Pioli and McDaniels to the Rescue?

The Plain Dealer is reporting that Scott Pioli could be sitting down with Randy Lerner as soon as today, and that he is very interested in the Browns GM position. The article goes on to say the following:

"If Pioli takes the Browns job, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, a Canton native, could be near the top of his list of coaching candidates. Pioli hired McDaniels, 32, in 2001 to be a personnel and coaching assistant for the Patriots. The two remain close. Browns owner Randy Lerner confirmed Monday that McDaniels is on his short list."

The arguements for hiring these two guys are obvious. Pioli has had a ton of success working alongside Bill Belichick and McDaniels looks like a star in the making no doubt...but so did Phil and Romeo when we hired them.

So for the sake of arguement, I will ask the following questions, and call them food for thought, before we get all Butch Davis over these two guys.

Is Scott Pioli's success with the Patriots his success, or is it Belichick's? Was the front office success the Ravens had a few years back due to Phil Savage or Ozzie Newsome?

How have Belichick assistants fared over the last (4) years? I will answer my own question. In that time (3) Belichick assistants have gotten head coaching jobs and (2) have already been fired...Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini. The (3rd), Chaz Weiss, should have been fired, and will be at the end of next season. Maybe McDaniel is different than those guys though...he certainly weighs a lot less.