Mike Holmgren is confident that former Vikings head coach Brad Childress is the right man for the Browns’ offensive coordinator position.

“Brad’s an outstanding coach,” the Browns’ president said on the team’s radio show Wednesday night on ESPN850 WKNR.

“I’ve known him a long time. When I first met him, I had just arrived in Green Bay and Brad was on the staff at the University of Wisconsin with Barry Alvarez and he had been friends with [Eagles coach] Andy Reid and so we knew some people and became pretty close. So that’s about 20 years ago. [We had a] connection over the years because he worked for Andy in Philadelphia and Andy and I are very close.

“I thought he did a really great job in Minnesota in an unusual set of circumstances at the end. He came close to going to the Super Bowl. He’s an excellent football coach, a very bright guy, knows how to coach quarterbacks. He’s a tough guy, he demands a lot and I think it was a great hire for Pat [Shurmur].”

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Now that the 2011 season is officially over following the Super Bowl, now we can all look ahead to free agency.

The Browns have a number of players that will be unrestricted come March 13th when they can sign with other teams. You can see the complete list below, and give your thoughts about what players the team should keep, and what ones they could let go.

Exclusive Rights Free Agents (4)

WR Jordan Norwood
DE Marcus Benard
DT Brian Schaefering
LB Titus Brown

Unrestricted Free Agents (11)

RB Peyton Hillis
TE Alex Smith
OT Oniel Cousins
OL John Greco
OL Artis Hicks
OL Steve Vallos
LB D’Qwell Jackson
CB Mike Adams
CB Dimitri Patterson
K Phil Dawson
P Brad Maynard

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Cleveland’s City Council approved a $5.8 million lump sum for repairs to Cleveland Browns Stadium on on Monday.

The Browns plan to spend $1.2 million for refurbishing club seats, $750,000 to waterproof the concrete under those seats with most of the money going to for replacement and repair concrete on interior ramps and walkways and a plaza outside the stadium.

The city, which owns the stadium, is only required to provide $850,000 per year for stadium improvements. The sum comes from the city’s sin tax on alcohol and tobacco sales and the agreement reached Monday frees the city from repair obligations for the next seven years.

“We own Cleveland Browns Stadium,” Ken Silliman, Mayor Frank Jackson’s Chief of Staff, said on Monday. “When you own a building and a few years go by, it starts to develop needs. It’s just like when you own a home.”

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The Browns have a new offensive coordinator – and he’s already pretty tight with coach Pat Shurmur.

Shurmur hired former Minnesota coach Brad Childress as his first offensive coordinator on Friday, reuniting two coaches who spent seven seasons together on Andy Reid’s staff with the Eagles.

Childress spent nearly five seasons with the Vikings before he was fired in 2010. He’ll take over a Browns offense that scored just 218 points last season, finished 29th in yardage, 28th in rushing and 24th in passing.

Shurmur served as both head coach and coordinator during his first season in Cleveland. It’s not yet known if Childress, who recently interviewed for Tampa Bay’s head coaching job, will call plays for Shurmur.

The 55-year-old Childress was Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator from 2003-05 when Shurmur coached the Eagles quarterbacks. While he was with the Eagles, Childress went to three straight NFC title games and the Super Bowl in 2004.

Childress went 39-35 in four-plus seasons with the Vikings, taking them to the playoffs three times.

He was fired after 10 games in 2010, one season after he famously picked up quarterback Brett Favre at the airport, received a contract extension and came within a field goal of reaching the Super Bowl.

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The Browns have hired Tim Hauck as their defensive backs coach.

Hauck is best remembered as the player who tackled Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin and caused Irvin’s career-ending spinal cord injury in a game back in 1999.

Hauck worked coaching the defensive secondary for the University of Montana. In 2008, he was hired by UCLA to coach the team’s defensive secondary. In 2009, Hauck went to the Titans to coach their defensive secondary.

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LB D’Qwell Jackson mentioned that he’s hoping to re-sign with the Browns, per Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe. Jackson has missed 26 games after suffering multiple torn pectoral muscles during the last few years but this season he was able to finish second in total tackles and is a one of the top candidates for Comeback Player of the Year.

“I want to be in Cleveland,” he said. “If it’s the franchise tag, it’s the franchise tag. As long as I still have my health, that’s what is most important.” Jackson should drawn plenty of interest during the offseason but it’s hard to assume that teams will be offering him a long-term deal.

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Family parties around the NFL have always been a staple in my family. My first memory from a family party was Super Bowl XVII on January 30th 1983.

While that was fun, finally in 2006 it was my turn to host my first Super Bowl party, a bash complete with food, games, and the two best teams that season in the league.

The menu was pretty basic, yet effective. Pizza, wings, pasta, red potatoes, a veggie and cheese tray, and even fruit salad. The party kicked off with some squares, a football tradition, and even some football bingo with some small prizes for those lucky enough to take home a game. Finally at 6:25pm, it was kickoff of Super Bowl XL.

While I have gone back and watched the game probably about 3-5 times, the real memories of that party is not the game, but the fact that it was all about the people that attended.

We had a number of people rooting for both teams, so the game vibe was pretty solid, which was a cool element to the party. Add to the fact the game was close, there was a lot of rooting during the contest.

There was a healthy mix of people that included relatives and friends. The conversation during the game centered not just on football, but on the holidays that had passed just a few weeks before, new jobs, new relationships, and even about other sports like baseball and basketball.

That’s the best part about football parties. It’s the games, the food, and most important, the people that make the game great, like the family and friends you spend it with.

Browns fans have had to sit back and watch a ton of other teams celebrate Super Bowl parties for all the other teams in the league. While folks in Cleveland can throw some massive parties, I can only imagine the parties if the team can finally make it to the dance in the next few seasons!

February 6th is another chance to create memories at yet another Super Bowl party, and now there’s a perfect way to figure out just who to invite!

Visa has come out with the Visa’s YOU+TEN Draft app, and it’s a perfect way to have some fun figuring out who to invite over for the big game on the first Sunday in February, or if your actually lucky enough to win the sweepstakes – WHO to take to the game!

Super Bowl XLVI – another chance to create that connection with family and friends once again. Don’t miss out on it.

Disclosure: We received compensation from Visa for sharing our views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely ours, not Visa or the NFL’s. For more information about Visa’s YOU+TEN Draft App, please visit:
www.facebook.com/VisaNFL?sk=app_259824094080710

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