The North Star of the NFL, the one fixed reference point, is stability at quarterback, the most important position in the game. The evasions offered by Holmgren this week when he was asked for an endorsement of second-year quarterback Colt McCoy were telling. He won't "anoint" McCoy yet, but he "loves" him.

Much talk centered on McCoy's "intangibles," which, being unseen and unmeasured, went unspecified. In the actual tangibles -- a passer with a strong arm, receivers with good hands, a right side of the line that did not need turnstiles to slow down the pass rush -- the Browns were lacking. This is an indictment of the admiralty, not entirely of the man wrestling with the wheel.

Dissonance between concept and its implementation has been a trademark of the Browns ever since Carmen Policy signed 49ers veterans who expected a training camp that would conserve their bodies, and then hired Chris Palmer, who was of the "thump 'em again" school of practice plans.

Holmgren's view that the upcoming season will only be the second in the real rebuild is remarkable. It skips merrily over the year lost with Eric Mangini, whose run-based game plans were the opposite of Holmgren's quick passing schemes. Maybe 2010 was all a bad dream, like that season on the 1980s TV series "Dallas," in which the mistake of killing off a popular character was corrected by ascribing it to his wife's nightmare. (Your comment about our long civic nightmare goes here.)

Throughout the news conference, there was no sense that time's a-wasting. Everyone feels pressure, but no one is on the "hot seat," Holmgren said.

He even joked that he's been in "tough spots" before but isn't now. That's due to the backing of owner Randy Lerner, who is not as bad as Ted Stepien, who once owned the Cavaliers, but whose record is a punch line anyway.

Arguments that the Browns showed improvement after a winless season in the AFC North, which sent its other three teams to the playoffs, seemed strained. But if you believe 0-6 can be a great 0-6, that's what Holmgren was selling.

It's unfair to blame Holmgren for the decade-plus of folly that preceded him. But it certainly seemed that the concentration on the stunted offense could have been better spent, at least in part, on the special teams.

The Browns went from elite to "Eek!" "Special teams, I saw crazy things happen I have never seen before in my life," said Holmgren, presumably referring to the St. Louis game, when the once peerless Ryan Pontbriand snapped the ball off a guard's leg, foiling a chip-shot game-winner.

Other things happened repeatedly. Clock management problems recurred. The game seemed too fast for rookie head coach Pat Shurmur, and not just in the decision to return a concussed McCoy to the first Steelers game. Play calls were of blooper-reel quality, including the memorable recovered fumble on a red-zone handoff to a tight end making his first carry of the year.

Even with an offensive coordinator, a promised staff addition for next season, will an offensive coach like Shurmur really want to cede play-calling? Holmgren called the plays in Green Bay and Seattle, and admitted the chess game aspect of that was the fun part of the game.

When Jim Tressel coached Ohio State and the possibility of hiring a progressive offensive coordinator with play-calling responsibilities arose, Tressel said, "What would I do during the game -- eat bonbons?"

Shurmur's offense was sometimes like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates -- you never knew what you were going to get.

Holmgren said Shurmur's openness to giving up play-calling "shows the kind of guy he is." Since a head coach always has veto power over a coordinator and always has the right to stamp a critical call with his own imprint, it might not be that big a deal anyway.

Even during the last yawn of a season, Holmgren said, "We had no [television] blackouts." As a slogan, it seemed to be lacking pizzazz.

"I know this, the fans will stay with us. They will hang in there," said Holmgren, making a presumption of eternal fan loyalty.

The Good Ship Brownie beats on into the dark, with rocky economic shoals all around, while Holmgren expects to hear the cry "Land, ho!" any year now, and while he remains sure the natives will be friendly.
Related: Wes Welker Jersey Jersey Jimmy Graham Jersey Rob Gronkowski Jersey Darren Sproles Jersey