Tim Couch may be the most disappointing of all the Browns’ disappointing quarterbacks in the last 15 years. But Couch says it’s time to look at the franchise, not at the quarterbacks, as the reason for their continued failure.
Couch, the 1999 first overall draft pick who spent five seasons in Cleveland and never even reached a passer rating of 80 in any of them, said that the Browns need to find a coach and a quarterback who can work together, then stick with them through good times and bad.
“It’s been a long 15 years of watching the same thing repeat itself over and over. The biggest that frustrates me is the lack of commitment and loyalty to let a coach see it out and a quarterback play it out,” Couch told ESPN.
Couch agrees with Bernie Kosar, the former Browns quarterback who says the front office has created a culture in which there’s never a quarterback the franchise can get behind completely.
“I thought everything he said was right,” Couch said. “This is just repeating the same process of the last 15 years, like Bernie said. Whether it was me, Kelly [Holcomb] or on and on and on, the finger keeps being pointed at the quarterback. It’s the team. Build a team and then worry about the quarterback.”
It may be too late for that now: The Browns are wedded to Johnny Manziel for the last two games of this season and as their Week One starter in 2015 as well. Now they just have to hope Manziel proves to be the kind of quarterback who earns loyalty from the franchise.