BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – As Joe Woods departed his final media availability of the season Thursday he smiled and in 10 words summed up where he stands.
“I hope I get to talk to you guys again,” Woods said as he began to walk toward the door.
The offhanded comment succinctly summed up his job security – murky at best, and he knows it.
“I hope I have the opportunity to come back,” Woods said when asked about it Thursday. “I know things haven’t gone the way we would like them to go this year, but I feel like the first season going to the playoffs and winning a game for the first time in 26 years or something like that, [then] the next year we didn’t win a lot of games and that is what it is all about, but we did improve defensively to No. 5; and again, through the end of the season, I think we are playing better.
“Long story short, I hope I get the opportunity, but that is not my decision.”
Whether or not to bring Woods back for a fourth season will be atop head coach Kevin Stefanski’s list of priorities when the team returns from Pittsburgh Sunday night and into early next week.
Woods has heard the criticism from fans and media all season. He’s answered questions from reporters candidly while avoiding excuses and cliched coach speak on a weekly basis.
“You just have to be tough minded,” Woods said of handling the calls from outside the building for him to be fired. “Things aren’t always going to go your way, but as long as you are confident… You have to be that way with the players because if you doubt yourself, they are going to doubt themselves.”
For the second consecutive year the Browns defense under Woods has shown signs of life and marked improvement down the stretch.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the season was sunk in September following a Week 2 collapse to the Jets that saw them blow a 13-point lead in the final 1:50 followed by a complete annihilation of the run defense that has surrendered over 130 yards rushing nine times in the 14 games that followed.
Woods did his best to explain the Jekyll and Hyde results on his side of the football.
“I think it goes back to you have some new players when you put the scheme together, you are trying to figure out what they do well and what works for you defensively,” Woods said. “Week in and week out, you are playing different teams and different schemes. I think that was big for us this year. There were some things that we were doing that we weren’t having a lot of success with that we had success with in the past. I think we had to adjust, and I think we did that.
“Again, halfway through the season, I think we are playing better. We didn’t win the amount of games that we wanted to, but I do feel like we started playing better defensively.”
Through 16 games, the Browns are tied for 21st allowing 22.9 points per game. They rank 11th in total defense allowing 331.1 yards per game. They are seventh defending the pass but 25th defending the run.
Four of the Browns’ first five losses this season were by three points or less despite the offense averaging 24.5 points per game in those defeats.
Opportunity was there early in the season and unfortunately for Woods, it’s been too little defense early and too late to avoid another sub .500 finish in the standings.
Despite all of that, Woods sees the same hope and opportunity next season that he saw in San Francisco when former 49ers defensive coordinator and current Jets head coach Robert Salah was on the hot seat with fans following 6-10 and 4-12 seasons in Kyle Shanahan’s first two years as head coach.
“I was in this situation as a position coach in 2019,” Woods said. “We had a couple key additions in the offseason, and we went from last to first in the division, 13-3 and went to the Super Bowl.
“I feel like that is something that is possible here just with the roster we have. I think again the guys will be better next year.”
Whether or not Woods will be here to see if his premonition will come true is unknown.