Jarrett Bell

USA TODAY Sports

Mike Pettine ended up as Cleveland Browns head coach after more prominent candidates passed on it.

Haslam had called Rob Chudzinski%2C fired after a season%2C %27one of the brightest ... in the business.%27

The harsh spotlight on the Browns%27 mess should fall on president Joe Banner and GM Michael Lombardi.

This had better work for the Cleveland Browns.

New coach Mike Pettine declared emphatically on Thursday – as he should have -- that he is betting on himself to make good on his big opportunity.

I'd bet Rob Chudzinski felt pretty confident, too, about this time last year.

Maybe Pettine will become the next Bill Belichick, who became Belichick The Genius on his second head coaching job after a warm-up act with the Browns -- and after the discovery of Tom Brady.

Or perhaps Pettine, whose previous head coaching experience came at North Penn High School in Landsdale, Pa., will become another Chudzinski – fired after one year as Browns coach.

Right now, we don't know how it will turn out.

Yet we certainly know that this is not what you'd call an inspiring hire.

When team owner Jimmy Haslam introduced his coach the other day, it seemed a bit bizarre that he opened by raving about Pettine's father, Mike Sr., a legendary high school coach in Pennsylvania who was 5-0 in head-to-head matchups against the man now taking over a team dressed in 4-12.

That's inspiring about the new coach. He came from a football family.

Remember, the Cincinnati Bengals once went that route, with Dave Shula.

Guess we'll see.

In the spirit of wagering (for recreational purposes), for a better chance at winning big, I'd rather pony up for a coach who has some major head coaching experience. That's how Houston Texans owner Bob McNair approached it in luring Bill O'Brien from Penn State. That's how the Glazers are now rolling with the Tampa Bay Bucs, hiring Lovie Smith after whiffing on Greg Schiano.

The Browns conducted the NFL's most exhaustive head coaching search to wind up with Pettine, once known as "Video Mike" when breaking in on the NFL level with the Baltimore Ravens.

It's not all Cleveland's fault. At least two candidates with the desired backgrounds on offense – New England Patriots coordinator Josh McDaniels and Denver Broncos coordinator Adam Gase -- withdrew from consideration. Maybe McDaniels, who flopped as Denver's head coach, knew better. Gase might not feel ready for the jump.

In any event, the Browns have opted to gamble (not for recreational purposes) on a defensive coordinator from a 6-10 Buffalo Bills team that tied for 20th in the NFL for points allowed.

They insist that Pettine – who wasn't contacted by the Browns for two weeks after Chudzinski was canned – is the "right fit."

Pettine has a reputation as a sharp guy with passion, and some of his former players endorsed him to the Browns. He apparently can do wonders with a Power Point presentation – and undoubtedly was very impressive in the interview sessions. Maybe it's his time.

But if this doesn't work, if the Browns continue to be lousy, then what?

If it doesn't work, Haslam -- less than two years since his $1 billion purchase of a franchise that despite the losing syndrome still has one of the league's most rabid fan bases -- needs to see if the same quick hook that was used on Chudzinski can be applied to team president Joe Banner and GM Michael Lombardi.

Banner and Lombardi have extensive NFL experience, and it's easy to understand why Haslam entrusted the football operation to them.

In Philadelphia with the Eagles, Banner once took a shot on a no-name without head coaching experience, and it proved to be a good move. Fella by the name of Andy Reid.

Lombardi was a driving force in the shrewd trade that netted the Browns a first-round pick from the Indianapolis Colts for non-explosive running back Trent Richardson – although Cleveland's acquisition of troubled receiver Davone Bess from the Miami Dolphins has proven to be much less successful.

Until proven otherwise, the heat must be ratcheted up significantly on Banner and Lombardi – who need to follow up their ho-hum coaching hire with a huge offseason. They have a cache with two first-round picks, including fourth overall, and a lot of salary cap room.

Still, a lot of teams in recent years – including the Browns – have had a lot of high-round draft picks and ample cap dollars and managed to muck it up.

And at the moment, the Browns don't have an offensive coordinator – or a franchise quarterback.

Six Browns players are in Hawaii this weekend for the Pro Bowl, so there's something.

Yet in concluding that Chudzinski – who had strong coordinators with Norv Turner running the offense and Ray Horton handling the defense – didn't deserve more time, the Cleveland brain trust proved just how much it blundered to hire him in the first place.

Now they have a do-over in Pettine, who, like Chudzinski, was hired after a long search. Last year, the Browns couldn't reel in Chip Kelly, then passed on Bruce Arians, Ken Whisenhunt, Marc Trestman, Mike Zimmer and Horton, too, before going with Chudzinski, the former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator.

Flashback quote from Haslam, on the day they introduced Chudzinski: "I believe we came back with the best coach of the Cleveland Browns. He is one of the brightest young coaches in the business."

What happened? Did he become a dunce overnight?

So much for all of the talk about the long-haul vision with Chudzinski and his staff.

Pettine is the fifth coach in seven years. If you're one of the pillar players who have been around for a while, like left tackle Joe Thomas or linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, it's probably like living an NFL version of the movie Groundhog Day.

Here we go again. Another new coach!

The other day, in hailing Pettine's tough, blue-collar mind-set, Haslam said, "He knows what's necessary to beat teams in the AFC North."

Knowing and doing are different things.

Even with NFL parity, the Browns – whose only playoff berth since the franchise was revived in 1999 came under coach Butch Davis in 2002 – are so far behind their division foes.

Especially when it comes to continuity, which means something when you're contending.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh is heading into his seventh season. Mike Tomlin is preparing for his eighth season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And for Marvin Lewis, Year 12 looms with the Bengals.

Banner joked the other day that he and Lombardi were "Larry and Moe" and they found their "Curly" in Pettine.

What a great sense of humor.

Yet it's not a laughing matter. Given the horror show that the Browns have become, making a comparison to The Three Stooges will hardly ease the pain for the franchise's long-suffering fan base.

The joke might come back to haunt them.