Just months after firing their Head Coach Rob Chudzinski after 11 months on the job, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam decided that he needed a complete house cleaning as today the announcement was made that GM Mike Lombardi and CEO Joe Banner also will be shown the door. Ray Farmer has been promoted as the new General Manager and Alec Scheiner will take over as team President.
Fans had become increasingly agitated with the perceived dysfunction within the organization and many blamed Banner and Lombardi for it.
During the press conference announcing that Chudzinski had been fired as coach, one local reporter asked Haslam “How can you assure the fans that the Three Stooges aren’t running your franchise?” The subsequent coaching search, which featured several candidates removing their name from the search and many national reports saying the job was “radioactive” and “toxic”, did not help the Browns national perception.
Ray Farmer becomes the first African American General Manager in team history and the eighth active one in the NFL. Just months before one of the most important drafts in team history, Farmer will get his first chance t to pick players as a General Manager in the NFL.
