In a bit of an upset, the Cleveland Browns landed a head coach who was getting interest from other NFL teams.
Given that, hiring Hue Jackson has to be considered a nice get for Cleveland. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Browns and Jackson reached an agreement.
The Browns aren't a great job on the surface. There's no quarterback of the future (Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1 reported that Jackson made it clear he'd want to move on from Johnny Manziel). The previous two coaches got fired after three combined seasons. The Browns haven't won one playoff game since re-entering the 1999 season. They've been to the playoffs only once in that time. The entire organization, from owner Jimmy Haslam on down, is considered to be very dysfunctional, to say the least.
Maybe that's changing, and we'll point back to the Jackson hiring as a turning point. Jackson reportedly had interest from the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants too, but ended up with the Browns. Schefter said Jackson took the Browns job before getting on a plane to interview with the Giants, which is considered a much better job.
It's a second chance Jackson has earned.
In 2011 he led the Oakland Raiders to an 8-8 record, one of only two .500 records for the Raiders since 2002. Then he was fired after one season.
Jackson did a very good job as Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator the last couple years. This season, quarterback Andy Dalton became an MVP candidate in Jackson’s offense. The Bengals won the AFC North, though their season ended in a strange 18-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Saturday night.
Jackson doesn't enter an ideal situation. The Browns lack playmakers on offense. The quarterback situation is an issue. But Jackson has done good work on the offensive side in his career. That will help. Maybe he can develop a good quarterback, like he did with Dalton. Cleveland has the second pick of this year's draft. The Browns have suffered for a long time, and last time they had a coaching search, it took a long time as candidates bowed out. Their whole search became a running joke. It was a lot smoother this time around. The Browns identified the coach they wanted and landed him. That's a good sign in Cleveland, for a change.
No comments:
Post a Comment