Browns Mike Pettine considered pulling out of search

Newly hired Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine told a Buffalo radio station that he was considering pulling out of the coaching search.  Now, the immediate reaction for some will be that the Browns almost lost their coach and he barely wanted the job.  Obviously, Pettine wanted an answer but his bigger motivation was his respect for the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills were really wanting to get a resolution for this situation, because they wanted to figure out if they needed to find a new defensive coordinator and might find it in Mobile during the Reese’s Senior Bowl.  The Browns got their man, Pettine achieved his dream of being an NFL head coach and the Bills do need to find a new defensive coordinator.

There will undoubtedly be people who use this to criticize the Browns, but this really comes down to a matter of respect.  Pettine respected the Bills organization and wanted to limit how bad of a spot he was putting them in for this situation.  He wanted the job, but he did not want to leave the organization that had recently employed him in a terrible spot.