BEREA, Ohio (AP) – Pat Shurmur has been introduced as Cleveland’s coach, the fifth in 13 years for the perpetually bad Browns.
Shurmur was hired by Browns president Mike Holmgren despite not having any head coaching experience. Shurmur spent the past two seasons as St. Louis’ offensive coordinator. He helped develop Rams rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, who led the team to a 7-9 record this season after going 1-15 in 2009.
“Our goal is to win the AFC North, compete in the playoffs and win Super Bowls,” Shurmur said Friday at his introductory news conference. “We will make all our decisions based on winning.”
The 45-year-old Shurmur may be new to Browns players and fans, but he’s familiar to Cleveland’s front office. He spent eight seasons working in Philadelphia with Browns general manager Tom Heckert. His late uncle, Fritz, was Holmgren’s defensive coordinator when Green Bay won the Super Bowl.
The Browns’ coaching carousel has barely stopped since the club’s expansion return in 1999. Chris Palmer, Butch Davis, Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini preceded Shurmur, who inherits a team that went 5-11 the past two seasons.
Shurmur was the first candidate interviewed by Holmgren, who hopes his first head coaching hire will be his last with the Browns.
“There’s no guarantees on anything,” Holmgren said Friday. “But I do know this. We can not keep changing around here every two or three years. You can’t do that and expect to be successful. My hope and prayer is the change has stopped. Now the growing and building begins. My hope is this is the coach for a long, long time.”
Shurmur said he is still in the process of assembling a staff.
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