Berea, OHIO -- New Cleveland owner Jeff Coleman was quick to quell any unfair questions aimed at his team's players and coaching staff after their 2015 Opening Day loss to rival Pittsburgh. He put the chaos of preseason solely on himself, and put the onus of how to stop the bleedover from it fully in his court.
"I tried to do too much with the team too quickly," he stated humbly at the post-game presser. "I tried to take a new cadre of coaches, mixed with new and seasoned players, and tried to make it all work in four short weeks."
"My passion as a fan of the team got in the way of reason."
Indeed, the coaching staff got an almost complete turnover throughout the preseason, offensive coordinator Francis Kane being the only holdout from the old regime. Coleman stated that Kane had "proven himself handily" in his eyes, and that all of the other coaches were "marked improvements" in all other areas. Cleveland finished 0-4 in the preseason, but Coleman was confident going forward.
"I felt that the preseason was enough time to work through all the rough patches and communication issues, but I would safely say I was wrong."
Clevelnad dropped the decision to Pittsburgh 22-7. John Lyons was 10-for-19 with 82 yards and a touchdown. Running back David Hoard was efficient, breaking 14 rushes for 70 yards total, and Albert Ranieri hauled in a 5-yard strike for the lone score of the game.
Defensively, the game looked ugly for Cleveland. Pittsburgh tallied 393 yards of total offense, converting 7-of-15 3rd down attempts. QB Gordon Calvillo was 18-for-31 with 201 yards and a touchdown pass to Aubrey Litherland. Pittsburgh scored in their first 4 possessions of the game (3 FGs, 1 TD), and never looked back.
"It was a tough game all around," Coleman said to reporters. "All aspects need improvement, and I'm hoping with reviewing the game films and more practice, that will happen. I didn't put the players and coaching staff in a good position, and I'm hoping they can make themselves look good despite my messups."
Cleveland hosts Baltimore next week in another Divisional showdown, before going out on the road to Buffalo.
Last edited at 11/26/2013 12:13 pm
