The first print interview of former Browns coach Hue Jackson came off as an effort to blame everyone but Hue Jackson for the failure of the Browns. In his first TV interview since being fired on Monday, Jackson tried a different approach.
Jackson was far more willing to shoulder the blame for the team’s failures in an appearance on ESPN’s First Take.
“We didn’t win enough,” Jackson said. “We were in a lot of games. It comes back to us as coaches first.”
Jackson reiterated his belief that the firing didn’t simply arise from the perception of “internal discord” between Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Ultimately, Jackson thinks the decision came from a desire to get the most out of rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield. And Jackson made it clear that he would have done things differently than former offensive coordinator Todd Haley did them.
Jackson’s biggest regret comes from his decision (if it truly was his decision) to surrender control of the offensive side of the football to Haley.
“I would not have ever given away the offense,” Jackson said regarding the main thing he would have done differently. “That’s what I was hired for.”
Jackson also disputed the perception, as created by his comments to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, that the coach was blaming others. Jackson said he was “surprised and shocked” by that perception.
“I don’t even know what that means,” Jackson said regarding the notion that he was throwing others under the bus.
On ESPN, Jackson wasn’t thrown under the bus but hoisted on his own petard regarding Jackson’s insistence that he chose to surrender full control of the offense to Haley and Jackson’s inability to take back control of the offense without having to appeal directly to owner Jimmy Haslam for permission to do so. If it truly were Jackson’s decision, and Jackson’s decision alone, to bring in a coordinator, it should have been Jackson’s decision, and Jackson’s decision alone, to fire the coordinator.
So to the extent that Jackson has opted to engage in a media tour to bolster his reputation in the aftermath of one of the worst head-coaching careers of all time, it probably isn’t working. He desperately wants to rewind to his pre-Cleveland status, when multiple teams want to make him a head coach. Post-Cleveland, chances are that no NFL team will be hiring Jackson to be a head coach.
Like Norv Turner and Wade Phillips, Jackson could continue to be a viable assistant in the NFL. He should stop aspiring to be an NFL head coach.
“I still think that there’s another opportunity out there somewhere,” Jackson said regarding a third chance to be an NFL head coach.
At this point, he may be the only one who thinks that.