The Cleveland Browns have hired former Bengals assistant and offensive co-ordinator Hue Jackson to be their next head coach. Jackson will take over a Browns roster which has struggled over the last few seasons. Jackson, 50, becomes the team’s 16th head coach and eighth since 1999. He succeeds Mike Pettine, who was fired after a 3-13 season.
Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam skipped the NFL’s Los Angeles relocation vote on Tuesday to lure Jackson, his No. 1 target in the coaching search. Jackson was 8-8 in his one and only year as a head coach.
Jackson has been part of a Cincinnati staff that has made the playoffs in five straight seasons. He has been the club’s offensive co-ordinator over the last two years, and has helped to develop an effective offence with Andy Dalton showing signs of improving into a good quarterback. Jackson also put up some numbers with A.J. McCarron under centre, and led the Bengals to an AFC North Division title.
“My thing is to get us to the game ready to play, motivated, fired up, enthusiastic and have an opportunity to win and that’s what I’m interested in.” “I really respect Jim saying that. At the same time, that is not my mindset and I don’t want that to be our player’s mindset,” Jackson said. “We want to go and we expect to win every game we play. Now that being said, there is a lot of things that need to happen to have that opportunity to come forth. At the same time, we are not going to be a football team that walks out there and says, ‘We say give.’ I am not interested in that. I did not come here for that. I came here to win.” All said by Hue Jackson at his press conference.
Jackson’s hiring appears to mean the end of quarterback Johnny Manziel’s tenure in Cleveland. A source close to the situation told ESPN Giants reporter Dan Graziano that the topic of Manziel was discussed at length in meetings between Jackson and Browns ownership. In those discussions, Jackson indicated he would prefer that the organization move on from Manziel if he were to become head coach, and Jackson was told that would not be a problem.
