Methinks the Revolution Doth Protest Too Much

Over at WDR, Brosef Stalin responds to my last post. Writes the Man of Steel:

A familiar criticism of WDR’s campaign to persuade the Bengals to hire a GM, echoed today by Bengals Fan Blog Stripe Hype, is that hiring a GM is will not work as long as Mike Brown and the Brown family are in charge. OK, we agree – getting the Brown family out of the business of owning the Bengals is the best solution. But how likely is that to happen? Come on. Stop being irrational.

Well, that may or may not be an irrational position, but in either event it isn’t mine. I specifically said that “it’s not their ownership that’s the problem, but their presence in the front office.” The Browns can remain owners of the Bengals until the sky falls for all I care. As for their presence in the front office, Stalin appears to agree with me.

Yes, we want the Bengals to hire a GM. But we also want this GM to have full control of the player personnel department and a much larger scouting department.

And how, precisely, is this to be accomplished other than by turning Paul and Pete Brown, who currently run the Bengals’ player personnel operation, out into the cold? Answer: it can’t be. Unless they (and for my money, Katie and Troy as well) agree to resign so a GM can professionalize the Bengals’ front office, anyone hired will be little more than a Potemkin GM.

And yes, I appreciate the use of “hire a GM” as marketing shorthand for a host of changes that need to take place. But that’s exactly my point. If all the Bengals do is hire some guy and hang a “general manager” sign around his neck, then nothing of substance will actually change. By contrast, if the Brown Family does “fire themselves” as managers (but not owners) and bring in proven football people to staff positions currently held by Browns (and Blackburns), then having someone with the actual title of general manager may not even be necessary.

How likely is such real change? Not very, I’d say, but hope springs eternal in Bengaldom.