the high school level and at Ohio State (he led the Buckeyes to their first national title in 1942), Brown delivered an iconic run with the Browns that included seven championships over a 10-year span. Arguably the most innovative coach in NFL history, Brown is credited with creating practice squads, the draw play and the modern facemask. The first coach to hire a staff of full-time assistants, Brown is also the first coach to use game film to scout the opposition,” Bryan DeArdo wrote.
A true pioneer in the coaching ranks, Browns is also given credit for implementing a playbook and a full-time coaching staff. As Cleveland’s head coach from 1946 through 1962, he led the franchise to four consecutive AAFC championships (1946 through 1949), posting an incredible 47-4-3 regular-season record.
He followed that with three NFL championships (1950, 1954, 1955), with an 111-44-5 regular-season mark. The victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the 1955 championship game was the last title the Browns have won.
Art Modell purchased the franchise in 1961 from a group of Cleveland businessmen, who took over in 1953 from original owner Arthur “Mickey” McBride. Modell and Brown clashed almost immediately over control of the team, and the head coach was fired following the 1962 season. Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and went on to found the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968, and his family still runs that franchise to this day.
The Browns also have a bittersweet connection to the No. 1 coach on the list, Bill Belichick, who was Cleveland’s head coach from 1991 through 1995 before creating his legend with the New England Patriots. He is followed by Vince Lombardi at No. 2 and Bill Walsh at No. 3 in the voting by six CBS Sports NFL reporters.
Perhaps someday the Browns will find a legendary head coach who can lead them to their first Super Bowl championship.
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