welcome letter, fall 2017weol.northcoastnow.com/files/2017/08/2017-medina...welcome letter, fall...

Fall 2017 Forecast Magazine 1

Welcome Letter, Fall 2017

Several years ago, I wrote, ‘any moment now, a person wearing a black and white striped shirt will hand a brown, leather sphere to a youngman who will no doubt squeeze the sphere before placing it carefully at the proper angle on an orange tee. He’ll back away…7 to 10 yardswill do…and wait for another person wearing a black and white striped shirt about 60 yards away to raise his arm and blow a whistle. Theyoung man will quickly approach the ball with his eyes focused on the lower half…and with one swing of the leg…BOOM!...the high schoolfootball season is underway!’

Yep, been there, done that…and proud of it!Another season of high school football is at hand…or afoot for others, and once again this year, we will bring to you an outstanding selec-

tion of games on AM 930 WEOL, at www.weol.com and on the free WEOL mobile app.We hope this edition of FORECAST enhances your enjoyment of the 2017 season with schedules, features and profiles of your favorite high

school team, the Ohio State University Buckeyes and the Cleveland Browns.AM 930 is proud to cover and support our local high school football teams. As always, we thank our terrific sponsors who make these

games and this magazine possible. We also appreciate the assistance of athletic directors, coaches and staff who help us with our broadcastschedule.

See you under the lights!

Craig R. AdamsOperations Manager/News DirectorWEOL AM 930

2 Fall 2017 Forecast Magazine

Medina County High School Football Preview........ pg. 4

Ohio State Football Preview .................................... pg. 11

Broadcasters Favorite Games .................................. pg. 13

Cleveland Browns Preview....................................... pg. 15

FOOTBALL SCHEDULES

Tri-C Medina County Match-Ups ............................ pg. 7

Area High Schools .................................................... pg. 8

Ohio State Buckeyes................................................. pg. 12

Cleveland Browns .................................................... pg. 16

About the Cover: It was a record setting year in 2016 for Medina’s Jimmy Daw who helped lead the Bee’s

to a 9-2 record and a second round playoff appearance on his way to claiming the Med-ina County Gazette MVP. During his senior season Daw set a Medina County record forrushing touchdowns and total touchdowns scored in a year. With the ball in his handsthe Bee’s running back was nearly unstoppable posting 229 carries, 248 points, 1,385rushing yards and 32 touchdowns. Through the air Daw was just as dangerous bringingin 36 receptions for 818 yards and nine touchdowns. In 2016 Daw posted six games of atleast four touchdowns. Along with being named the Medina Gazette MVP, Daw wasnamed the Greater Cleveland Conference player of the year and earned First Team All-Ohio honors. Daw will continue his football career this season at Ball State University inMuncie, Indiana.

WEOL FORECAST MAGAZINEFALL 2017 PREVIEW

A Publication of AM930 WEOLVolume 4

Station ManagerTim Alcorn

EditorMatt Douglass

Feature EditorsBrad Bournival

Rob PolinskyAndy “Bull” Barch

Cover DesignBozCorn Productions

PublisherSource3Media


By Brad BournivalSave the name tags. While three

coaches are “new” to their respec-tive football teams as headcoaches, they’re hardly new toMedina County.

Why the quotation marks? Mark Pinzone might be new as

the head coach at Brunswick, butthe former Buckeye and HolyName coach was an assistantwith the Blue Devils from 1995-2009.

He also teaches at Brunswick.In his place with the Bucks is

Greg Dennison, who was an assis-tant coach at Brunswick last yearand was Wadsworth’s head manfrom 1995-2015, sending the Griz-zlies to the playoffs in 1996, 1999,2002, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2001 and2013-14.

Not lost in the coaching shuffleis Larry Laird, who is back atMedina. Laird spent three years atStrongsville and one year at AvonLake as head coach, but was thefirst to coach the Bees to a state

playoff win in 2010.Confused? Here’s a look at the seven area

teams:

Black RiverAl Young returns as coach and

the Medina County Sports Hall ofFamer has a team ready to takethe next step.

While losing Curtis Roupe onboth sides of the ball will betough, the Pirates have quite a bitcoming back.

Black River returns from a play-off run and are loaded in thebackfield once again. Young’s run-first, run-often offense will be justfine this year with a three-headedsenior backfield led by SpecialMention All-Ohio fullback JacobCampbell (6-foot-1, 200 pounds),Riley Gibbs (5-9, 170) and TravisSexton (6-1, 190).

Campbell is the leading rusherin the county among returnerswith 1,296 yards. Gibbs also brokethe 1,000-yard rushing plateau,

finishing with 1,041 and had ateam-leading 17 touchdowns.Sexton wasn’t that far behind with833 yards on the ground andeight scores.

Campbell and Sexton will also

play linebacker with Gibbs check-ing in at defensive back.

BrunswickSeasons like the one the Blue

See FOOTBALL, 5

Medina County High School Football Preview

KRISTIN BAUER / GAZETTE

Black River’s Jacob Campbell

Devils had last year aren’t verycommon for the school on stateRoute 303.

That said, Pinzone brings acoaching staff that is not onlyused to winning, it’s one thatexpects to win and win rightaway.

Pinzone is no stranger to suc-cess after leading Buckeye to theplayoffs the last four years andbeing a part of the Blue Devilslong postseason run. He’ll have tobring back the winning cultureafter Brunswick went 2-8 last sea-son while completely changingthe offense formerly run undercoach Luke Beal.

Senior quarterback/slotreceiver/defensive back ColeZamiska (5-11, 160) will need tobe just as versatile as his multipletitles to succeed.

Senior wide receiver EthanFlanigan (6-1, 180) had 169 yardsreceiving and two touchdownslast year and should be his maintarget.

Look for senior two-way line-men Steve Spickler (5-11, 240) tobe the rock Pinzone needs tosecure both sides in the trenches.

BuckeyeIt will be interesting to watch

what Dennison does with anoffense that ran like a top underPinzone. That said, the veterancoach has a knack for winning sodon’t expect there to be any kindof drop off.

While Dennison’s offense atWadsworth was vastly differentfrom the one the Bucks ran underPinzone, Buckeye has learned toadapt time and again in thePatriot Athletic Conference.

Dennison has the horses andwill rely on standout widereceiver Justin Canedy (6-2, 175)to once again lead the Bucks. Thesenior had 1,191 yards fromscrimmage and scored ninetouchdowns.

Senior Adam Fauver (5-11, 185)takes over at quarterback forMichael Doerge, who accountedfor 26 touchdowns during Buck-eye’s nine-win season.

Two-way lineman Dom Kriz (5-11, 235) will be counted on tokeep a team that churned out332.5 yards per game moving inthe right direction.

CloverleafWhile they didn’t win a game

last season, the Colts did give 7-3Ravenna a game in Week 7 beforelosing 27-23. Coach JustinVoorhees can build from that ashe tries to put the Colts, who havelost 18 games in a row, back in thewin column.

Cloverleaf hasn’t made theplayoffs since 2008 and manyaren’t expecting a postseason runthis season. Instead, it should bea year to grow in the Portage TrailConference.

Senior quarterback TravisHissom (6-1, 180) is back at quar-terback and looking to build on ajunior season where he threw for1,125 yards and nine touchdowns.The versatile Hissom also scored24 points as the team’s kicker andwill play wide receiver, defensiveback and punt this season.

He’ll rely on two-way juniorlineman Nate Clingan (6-0, 235)to keep him protected and buildon an offense that gained 204.4yards per game last year.

Senior middle linebacker CoryStallings (5-9, 195) will be the glueon the team’s defense.

HighlandThe Hornets played late in the

season before missing out on thepostseason for the first time since2012.

Coach Mike Gibbons isn’t oneto rest on past accomplishmentsand has already put his Highlandsquad in a position where it willwork best.

Senior wide receiver/corner-back Evan Kasulones (5-11, 170)is back and ready to build on aseason where he caught 27 passesfor 320 yards and scored threetouchdowns.

Senior wide receiver/tightend/strong safety Ryan Fredrick(6-3, 185) is the perfect comple-ment and actually had betternumbers, hauling in 19 passes for352 yards and adding five touch-downs.

Senior Max Bier (6-1, 225) willbe at running back and middlelinebacker and looks to bolster asquad that is ready to get back atit.

MedinaThe biggest question is what to

do without Gazette MVP andfirst-team All-Ohio standoutJimmy Daw, who led the countyin rushing (1,385) and set an arearecord with 41 touchdowns.

One of Laird’s greatest attrib-

utes is getting his teams tobelieve and he has the athletes toget things done.

He hopes to continue along thelines of what former coach DanSutherland started last seasonduring a campaign where theBees reached the Division I,Region 2 semifinals before fallingto eventual state semifinalistOlentangy Liberty during a 9-3season.

Look for All-Gazette seniorwide receiver Dylan Fultz (6-1,175) to build on a fantastic junioryear where he caught 29 passesfor 784 yards and scored 10touchdowns. Defensive back J.T.Scoarste (5-11, 180) was giganticdefensively for Medina last sea-son and should pick right back upfrom a junior season where theDivision I All-Northeast Inlandhonorable mention selection ledthe area with seven interceptions.He had 57 tackles and 2½ sacks aswell.

Senior Gavin Montgomery (6-3,180) is back at quarterback andwill look to build on a 2016 sea-son where he was 37-for-71 for663 yards with eight touchdownsagainst two interceptions.

WadsworthThe biggest question mark will

be how to replace Alex Jones andhis 15 touchdowns.

Jones wasn’t just great offen-sively. He along with Cody Surrattand Craig Palidar made up astrong defensive unit.

The good news, if there is any,is that the Grizzlies learned toplay without their three-sport starwhen he was on the mend thefirst four weeks of the season.

Look for All-Ohio senior quar-terback Joey Baughman (6-0,190), who rushed for 1,246 yardsand 11 touchdowns and threw for1,643 yards and 15 touchdowns,to lead a team that went 5-5 lastyear.

Wide receiver Mitchell Black-burn (5-10, 170) had 440 yardsreceiving and scored four touch-downs.

Defensive end Joey Fernholz (6-1, 200) was the stalwart on theother side of the ball with 5½sacks and eight tackles. Both arelooking to build off of solid juniorseasons.


FOOTBALLFrom 4

RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE

Wadsworth’s Mitchell Blackburn.


Black River Pirates

8/25 Western Reserve .................Home9/1 Northwestern......................Home9/8 Plymouth ..............................Away9/15 Fairview .............................Home9/22 Oberlin..................................Away9/29 Keystone ...............................Away10/6 Buckeye..............................Home10/13 Brookside ............................Home10/20 Firelands ...............................Away10/27 Wellington ............................Away

Brunswick Blue Devils

8/25 Highland .............................Away9/1 Austintown Fitch ................Home9/8 Collinwood..........................Home9/15 Shaker Heights....................Home9/22 Mentor ..................................Away9/28 Solon .....................................Away10/6 Elyria....................................Home10/13 Euclid ....................................Away10/20 Medina..................................Away10/27 Strongsville..........................Home

Buckeye Bucks8/25 Revere ..................................Home9/1 Rocky River...........................Away9/8 Cloverleaf..............................Away9/15 Lutheran West.....................Home9/22 Columbia ............................Away9/29 Wellington .........................Home10/6 Black River ..........................Away10/13 Firelands..............................Home10/20 Keystone ...............................Away10/27 Brookside ............................Home

Cloverleaf Colts8/25 Canton South......................Home

9/1 Keystone ...............................Away9/8 Buckeye ...............................Home9/15 Coventry ...............................Away9/22 Norton................................Home9/29 Woodridge ............................Away10/6 Akron Springfield ...............Home10/13 Ravenna ................................Away10/20 Field .....................................Home10/27 Streetsboro ...........................Away

Columbia Raiders8/25 Independence.....................Home9/1 Kirtland.................................Away9/8 Northwestern......................Home9/15 Keystone..............................Away9/22 Buckeye..............................Home9/29 Lutheran West ......................Away10/6 Clearview ...........................Home10/13 Brooklyn ..............................Home10/20 Fairview ................................Away10/27 Oberlin..................................Away

Copley Indians8/25 Twinsburg............................Home9/1 Firestone .............................Home9/8 Lake.......................................Away9/15 Bedford .................................Away9/22 Barberton ............................Home9/28 Revere ...................................Away10/6 Tallmadge............................Home10/13 Highland..............................Home10/20 Aurora ...................................Away10/27 Roosevelt .............................Home

Firelands Falcons8/25 Edison ...................................Away9/1 New London.........................Away9/8 Vermilion ...........................Home9/15 Brooklyn ..............................Home9/22 Fairview ................................Away

9/29 Brookside ............................Home10/6 Wellington...........................Away10/13 Buckeye.................................Away10/20 Black River ..........................Home10/27 Keystone..............................Home

Green Bulldogs8/25 Ashland .................................Away9/1 Riverside..............................Home9/8 Orange.................................Home9/15 McKinley...............................Away9/22 GlenOak...............................Home9/29 Highland..............................Home10/6 Perry ......................................Away10/13 Hoover .................................Home10/20 Jackson..................................Away10/27 Lake .....................................Home

Highland Hornets8/25 Brunswick..........................Home9/1 Medina ...............................Home9/8 North Royalton.....................Away9/15 Roosevelt ..............................Away9/22 Revere ...................................Away9/29 Green.....................................Away10/6 Aurora..................................Home10/13 Copley ...................................Away10/20 Tallmadge............................Home10/27 Barberton ............................Home

Keystone Wildcats8/25 Bay.........................................Away9/1 Cloverleaf ............................Home9/8 Norwayne .............................Away9/15 Columbia ...........................Home9/22 Brooklyn ...............................Away9/29 Black River ..........................Home10/6 Brookside..............................Away10/13 Wellington .........................Home10/20 Buckeye ...............................Home


10/27 Firelands ...............................Away

Medina Battling Bees8/25 Lakewood............................Home9/1 Highland ............................Away9/8 Wadsworth.........................Home9/15 Euclid...................................Home9/23 Shaker Heights .....................Away9/29 Mentor ..................................Away10/6 Strongsville..........................Home10/13 Elyria ...................................Away10/20 Brunswick ...........................Home10/27 Solon .....................................Away

Nordonia Knights8/25 Bedford................................Home9/1 Woodridge...........................Home9/8 Mayfield ................................Away9/15 Wadsworth ..........................Home9/22 Hudson .................................Away9/29 Stow .....................................Home10/6 Brecksville.............................Away10/13 Cuyahoga Falls....................Home10/20 North Royalton.....................Away10/27 Twinsburg .............................Away

Oberlin Phoenix8/25 Vermilion ..............................Away9/1 John Adams.........................Home9/8 Trinity ..................................Home9/15 Brookside..............................Away9/22 Black River ..........................Home9/29 Clearview ..............................Away10/6 Fairview ...............................Home10/13 Lutheran West ......................Away10/20 Brooklyn ...............................Away10/27 Columbia.............................Home

Revere Minutemen8/25 Buckeye.................................Away9/1 Eastlake North ....................Home

9/8 Firestone .............................Home9/15 Barberton..............................Away9/22 Highland..............................Home9/28 Copley..................................Home10/6 Roosevelt ..............................Away10/13 Aurora ...................................Away10/20 Bay .......................................Home10/27 Tallmadge............................Home

Strongsville Mustangs8/25 Berea-Midpark .....................Away9/1 Hudson .................................Away9/8 Central Catholic..................Home9/15 Mentor.................................Home9/22 Solon .....................................Away9/29 Euclid...................................Home10/6 Medina..................................Away10/13 Shaker Heights....................Home10/20 Elyria....................................Home10/27 Brunswick.............................Away

Tallmadge Blue Devils8/25 Ravenna...............................Home9/1 Ellet .......................................Away9/8 Coventry ...............................Away9/15 Aurora..................................Home9/22 Dover ...................................Home9/29 Roosevelt .............................Home10/6 Copley ...................................Away10/13 Barberton ............................Home10/20 Highland ...............................Away10/27 Revere ...................................Away

Wadsworth Grizzlies

8/25 Firestone .............................Home9/1 Wooster ..............................Home9/8 Medina ................................Away9/15 Nordonia...............................Away9/22 Stow .....................................Home9/29 Cuyahoga Falls .....................Away

10/6 North Royalton.....................Away10/13 Twinsburg............................Home10/20 Brecksville ...........................Home10/27 Hudson .................................Away

Wellington Dukes

8/25 Normandy ...........................Home9/1 Mapleton ............................Home9/8 New London.........................Away9/15 Clearview.............................Home9/22 Lutheran West ......................Away9/29 Buckeye.................................Away10/6 Firelands..............................Home10/13 Keystone ...............................Away10/20 Brookside..............................Away10/27 Black River ..........................Home


By: Rob PolinskyUrban Meyer’s sixth season in

Columbus will begin with a cou-ple of oddities. The Buckeyes’128th year of college footballopens up on Thursday August31st in Bloomington Indiana vs.the Indiana Hoosiers. Verystrange that the Bucks begin witha conference game on a week-night on the road. The game willserve as a homecoming for newOSU offensive coordinator KevinWilson, who served as Indiana’shead coach the last six years from2011 – 2016. Meyer’s career inColumbus is 61-6, including 11-2a year ago and a season ending31-0 loss to eventual nationalchampion Clemson on New Year’sDay in the Fiesta Bowl in Glen-dale Arizona. After the seasonopener, OSU returns to theHorseshoe for three straight non-conference tilts vs. Oklahoma,Army, and UNLV.

OSU returns 48 letter winnersfrom 2016, 20 on offense, 26 ondefense and two on specialteams. They lost 26 letter winnersfrom last year, 10 on offense, 13on defense and three special

teamers. They return 15 starters,eight on the offensive side of theball and seven on defense. Head-ing into fall camp, the eight offen-sive starters are quarter back J.T.Barrett, linemen Billy Price,Jamarco Jones, Michael Jordan,Isaiah Prince, tight end MarcusBaugh, running back Mike Weber,and wide receiver Parris Camp-bell. On defense, they are linemenTyquan Lewis, Michael Hill,Dre’Mont Jones, Sam Hubbard,line backers Chris Worley, JeromeBaker, and safety Damon Webb.Of the 48 returning letter winners,16 are seniors and 24 are juniors.

There is an old football adagethat games are won and lost upfront in the trenches along thelines. If that is the case, OSU is ingood shape this season becausethey return all four starters on thedefensive line and four out of fivestarters on the offensive line.Defensive end Tyquan Lewis wasthe Big Ten’s Defensive Linemanof the Year. Tracy Sprinkle hopesto bounce back after suffering aseason ending injury in week onea year ago. Offensive linemanBilly Price is the veteran of that

group with 41 consecutive startsincluding every game the pastthree years.

By position, the biggest ques-tion marks look to be at wide

receiver and in the defensive sec-ondary. The top two receiversfrom a year ago are gone and

See OSU, 12

2017 Ohio State University Football Preview

The Ohio State University football team.

Urban Meyer


three of the four starting defen-sive backs from 2016 are notreturning. The top returningreceivers by number of catchesin 2016 are K.J. Hill (18), ParrisCampbell (13), and Terry McLau-rin (11). Damon Webb, whostarted every game a year ago, isthe only returning defensiveback. Looking at the linebackerspot two starters return, ChrisWorley and Jerome Baker.Replacing two time leading tack-ler Raekwon McMillan at middleline backer could be this group’sbiggest challenge.

At quarterback, fifth year sen-ior J.T. Barrett brings a career 26-4 record to the position. Joe Bur-row looks to be his backup.

At running back, Mike Weberand Demario McCall are back. Ayear ago, McCall, who wasWeber’s backup, had 49 carriesfor 270 and three touchdowns.

Starting tight ends MarcusBaugh and A.J. Alexander willreturn to their roles when the

Bucks go with a two tight endset.

OSU was very young last yearand they gained a lot of experi-ence, which should help thisyear. If they beat Oklahoma inthe home opener they could verywell be undefeated heading intoa showdown with Penn State on

October 28th in Columbus. Themonth of November starts with avisit to Kinnick Stadium for a BigTen match-up with Iowa, andthe season ends November 25thagainst Michigan in the BigHouse.

Paul Keels, Jim Lachey, MattAndrews, and Skip Mosic return

as the radio broadcast crew forthe 2017 season. Once againAM930 WEOL is proud to airOhio State football. We are yourhome for the Buckeyes in Lorain,Medina, and Western CuyahogaCounties. All broadcasts startninety minutes prior to kickoffwith our pregame coverage.

OSUFrom 11

JT Barrett


By: Andy “Bull” BarchHope is all Browns fans really

have to hang on to these days, asthey will enter yet another seasonwhere they “hope” that things willget better. After yet another sea-son that was difficult to stomach,where the Browns went 1-15, onemust wonder, can it get anyworse? Well, mathematically, yes,it could indeed get worse.

However, what is differentabout the Browns this year, asopposed to last year, is that theywent out and made some movesin free agency that should reallygive them a boost in a few areaswhere they REALLY needed it.

Examine Exhibit A: The offen-sive line. Besides Joe Thomas,there has been no stability what-soever to speak of with this unitdating back to the late 90’s. Thisyear, the Browns added a coupleof key pieces to this unit, thataren’t exactly household names,but on the offensive line, that isnot a bad thing. Joining 10-yearveteran left tackle Joe Thomas onthe offensive line are center JCTretter, and guard Kevin Zeitler.

Tretter comes to the Brownsafter spending the last four sea-sons with the Green Bay Packers,

serving as the starting center forAaron Rodgers for parts of his lasttwo seasons with the Packers.While Tretter has proven to be aneffective center and certainly pro-vides an upgrade at the position,his durability is a major concern,as he missed nine weeks of theregular season last year, andmissed half the season in 2014 aswell due to injury.

Zeitler joined the Browns as afree agent and comes to Cleve-land after a successful five yearrun with the Cincinnati Bengals.The Browns made the former firstround pick the highest paid guardin the NFL this past spring, withhopes that he’ll provide some sta-bility up front, on a unit that hadlittle to none a year ago. Zeitler, a6-foot 4-inch 315-pound guardfrom Wisconsin, has not onlybeen effective over the course ofhis career, but he’s been verydependable. The 27-year oldguard has started all 16 games inthree of his first five years, andhe’s played in no fewer than 12games in every one of his first fiveyears in the NFL as well.

Those were arguably the twobiggest free agent additions to theBrowns on that side of the ball.

While they did add veteran widereceiver Kenny Britt, they also losttheir most productive receiverfrom a year ago, in former OhioState quarterback Terrell Pryor.The Browns are hopeful that theirfirst pick in the 2016 draft, CoreyColeman, will turn in a much bet-ter sophomore campaign, toimprove on an injury riddledrookie season in Cleveland wherehe was limited to just 10 games.

When talking about theBrowns, the ever changing quar-terback carousel cannot beignored. Cody Kessler is the onlycandidate in what appears to be athree horse race who returnsfrom last year’s team. Brock Oss-weiler, the 6-foot 7-inch signalcaller joins the Browns via a tradefrom the Houston Texans, but themost intriguing option in this mixis this year’s second round pick,DeShon Kizer from Notre Dame.Kizer, who has all of the physicaltools that you want in a quarter-back, is far from a finished prod-uct, and one would think that he’sat least a year or two away frombecoming what the Browns havebeen longing for at the position.However, with the lack of stabilityat that position over the years, the

Browns may have no choice butto start Kizer at some point in the2017 season.

Perhaps the biggest improve-ments in this off season weremade to the Cleveland Browns’defensive unit, which surren-dered 392.4 yards per game, sec-ond most in the NFL a seasonago, and they allowed 28.2 pointsper game, third worst in theleague as well.

The Browns made a change atthe top, bringing in veterandefensive coordinator GregWilliams to replace Ray Horton.Williams has a bit of a controver-sial past, but he has a successfultrack record as well. He was givensome immediate assistance, asthe Browns used the first overallpick in the NFL Draft on TexasA&M Defensive End, Myles Gar-ret. Garret is expected to make animmediate impact, and improve aCleveland Browns pass rushingunit that produced only 26 sacksa season ago. They also used afirst round pick on Jabrill Peppersout of Michigan, who did a littlebit of everything in college, butwill be asked to play a lot of safetyin Williams’s system.

See BROWNS, 16

Cleveland Browns 2017 season preview

Cody Kessler


They also went out and tradedfor safety Calvin Pryor, a formerfirst round pick. Pryor will beasked to step in and contributeimmediately in a secondary thatsuffered some injuries last year,and struggled mightily becauseof that. The Browns are hopefulthat with the addition of Pryor,Peppers, and a healthy JoeHaden, the secondary canimprove on a dismal 2016, wherethey surrendered 249.8 yards pergame through the air a year ago,and 36 passing touchdowns,which were the most in theleague.

Pryor, 24, was selected 18thoverall by the New York Jets inthe 2014 NFL Draft. Over the lastthree seasons, he started 38 of 44games, and made 15 starts a sea-son ago. Through the first threeyears of his young career, theFree Safety has registered 191tackles, defended 14 passes and

come away with a pair of inter-ceptions.

The Browns were also able tosign linebacker Jamie Collins toan extension for four years and$50 million, after performingwell with the Browns in the sec-ond half of last season. Collinscame to the Browns in a tradewith the New England Patriots,one year after he made the ProBowl. Last year, Collins regis-tered 112 tackles and three sacks

while coming away with a pair ofinterceptions in his time withthe Browns and Patriots com-bined. Both Collins and Hadenwill be relied upon heavily tolead a very young defense thatappears to have a lot of poten-tial.

While the NFL is designed tokeep teams from dwelling in thecellar from year to year, theBrowns have been stuck therefor quite some time. At some

point, you just can’t help butthink the fortunes are going tochange. They have to at somepoint, right?

Head Coach Hue Jackson hassaid a lot of the right things, he’sthe kind of guy you want to seesucceed, and one that the play-ers seem to enjoy playing for,but last year had to be incrediblyfrustrating for him to be a partof. The reality is, the Browns aregoing to have to win at least five,maybe six games if Coach Jack-son is going to be around to seeround three. If he survives thatlong, he would be the firstBrowns coach since RomeoCrennel (2005-08) to last morethan two seasons.

For Browns fans, that’s a verytough pill to swallow, becausethey’ll have to hang their hat onimprovement, and another los-ing season. They’ve been told totrust the process, but theprocess they’ve been told totrust has failed them for the lasttwo decades. Could this one bedifferent?

BROWNSFrom 15

Jamie Collins

welcome letter, fall 2017weol.northcoastnow.com/files/2017/08/2017-medina...welcome letter, fall...

Documents