Romeo Crennel
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Romeo Crennel
Date of birth	June 18, 1947 (1947-06-18) (age 61)
Place of birth	Lynchburg, Virginia
Position(s)	Head coach
College	Western Kentucky
Awards	2003 PFW Assistant COY
Regular season	20-28-0
Postseason	0-0
Career record	20-28-0
Stats
Coaching stats	Pro Football Reference
Coaching stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1970-1974 1975-1977 1978-1979 1980 1981-1989 1990-1992 1993-1996 1997-1999 2000 2001-2004 2005-Present	Western Kentucky (Defensive Line Coach) Texas Tech (Defensive Assistant) University of Mississippi (Defensive Ends Coach) Georgia Tech (Defensive Line Coach) New York Giants (Special Teams Coach) New York Giants (Defensive Line Coach) New England Patriots (Defensive Line Coach) New York Jets (Defensive Line Coach) Cleveland Browns (Defensive Coordinator) New England Patriots (Defensive Coordinator) Cleveland Browns (Head Coach)

Romeo Crennel (born June 18, 1947 in Lynchburg, Virginia) has been the head coach of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League since February 8, 2005. Before becoming the head coach of the Browns, Crennel won three Super Bowls in four seasons as the defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. Crennel has participated in six Super Bowls and won five championships during his coaching career.

Playing career

Crennel played baseball and football at Fort Knox (Ky.) High School and Central (Va.) High School before committing to college football at Western Kentucky. Although he was a four-year starter as a defensive lineman, he became an offensive lineman during his senior season at the request of the coaching staff. He was named the team MVP after the switch but was not drafted and never played in the NFL. During his career he wore size 67" 30" pants and he weighed 320 pounds.

Coaching career

College

After one season as a graduate assistant with Western Kentucky (1970), Crennel served as the defensive line coach for three seasons (1971-1974). He then became an assistant for defensive coordinator Bill Parcells and head coach Steve Sloan at Texas Tech for three seasons (1975-1977). Crennel finished his collegiate career with two seasons as the defensive ends coach for Mississippi (1978-1979) and one season as the defensive line coach for Georgia Tech (1980).

National Football League

Assistant coach

After spending two seasons as an assistant with the New York Giants, Crennel became the special teams coach for seven seasons (1983-1989) and the defensive line coach for three seasons (1990-1992). In 1983, he was reunited with Parcells as the head coach.

When Parcells stepped down as Giants head coach after Super Bowl XXV, Crennel stayed with the team under the two year tenure of Ray Handley. Crennel left the Giants after the 1992 season and worked as the defensive line coach for the New England Patriots for four seasons (1993-1996) and for the New York Jets for three seasons (1997-1999) during the time that Parcells was the head coach in each franchise.

Crennel was hired as the Cleveland Browns' defensive coordinator for the 2000 season before filling the same role with the Patriots for four seasons (2001-2004).

Head coach

Before beginning the 2003 playoffs with the Patriots, Crennel interviewed for head coaching positions with five teams in under 36 hours. He was not offered any jobs, however, and was passed up by the New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, and Atlanta Falcons.^[1]

Cleveland Browns

Crennel went 6-10 and 4-12 in his first two seasons with the Browns, finishing last in the AFC North and missing the playoffs each year. The Browns finished the 2007 season with a 10-6 record, just falling short of making the playoffs. Crennel's success in the 2007 season has led to talk by Brown's general manager, Phil Savage, of extending his contract as head coach.^[2] The talks were productive and led the Browns to re-sign Crennel for two more years..

2008 Season

Crennel has led the Browns to a 1-3 record to start the 2008 season. He has been heavily criticized by fans and media for his apparent lack of interest and emotion on the sideline during games.

Head-coaching record

Coaching tree

NFL head coaches whom Romeo Crennel has served under:

• Ray Perkins: New York Giants
• Bill Parcells: New York Giants, New England Patriots, New York Jets
• Ray Handley: New York Giants
• Chris Palmer: Cleveland Browns
• Bill Belichick: New England Patriots

Assistant coaches under Romeo Crennel who became head coaches in the NFL:

• None

Miscellany

• Crennel earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Western Kentucky, and then a master’s degree while serving as a graduate assistant for the school in 1970.

References

External links

• Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel