By Tom Withers,

Associated Press

9:18 PM Monday, January 2, 2012

BEREA — The growing pains were agonizing, the mistakes numerous, the progress difficult to spot.

The Cleveland Browns had another one of those seasons.

Losing, though, has its rewards in the NFL, which compensates its worst teams with high draft picks to help them get better. After going 4-12, the Browns, with one of the league’s youngest rosters, will have the No. 4 overall selection in April and Cleveland fans are already frothing at the chance to bring in a college star like Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III to be their savior.

As he packed his bags for the offseason Monday, Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown issued a warning to that line of thinking.

“My thing is, if you’re dependent on a draft pick to come in here and change your life, then you’re kidding yourself,” he said. “This game is too hard.”

It certainly has been for the Browns, who haven’t made the playoff since 2002. They’ve lost at least 11 games in each of the past four seasons and a minimum of 10 in eight of the past nine. Green Bay (15) won more games this season than the Browns (14) have won in the past three seasons — combined.

And consider this stat: The defending Super Bowl champion Packers outscored the Browns 560-218.

It was a turbulent first season in Cleveland for coach Pat Shurmur, who because of the NFL lockout didn’t have an offseason to install his new West Coast offense or get to know his team on the field. He made his share of mistakes, but Brown, who was previously with Shurmur in Philadelphia, is confident Browns president Mike Holmgren hired the right coach.

Shurmur has his detractors, but there’s no denying the Browns, who went 0-6 in the rugged AFC North, played hard for him.

Shurmur will discuss his rollercoaster rookie year today, and Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert are scheduled to meet the media Thursday, when they’re sure to be grilled about the team’s quarterback situation.

Colt McCoy made 13 starts this season, but missed his final three games with a concussion. The Browns have a better sense of what McCoy is, and there’s a strong argument to be made for sticking with him in 2012 after investing so much time into his development. But if the Browns — particularly Holmgren — don’t think McCoy can take them to a Super Bowl, they may look for a starting QB in free agency, a trade or the draft.

Cleveland’s wild season included costly injuries, endless drama around running back Peyton Hillis, dropped passes, and tough losses. The Browns lost six games by seven points or less, dropping their final three by a total of 13 points.

BROWNS’ BOSS BACKS SHURMUR

BEREA (AP) — Browns president Mike Holmgren said Wednesday that Pat Shurmur will “absolutely” be Cleveland’s coach in 2012.

Holmgren was asked about Shurmur’s status during a press conference triggered by quarterback Colt McCoy’s concussion and the team’s controversial handling of his head injury during a Dec. 8 loss at Pittsburgh. Shurmur has had a tough first season with the Browns (4-9), who have had numerous injuries and their fair share of controversy.

Holmgren called Shurmur “a very competent young head coach who will be here for a long time.”

On Wednesday, Dec. 14, Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren admitted the team didn’t check Colt McCoy for a concussion after Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison nailed the quarterback with a helmet-to-helmet hit last Thursday.

I’m usually one of those people who will give teams the benefit of the doubt, but that’s not happening this time. Holmgren noted that the Browns medical and training staff didn’t see the hit because they were treating other players at the time. However, that doesn’t mean no one else on the team’s sideline didn’t watch the play.

The Browns coaching staff should have known better. Concussions are becoming commonplace in the NFL, and head coach Pat Shurmur should have held McCoy out long enough to get him examined. By sending McCoy back into the game, he risked his quarterback’s health and the organization’s reputation.

Remember, this is the same team that already has a poor reputation due to the team’s issues with staph infections in its training facilities from 2006-2008. The Browns can’t afford to have their intentions questioned when it comes to the well-being of their players.

I believe Holmgren when he states that McCoy “didn’t display any signs of a concussion,” but he’s the team’s president, not a doctor. Shurmur is a coach and not a member of the medical staff. Both Shurmur and Holmgren aren’t the ones who should be deciding if McCoy is healthy enough to play. When in doubt, the team should be calling a member of the staff over and to have McCoy looked at.

I don’t believe the team did anything out of a lack of concern for McCoy. Instead, I think coaching staffs don’t know what to look for when a player has a potential head injury. The NFL needs to do more to protect its players, including setting up mandatory training with each team to ensure that everyone knows what symptoms to be aware of. Perhaps there should be a rule that states anytime a player is laid out by a helmet-to-helmet hit, he must sit out a full series. I understand there are competitive ramifications with a rule like that, but something needs to be done to protect the athletes.

A native of Northeast Ohio, Derek Ciapala grew up in a family of Cleveland Browns’ fans. He has been following the Browns since 1987 and still hopes to see the team play in the Super Bowl one day. You can follow him on Twitter @dciapala.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Weren’t calamity and dysfunction in Berea supposedly put on notice when the Big Show arrived? Now that nickname feels more ironic than anything.

Big Show? Mike Holmgren gave up the stage and his claim to the marquee when he decided he wasn’t going to return to the sidelines. Coaching is what he did best. Did he have to become the mystery man behind the curtain?

Didn’t owner Randy Lerner deem the need to overhaul the organization’s credibility almost as important as fixing the endlessly flawed football operation? Isn’t that why Lerner gave some consideration to the idea of hiring Mark Shapiro once upon a time?

Even if Cleveland sports fans don’t recognize it, Lerner saw how the Indians have done it right under Shapiro; how they dealt professionally and directly with issues; how Shapiro always showed support for his manager when the criticism came in an avalanche.

In which instance have the Browns shown even the slightest inclination in that direction under Holmgren? His tenure has created more issues than it’s resolved.

There was a wasted year with Eric Mangini. Now a season spent with an overwhelmed coach in a dual role, and a kid quarterback running for his life with no receivers to bail him out. That’s Holmgren’s watch in brief.

In this latest episode, a ESPN report cast aspersions on the Browns’ medical staff and head coach Pat Shurmur over the handling of Colt McCoy’s concussion. The father of the quarterback basically leveled both, saying high school trainers he knows would’ve handled it better and that his son had no business returning to the field.

That’s a double broadside shot at the organization, the response to which should’ve come from Holmgren on behalf of the team medical staff and the head coach Holmgren hired. Instead, to answer that criticism — or, more accurately, to not answer that criticism — the Browns trotted out Shurmur Monday to reiterate that procedure was followed after James’ Harrison’s hit knocked McCoy out of the game.

Did that procedure include the league’s sideline concussion test? Shurmur wouldn’t say yes or no. So it’s understandable if you took that as a no. If there weren’t enough evidence — beyond a vicious helmet-to-facemask hit — to administer the test, well, that’s one explanation. Not a great one mind you. But it’s one.

If trainers were overwhelmed by multiple injured players, as right tackle Tony Pashos seemed to suggest, concussive hits still have to take precedent. But, at least that would be a second explanation.

The Browns medical staff has done right by other concussed players. Trainers deserve more than the benefit of the doubt. They deserve clarity. If they followed protocol, do them a favor. Check off each step followed. Or let them explain for themselves.

Was McCoy tested more extensively Thursday night after the game when the Browns’ own PR staff asked the TV people to turn off the camera lights on McCoy’s behalf? Is it true they waited until the next morning to administer the concussion test, after he flew on a plane back to Cleveland and after a night’s sleep?

Was there any danger in that? If not, it can only help the Browns to explain what they knew and when they knew it. The Browns’ inadequate, contradictory response only made it look like they were trying to get their stories straight.

Don’t confuse this with Holmgren not wanting to address a contract situation, or the performance of a first-year head coach. This isn’t about placating the media. Head injuries are serious matters. Players’ welfare is at stake. Much less importantly, so is the organization’s image.

If the Browns wanted to withhold comment until after the NFL and NFLPA officials were done with them Wednesday, Holmgren was the guy to deliver that message in support of an overwhelmed coach, if nobody else.

Shurmur actually said one of Monday’s questions would be better directed at the medical staff. No kidding. Quickly asked if reporters could talk to the medical people then, Shurmur said what amounted to, um, uh, er, maybe … yes, maybe someday.

This would be laughable if the issue weren’t so serious, and if we hadn’t seen this sort of unintentional comedy of errors out of Berea for so long.

On Twitter: @budshaw

BEREA, Ohio — The president still was reacting like a coach. Still suffering the way he did for 17 years, pacing NFL sidelines. Still “simmering,” as Mike Holmgren called it, hours after the loss.

The Cleveland Browns dropped their opener to Cincinnati, a game Holmgren believed they had a chance to win.

Later that evening, eating dinner at a restaurant with his wife Kathy, Holmgren, by his own admission, was “acting like a jackass, a jerk,” quietly brooding over his meal, replaying the what-ifs of the 27-17 defeat.

All day, the next day in his office, Holmgren continued to simmer and quietly second-guess. That night he went home, still angry.

Then came what he calls his “epiphany.”

“What is wrong with you?” asked his wife, who also is his conscience. “If you want to act this way and get all churned up and get mad at everybody, get back into coaching, because you’re not there now. You’re the team president. I thought we already had this talk. Do you want to be angry all the time?”

Sitting on a sofa in his spacious office suite Friday, almost six weeks after that loss to the Bengals, former Seahawks head coach Holmgren, in his second year as the Browns’ president, readily admits, “She was absolutely right.”

The next day Holmgren called his new head coach Pat Shurmur into his office and told him about the epiphany.

“I don’t want to be walking around here mad all the time,” he told Shurmur. “My door’s always open. If you have questions about anything, if I can help in any way, but I’m not coaching anymore. You’re the coach now and I’m here to help you.”

In this new job, Holmgren sits in a booth on Sundays, high above the field, wearing a tie.

“Can you believe it?” he asks.

But he still watches the game like a coach, still grades the game tapes and reviews his notes with Shurmur every Tuesday.

“The same coaching frustrations crop up,” Holmgren said. “I’ve had to learn to deal with it. I have to. It’s one of my jobs now to be supportive of Pat and help him be the best coach he can be. And that does not include banging on the table in frustration.”

Holmgren’s successful NFL history is apparent on the walls and shelves of his office. There is a framed picture of the ride he took on his players’ shoulders after his Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots and won Super Bowl XXXI.

Helmets from the Packers, Seahawks and Browns rest on a book shelf. A nook in his office has pictures from his days with the Packers and framed photos of all seven of his grandchildren. There are photos of Holmgren with presidents Obama and Clinton.

A huge photo of fireworks exploding over Cleveland Browns Stadium hangs over the sofa. The team’s mission statement, signed by Holmgren, is written in the middle of the picture.

Mike Holmgren is not in Seattle any more.

Two years ago, after the “Great Housecleaning,” Holmgren, who coached in Seattle from 1999 to 2008, seriously considered returning to the Seahawks.

Briefly, he was excited about the possibility, but he wanted full responsibility for running the franchise. The Seahawks never offered that to him. Their handling of the situation was clumsy and dishonest.

“They didn’t want me,” Holmgren said, “and that’s OK. I’m a big boy. I’ve been around a long time. And once I got my ego in check, I mean it would have been nice, but once I got here and the challenge of this, I was off to the races.”

Holmgren moved to a Browns franchise that has had two winning seasons since it came back into the league in 1999. Shurmur is the sixth coach in the 13-year history of the new Browns.

Fixing the franchise is The X Games of rebuilding.

“It’s much different emotionally,” says Holmgren of how different his new job is to coaching. “You hire who you think the best man for the job is and do what you can to help him be successful. You’re passing the baton, handing him the ball and then you have to sit back and watch. It’s like watching your child play. But there will be, and there already has been, a great feeling watching when it works.”

Holmgren is 63 and in the second year of a five-year deal with the Browns. He is blessed with a hands-off owner, Randy Lerner, who allows him freedom he never would have had in Seattle.

When he took the job, people wondered if Holmgren merely was treading water, anticipating an eventual return to coaching. Will he ever coach again?

“I don’t think so,” he says. “I did it for a long time and to do it and to do it properly, where you’re not conning anybody and you’re not taking any shortcuts, you have to be all in. That’s time-wise. That’s emotionally. I don’t think I’d be willing to go all in as a coach. And while I work hard now, the emotional attachment is different.”

This is the job he wanted. Holmgren runs the building. He oversees both the football and business operations.

“Holy smokes, I even have a budget,” he jokes. “Imagine that.”

Echoes of the Seahawks are all over the Browns’ headquarters. A gaggle of former Hawks assistants were on the field during practice Friday. Holmgren has surrounded himself with longtime members of his football family.

Gil Haskell, his former offensive coordinator, occupies the office next to Holmgren’s and is his senior adviser. Keith Gilbertson, an offensive assistant for three years in Seattle, is a senior offensive assistant.

Former Seattle defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes joined the staff this year as senior defensive assistant. Tom Headlee, an assistant for 10 years in Seattle, is a scout. And Shurmur is the nephew of the late Fritz Shurmur, who was Holmgren’s longtime defensive coordinator.

“Fritz was a crusty, wonderful man and a great help to me,” he says. “I’m hoping I can be that guy for Pat.”

Holmgren, whose Browns play the Seahawks on Sunday, still is in the early stages of cementing his vision into reality. Cleveland is only 7-14 since he arrived, but Holmgren’s history says he won’t fail.

“This,” he says with a broad smile, “is my last great adventure.”

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com