The start of the 2008 NFL season is a few weeks away, and I find myself in an unfamiliar place … high expectations for the Cleveland Browns. A few months ago, I began to reexamine the drafts of the “expansion” Browns, starting with the 1999 draft. But a couple of things motivated me to go back even further and reexamine the Browns drafts before the infamous move to Baltimore. They were:

• A series of articles revisiting Bill Belichick’s five-year tenure as Browns head coach
• The success said coach has had at New England (four Super Bowl appearances, three NFL championships)
• The Brett Favre situation with Green Bay this summer (you’ll see why)
• I’m a glutton for punishment when it comes to the Browns

The Browns were coming off a disastrous season (3-13, second worst record in the league), after five straight playoff appearances, four division titles during that stretch, and playing in three of the last four AFC Championship games (losing all three to Denver). Their quick collapse was due to a number of factors:

• poor drafting under head coach Marty Schottenheimer (anyone remember Mike Junkin? Nope, didn’t think so.)
•  the team got old, especially along the offensive line, defensive backfield and linebackers
• the trading of Ernest Byner, scapegoat for the 1988 playoff loss
• the Plan B fiasco of 1989-1990, which led to a number of players leaving due to contract disputes

This led to head coach Bud Carson getting canned after only two years on the job, and opened the door for Bill Belichick, defensive genius of the New York Giants. Here’s where I step in as fantasy General Manager with hindsight as my ally. First off, I don’t hire Belichick. Not because he’s not a good coach, but because he was horrible with the local media, was at odds almost from the beginning from existing team leaders, and completely disenfranchised the Browns fan base. When you do things like that, you gain no grace when the team struggles. Instead, I hire another candidate who was in the running for the job as well, Bill Cowher. He played for the Browns and was an assistant coach under Marty when he was Cleveland’s head coach. He served as defensive coordinator in Kansas City under Marty as well. Also, with hindsight, look what he did with Cleveland’s biggest rivals, the Steelers. Not only would the Browns get a great head coach, but screw Pittsburgh as well.

My next move would be to pick up some extra draft picks in the draft, since there are some major holes to fill, and the 1991 draft class was one of the richest in history. The Browns had the following picks:

Originally, not a bad draft at all. Eric Turner and Michael Jackson became stars for the Browns, Ed King was a starter, and James Jones and Pio Sagapolutele were good defenders. However, every pick after Jackson was a waste. We need a more productive draft to get the Browns back on track. First I work out a deal with the Dallas Cowboys, who were stuffed with picks due to the raping of the Vikings over the Hershel Walker trade. I give up the first round (2) and 9th round (239) picks for the Cowboys’ two 3rd round (62, 70) and 4th round (110) picks. As much as I liked Turner, this team needs too much help, and there’s too much talent in the draft not to make this deal. Our draft board now looks like this:

This would give us a nice bunch of fairly high draft picks, but I want more. Our next deal is with New England, who is also coming off a disastrous year (1-15). We get the Patriots two 5th round picks (112, 124) and 7th round pick (168) in exchange for our 4th round pick (110, from Dallas), 6th round pick (141) and 9th round pick (225). Our draft selections now look like this:

One last draft deal I want to make, and then we’ll be set to make our selections. We swap draft picks with San Francisco, getting the 49ers’ two 5th round picks (122, 127) in exchange for our 5th round pick (124, from New England), 7th round pick (168, from New England), and 10th round pick (252). Our final draft selections look like this:

We end up with the same number of draft picks that we started with (11), lose out on FS Eric Turner (Round 1) and WR Michael Jackson (Round 6) by giving up those picks, but losing nothing else of significance. In exchange we add two additional picks in the 3rd round, and pick up three picks in the 5th round, while we shed our two 9th round picks and 10th round pick. Now let’s examine our new draft pick-by-pick:

Let me make two points before you read the rest of this. First, I’m a realistic Browns fan, willing to see the faults in the team and players, and also willing to see the team improve itself for the long term. Secondly, I liked Bernie Kosar. He had talent, he wanted to play for the Browns, and we’re both from the Youngstown area. With that said, Bernie was never going to take this team to the Super Bowl at this point. He was becoming injury-prone due to his lack of mobility and the bad offensive line he had in front of him. This would have been the perfect pick in getting his replacement. I’m not going to list all of Favre’s accomplishments and records to justify this pick, because I don’t need to.

The defenisve backfield was a mess in 1991. Starting Safety Felix Wright left after a contract dispute, Minnifield was getting old, and Blaylock and Hilliard weren’t much. Williams was an 8-time Pro Bowler for the Cardinals. Enough said.

The linebackers was another area in trouble. Eddie Johnson retired, Clay Matthews was starting to run out of gas. David Grayson and Mike Johnson were good, but not great. Van Waiters, well, he was better than Mike Junkin, which isn’t saying much at all. Mo Lewis was a 3-time Pro Bowler.

Originally taken by Dallas with this pick, Williams, a 4-time Pro Bowler, became the anchor for the offensive line for a Cowboys team that won three Super Bowls in the 1990s and saw Emmitt Smith become the league’s all-time leading rusher.

Bryan Cox made an immediate impact for the Dolphins, making the first of three Pro Bowl trips in his second year.

It’s amazing that a team that drafted one of the best tight ends in history in Ozzie Newsome completely missed out on a quality tight end three years in a row. They drafted Scott Galbreath in 1990 over Shannon Sharpe. Coates could arguably be considered the next best tight end during the 1990s. Five Pro Bowl appearances will do that for you. He would be a necessary offensive weapon that struggled with an offensive identity since Lindy Infante left to coach the Packers in 1988.

As noted above, the defensive backfield was a mess in 1991. Along with Williams, Hanks would have added a second future Pro Bowler (four times) in one draft.

The defensive line was one of the only strong points of the Cleveland team in 1991 with future Pro Bowlers Michael Dean Perry and Rob Burnett. Sinclair, a 3-time Pro Bowler, would have made this one of the best lines in the league.

The running game was also a major problem. Byner was continuing to play at a Pro Bowl level in Washington, Mack was getting beat up too much (and soon to get into legal trouble), and Metcalf was not a featured back. Brown, the only player in our redraft to never make the Pro Bowl, was a good running back for both Houston and the Giants. His two best years were 1993 (Houston) with 1,002 yards and six TDs, and 1998 (NY Giants) with 1,063 yards and five TDs.

Originally drafted by Washington, McCardell spent four good, but unspectacular, years in Cleveland before becoming the 2-time Pro Bowler in Jacksonville. His presence becomes more important with not drafting Michael Jackson.

Another important piece to repair a broken running game. Originally undrafted, Anders was a 3-time Pro Bowler and a devistating blocker for the Chiefs.

1991 Redraft Summary

The 1991 redraft adds some important pieces to a team that is aging quickly. Only one of the 11 picks have at least two Pro Bowl appearances in the career. Favre (9), Aeneas Williams (8), Lewis (3), Erik Williams (4), Cox (3), Coates (5), Hanks (4), Sinclair (3), McCardell (2), and Anders (3) have a whopping 44 Pro Bowls combined. The defense would have quickly been rebuilt with five key players at CB, FS, DE and LB. The offense would be on its way back with a repaired running game with Brown and Anders, a major piece to the line with Williams, some receiving playmakers in Coates and McCardell, and the QB of the future in Favre.

This is the kick-off of what hopes to be a regular series of short interviews with other professionals regarding a variety of topics. For the first one, I start with a person I’ve know for a number of years, Kristen Harris of Portfolio Staffing.

Kristen Harris is the co-founder and Director of Associate Services for Portfolio Creative Staffing, based in Columbus, Ohio. Portfolio fulfills client needs on a freelance, contract or full-time basis from their specialized network of top creative talent. Her previous experience includes 12+ years of art direction and design experience in the Columbus area.

Five Questions Kristen Harris

White Boxer (WB):

One of the big stories this past year has been the state of the economy. As co-owner of Portfolio Creative Staffing, and working as a designer before that in the Columbus area, what is the market like for creative professionals in Central Ohio?

Kristen Harris:

It’s no secret that the national economy is “sluggish”, in a “downturn”, a “recession”…whatever term you like, it’s not as strong as it was. And the Central Ohio area has been especially hard-hit, particularly with housing issues. The effect that we’re seeing at Portfolio is mainly a sense of caution. While there are a few local companies that have had lay-offs or other staff reductions, generally it seems that employers are maintaining current staff and proceeding with hiring plans. However, we are seeing three trends in how staff and workloads are being managed.

• Longer time frames: Companies may take longer to fill a position, may not always fill open positions, or may not fill them as quickly as they would have a year ago.
• Seeking more flexibility: We also are seeing more companies use freelancers, contractors and other types of temporary staff as an alternative to hiring fulltime staff, at least initially. If it’s a great fit and the need continues, then it may convert it into a fulltime position. This really is a continuation of the “freelance nation” trend that has been happening for quite some time, especially in creative industries.
• Tight budgets: Businesses are very budget-conscious. While they are still hiring or bringing in the help needed to get the work done, they are keeping a very close eye on rates, salaries and expenses. Hiring managers are often presented the challenge of getting everything they need, while staying within the smallest possible budget.

The current climate feels a lot like the 2001 market when there were a lot of converging factors. The dot com bust hurt some businesses, there were several large mergers and buy-outs among local agencies, and of course 9/11 affected the national economy as a whole. However, at this point I’m not seeing the drastic number of people looking for work that we saw at that time. There is definitely opportunity out there, but it is indeed competitive. People looking for new opportunities need to make sure their skills are up-to-date, their presentation is top-notch, they’re networking and committing as much effort as possible to their search, and they are seeking work through a variety of resources.

WB:

So what are seeing as the “hot” skills or jobs companies are looking for, whether as freelancers or full-time staff?

Kristen:

Interactive design is very much in demand, it’s definitely an area that still is seeing a lot of growth and potential. Clients are always interested in Flash (Action Script is a bonus), Dreamweaver, basic HTML coupled with strong design skills is a great combination. We also are seeing more interest in other interactive work, such as high-end Powerpoint presentations  and incorporating video or audio into sites. Print designers who want to expand their options may want to consider learning more of the interactive side. On the development side clients are looking for knowledge of all the main languages and platforms, and expect these people to constantly be on the cutting edge of what’s next. They’re looking for database work, e-commerce, blogging, social networks, incorporating video, and other features that push a site beyond the typical. They don’t necessarily expect this to be the same person who does the creative design.

Print design isn’t going away, there is a steady amount of demand for that work as well. Of course Adobe CS is the standard now, anyone who isn’t using InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop needs to update their skills. It’s easy enough for an experienced Quark user to pick up InDesign, but our clients generally aren’t interested in on-the-job training. If it’s not on your resume, you may get passed over for someone who does know it.

Really detailed production designers who understand print and pre-press processes, prepare impeccable final art, and genuinely like doing that kind of work are very valuable. Being able to hand off a concept to someone like this and knowing that it will be executed to perfection is great. But unless really enjoy this kind of work, don’t say that you do…you’ll be bored to tears in no time and your employer will know it. Our clients request a range of levels of experience and backgrounds. Strong conceptual creative people are necessary in some situations, and detailed efficient production designers are key in others. You can’t be everything for everyone, at least not all at once. Knowing your unique strengths, and being able to present and communicate them well is key. However, the more skills, experience and knowledge you gain, the more you have to offer your current and future employers or clients.

WB:

Where do you see the balance between being multi-skilled and having a particular area of strength? Is it better to be the proverbial “jack-of-all-trades” or to have one or two areas you really excel in?

Kristen:

You really need to be able to define your key strengths and be able to share them with someone else.

Great question. There is delicate balance between being multi-skilled and appearing to be unfocused. While you don’t necessarily want to do just one very specific thing, or have people think that’s all you do, I am not a fan of the “jack of all trades” approach either. The rest of that phrase is “master of none”, which is how it often comes across. I find that generally people really are best at or most interested in a few key categories of work, so it’s really a matter of how that information is presented. Creative people often have a variety of experiences and can do a lot of different types of things, but you really need to be able to define your key strengths and be able to share them with someone else.

The reality is that hiring managers, HR recruiters, potential clients and the other people you interact with about work need to clearly understand what you do and (more importantly) what you can do for them. Generally they are looking for an expert, the expectation is not for one person to be able to do everything and do it all equally well. Even when a position appears to be asking for everything under the sun, there are always some skills that are absolutely required and others that would be a plus. Focus on what you’re best at, everything else is ancillary or a bonus. For example, you may have done print design, web design, programming and development, illustration, multimedia presentations, project management, copy writing, marketing strategy, product styling for photography, and product development. If you throw all of that at someone at once, they’ll be overwhelmed and confused about what you’re really best at. It would be more effective to say that you’re a designer focused on print and web, with an illustration background and strong project management skills. If any of those other areas are important or relevant you can bring them up in conversation, or include them secondarily on your resume.

Consider creating your own personal “elevator pitch”, where you are able to give an clear and concise overview of what you do in the time span of an elevator ride (thirty seconds or 100-150 words). The idea is to get your point across quickly so it is easily understandable to your listener. This same definition of yourself can be used very effectively as a summary on a resume. It works as a snapshot of your background and strengths, with everything else on the resume is as support materials and further detail.

WB:

Outside the technical and design skills, what other areas do designers need to stand out to become more marketable?

Kristen:

Hard skills are the technical expertise needed to get the job done. Soft skills are everything else—personality traits, social graces, good command of the language, personal habits, overall attitude, and much much more. It’s the difference between being able to do the job, and doing it really well.With all other factors being equal, soft skills can be the difference between getting the job, being promoted, succeeding in your work, growing your business, or not. Most soft skills can and should be continuously developed, they are not inherent in your personality. These skills are consistently found in successful people in any industry, transferable to any position, and are often a key factor in promotion and leadership opportunities.Here are some traits that I often see in successful people, and look for in candidates:

• Passionate and dedicated to their work or the job at hand
• Positive attitude, optimistic, energetic
• Makes decisions, willing to take appropriate risks
• Integrity, strong work ethic, reliable
• Strives to continuously learn, handles constructive criticism well
• Good written and verbal communications skills, listens, asks questions
• Attention to detail, organized, makes plans
• Focused, committed, works well under pressure
• Flexible, creative thinking
• Motivational, respects and inspires others
• Self-directed, manages own career
• Poised, self confident, professional appearance (appropriate for the situation)

Given the choice between two candidates with equal technical and design skills, would you rather work with the upbeat, passionate, focused, organized person or the pessimistic, unorganized, disrespectful, unreliable person? Yeah, me too. Soft skills can be developed, sometimes it’s just a matter of projecting the right image or changing your own inner thinking.

WB:

With the boom of the internet over the last decade, how important is it for designers, whether freelancing or job hunting, to establish an online presence (personal website and/or blog, online portfolio, online networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)?

Kristen:

There are really two pieces to this puzzle, the personal website/online portfolio and online networking/blogging. Keep in mind that new graduates are coming out of school with their own website and a tremendous grasp of the social networking world, it’s practically second nature to them. Without some sort of online presence you may run the risk of appearing less current or technically savvy. So you need some online presence, but what? Really the best choice depends upon the work you do and your goals. If you’re a freelance web designer or are looking for a web design position, you need to have your own site. People look there for links or examples of your work, and they consider your own site an example of what you’d do given complete creative freedom. It’s your chance to blow them away! Freelance designers that want to keep building up that business should seriously consider having their own site too.

Potential clients might find you online, but more likely they’ll hear of you through a referral or meet you somewhere, and go online to find out more. A website can make you seem more like a business, truly committed to freelance work, and often larger than just a team of one. You can showcase samples of your work, highlight capabilities, show your client list, post recommendations, link to associations, and take advantages of other features that will make you appear very professional. Adding a blog to your site can increase your online presence, help you connect to other resources, and keep you top-of-mind for your contacts.

Without some sort of online presence you may run the risk of appearing less current or technically savvy.

Print designers who don’t do interactive work and are seeking a position rather than establishing a business have a few options. Having your work available online can be a convenient way to share samples. But you don’t necessarily need to build your own site from scratch, there are several existing sites where you can upload your work and resume. You’ll have a link to put on your resume and share with potential employers, without all of the time/expense/angst of designing your own site. Sites like creativehotlist.com, coroflot.com, and carbonmade.com are a few options, these industry sites are also places recruiters look for candidates. If you want your own site, you might set up something simple through your email/internet host (mac, aol, etc) or a blog site (like WordPress).

Regardless of the type of work you do and your goal, social networking sites can do a lot of positive things for you. Whether you have your own business or are looking for a job, these sites can be a great way to connect with potential clients or employers, get inside information, ask for referrals, and be found by others. Recruiters use sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace to find connections and candidates, as well as niche sites (like creativehotlist and coroflot). Freelance designers can make connections with potential clients, get referrals, and establish more of a professional online presence through sites like LinkedIn, Sologig and FreelanceNation (honestly there are quite a few of those freelance sites, some are better than others). When deciding which sites to get involved with, it helps to figure out where the people you want to reach may be looking…that’s where you want to be! One caution, especially with social networking sites and blogs, is that companies and clients feel it’s entirely fair game to judge you by what they find online. There are horror stories of people not getting jobs because of something an HR person found online. While you may consider it personal and separate from your professional life, they don’t. And they probably won’t tell you what they found or why you didn’t get the job. So be totally comfortable with anyone anywhere seeing what’s out there, at least while you’re job hunting or trying to develop new client relationships.

About a year-and-a-half ago, I switched from a flat HTML web site to using WordPress (WP), mainly because I wanted to start blogging (although you an’t really tell by the archives, or lack thereof). The current design was in the works several months before the actual switch to WP, and looked much better on paper (and Photoshop) than when executed.

A big part of that was trying to get comfortable with learning WordPress. I’m more of a designer than a programmer, and know very little about PHP, especially back when I went to WP. Frustration with picking up a new programming language, learning a new application, and trying to get a site up and running as quickly as possible led to me cutting some corners on the details that I normally wouldn’t cut. Once finally up, other professional projects, and life in general, has kept me fairly busy to where I haven’t sat down to adjust the little things about the execution of this current design that bother me.

Now, over a year has passed, and the purpose of this site has changed a bit over that time. Instead of trying to modify the current design, and fix those pesky quirks, to fit my new vision for the site, I began to seriously rethink the design and structure from scratch. Granted, it hasn’t gone much further yet than some great thoughts in my head and a few roughs in my sketchbook, but I’m still planning to do a redesign before the year is out. My grasp of subtleties of CSS have also grown dramatically over that time as well. Along with that, I can finally deal with the subtle details that just haven’t sat right with me these past 18+ months.

During the first part of 2008, WordPress issued a new release with a spiffy new dashboard, courtesy of the fine folks at Happy Cog. Mike Davidson even jumped on the WordPress bandwagon. Motivated to tie the upgrade with a redesign, and the fact that I am actually getting real sleep again, I’m itching to pull this off sooner than later.

Recently, another wrench is thrown into the works. Jason Santa Maria has redesigned his site. The design is well done with lots of great details that pull it all together. But what really caught my eye was Jeffrey Zeldman’s remarks on the redesign. Zeldman referred to Jason’s redesign post as a “call to arms” for web art direction. By switching to Expression Engine, Jason gains the ability to create and apply different templates to different blog posts, while keeping an overarching theme for the entire site, much like print design does.

I admit this has been one of my frustrations with most content management systems on the web. Coming from a print design background, I’ve accepted, but haven’t enjoyed, being locked into one design with no option of variations outside of hard-coding pages. Now, with the ability to do this in Expression Engine, I’m strongly considering making the jump as well from WordPress to EE. Ideally, I would like to see someone develop a plug-in for WP that allows this type of design flexibility. Maybe by the time I’m actually able to start building the new design for this site, someone will.