Just five times in Browns history has the team’s record improved by at least four games from one season to the next. (I wrote about this in the December ’05 issue of Bernie’s Insiders Magazine.)
There are very few commonalities among those various ascendant seasons. The main one is this:
- 1957 — Primary quarterback: Tommy O’Connell. Year with Browns: 2nd.
- 1976 — Primary quarterback: Brian Sipe. Year with Browns: 3rd (plus two seasons on taxi squad).
- 1986 — Primary quarterback: Bernie Kosar. Year with Browns: 2nd.
- 1994 — Primary quarterback: Vinnie Testaverde. Year with Browns: 2nd.
- 2001 — Primary quarterback: Tim Couch. Year with Browns: 3rd.
See where I’m headed with this?
If history is any guide, don’t look for a quantum leap forward if your quarterback is brand spanking new to the system. But if he’s already been there quite a while, there’s no reason to expect a drastic improvement either.
So here we are again, right in the sweet spot, a starter in his second season. (Even the two third-year players behind center for their improved seasons, Sipe and Couch, did not have two full years of starting experience under their belts at the time.)
The only question for Charlie Frye is whether 2006 will become the sixth season to be added to the list above. That would put the Browns at 10-6 or better and a possible playoff berth. It would surprise many, but such a surge in the standings is certainly not without precedent for a QB with his experience level. In fact, for the Browns, it’s the norm.
