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January 13, 2016TD returns to talk Hue Jackson and Tribe – WFNY Podcast No. 448
January 13, 2016After several interviews with different candidates to find the Cleveland Browns next head coach, Jimmy Haslam and company seem to have found their (new) guy having reportedly hired Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. ESPN’s Adam Schefter announced that the Browns were “finalizing [a] deal” with Jackson on Wednesday morning, before reporting that the deal would be finalized; NFL.com’s Micheal Silver confirmed. The final details were apparently sussed out before Jackson’s scheduled meeting/interview with the New York Giants, reminiscent of a suitor from a romantic comedy saving a relationship with proclamations of love on an airport runway.
Browns now finalizing deal to hire Bengals OC Hue Jackson as their next HC, per sources. Close to being wrapped up, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 13, 2016
Looks like Browns will get done deal with Hue Jackson before he gets on flight to New York for interview with the Giants, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 13, 2016
Hue Jackson will become the next head coach of the Cleveland Browns. "They made me feel comfortable," he just told me.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 13, 2016
Browns and Hue Jackson have reached agreement, per sources. Press conference to introduce him later today.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 13, 2016
With the Bengals eliminated from the playoffs by the Pittsburgh Steelers during wild card weekend, things began to move quickly with Jackson, rumored to be stuck between the Browns and San Francisco 49ers, and then the New York Giants (who entered the race late). With all three teams in contention for the 50-year old coordinator, the 49ers and Browns interviewed Jackson on Sunday, but the search committee of Jimmy Haslam, executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown, chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta and Korn/Ferry International consultant Jed Hughes thought so highly of Jackson that they wanted to bring him in for a second interview. In fact, the Browns were so aggressive in pursuing Jackson that Haslam skipped out on an owner’s meeting in Houston to interview Jackson on Tuesday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The team announced on Tuesday that they had interviewed him for the second time.
“It’s very exciting for us to name Hue Jackson as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns,” Jimmy Haslam said via press release. “He embodies all the qualities that will provide strong leadership for our football team. He is highly experienced, deeply passionate about winning, and relentless in trying to find ways to put his players in the best position to succeed. He possesses that unique ability to reach the entire locker room in a way that demands accountability while getting the buy-in and team-first mentality that leads to positive results. I think our players will love playing for him. Dee and I warmly welcome Hue and his family to Cleveland.”
Jackson interviewed with the Browns’ search committee Sunday after the Bengals’ AFC Wild Card loss to Pittsburgh and again Tuesday in Cincinnati. He was the seventh of seven candidates to interview for the position over a five-day stretch. He will be the eighth coach in Cleveland since the Browns returned in 1999, and the sixth since 2008. A Browns head coach has not had a winning record since Marty Schottenheimer was 44-27 between 1984-88. Besides Eric Mangini, Jackson will be the first head coach the Browns have hired since 1999 with previous NFL head coaching experience.
In his one season as head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2011, Jackson went 8-8 and finished in a tie for first in the AFC West. The Raiders missed out on the postseason because they were on the wrong side of a tiebreaker with the Denver Broncos but notched their best record since 2002. That year, the Raiders ranked ninth in the NFL in total offense and seventh in rushing offense despite a midseason injury to starting quarterback (and former Cleveland Brown) Jason Campbell.
“What a tremendous honor and privilege to be the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and a part of the Dawg Pound,” Jackson said. “I’m so looking forward to it and have so many people to thank. Obviously Jimmy and Dee Haslam for this opportunity, going through the process of meeting Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta. What an exciting time to have an opportunity to work with people like that.
The sixth-year coach with the Bengals knows a lot about the cruel AFC North, and knows what it takes to win the division over Pittsburgh and Baltimore (and now Cincinnati). The Browns were the only AFC North team to not qualify for the playoffs in the 2014 season, and have not made the playoffs since 2002.
“We shared a lot of ideas between each other. We shared a vision for the organization and what we want to accomplish,” Jackson said. “At the end of the day, we have some very real goals we want to attain and we understand it’s going to take a lot of hard work to do that.”
167 Comments
I think the real set up should have been Chud as Norv’s OC instead of the way it Happened.
But I agree. Long honeymoon.
I won’t say I’m excited about this hire, because this team has a long way to go before I’m going to bother getting to that point. But this is a quality hire coming from what seemed to be a focused and organized process. Plenty of work still to be done, but I am pleased. Looking forward to seeing what comes next, and that’s progress.
Here’s where I imagine this will come into play: GM wants to sign Dwayne Bowe. Sashi says that’s dumb and nixes it. GM wants to ignore wide receivers. Sashi nixes it. GM thinks ignoring severe alcohol problems is smart. Sashi says no.
GM wants to sign or draft like a reasonable human being. Sashi says have at it.
Nope, they just missed one another.
That’s true
And disadvantage on all Knowledge (Draft) checks
Long way to go absolutely but as you pointed out we’ve all been here before I just feel better about Hue Jackson for some reason. I liked a lot of what he said at the press conference as well. In particular wanting to get right to work on assembling a coaching staff. I also liked how when someone tried to pin him down on Johnny Manziel he immediately repeated what the reporter had asked then said he never said he hadn’t spoken with the Haslam’s about Manziel.
But again a lot of work to do I’m just willing to keep an open mind this time.
Sashi probably has a ton in common with Joe Banner except Joe Banner created a toxic atmosphere and had a reputation that nobody wanted to work with.
I’d guess they probably are extremely alike from a football perspective.
Can’t wait to hear about the staff he starts hiring.
Just keep Defilippo, unless you can bring a much better OC here. That’s all I ask.
Im a bit glum about this to be honest, this guy has a track record of overpaying for players and gets a say in personnel, still need a year to see how the annual “great off season signings” turn out so im withholding judgment.
*note i may be slightly more down than if I hadn’t spent all day getting back to Cleveland via economy seating
“the worm has to turn” … into bird food?
I liked the rapport they already have. You could tell how comfortable they were when Hue brought up the “Except this” line from Haslam.
Side note: based on that nugget of information, it’s nice to know Haslam is genuinely upset that this isn’t going well so far
…. into wins. *smile*
when hes on the field, which isnt very much these past couple seasons. I just want a qb who can make it 16 games. Can we start with that?
Good point
and just who are you to argue with the Ohio Sportswriter Of The Year????