Browns hire Hue Jackson: Marla Ridenour’s final thoughts

Even Bengals head coach and, suddenly, Jackson’s rival, Marvin Lewis, is excited for his former offensive coordinator.

In a written statement, Haslam said Jackson is, “relentless in trying to find ways to put his players in the best position to succeed”.

Jackson had already interviewed with the five-time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers, and was scheduled to board a plane for an interview with the four-time Super Bowl champion New York Giants, when the no-time Super Bowl participant Browns made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Jackson was expected to fly to NY on Wednesday to meet with the Giants about their opening.

ESPN reported that Manziel was a topic of discussion between the head coach and the organization during meetings leading up to Jackson’s hiring, and that the former Bengals coordinator expressed his preference that the team move on from the former Texas A&M quarterback.

A source close to Jackson told cleveland.com that he won’t want to risk his job and reputation on Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who angered the club during the final weekend of the season by traveling to Las Vegas just days after being diagnosed with a concussion. Chudzinski was only given one season in Cleveland before being fired.

The men charged with acquiring the talent to turn the Browns around must be assured that Jackson is willing to embrace analytics as a way to win in the NFL.

But one of the spoons that had been agitating the stew was omitted from the gathering to introduce Hue Jackson.

Whether quarterback Johnny Manziel will assist Jackson remains an open-ended question.

Jackson’s challenge in Cleveland will be turning around a team that can’t seem to get out of its own way. Cleveland hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2002, and the franchise has endured 14 double-digit loss seasons since returning to the league in ’99.

Hue Jackson is known as a top notch offensive coordinator and also as somebody who will stab a head coach in the back to try to take their job.

The team conducted a second interview with Jackson on Tuesday after he first met with Cleveland’s search committee Sunday.

“Let me say this, and I know there’s a feeling here, and it’s deserved, that this is not a good place to coach, and a lot of it revolves around the owners, but we were pleasantly surprised with the interest in this job, and I think the people recognize the potential that is here in Cleveland”, Haslam said. The fourth since Jimmy Haslam bought the team in 2012. David Johnson is confident he can handle it. “With Carson [Palmer] playing, I don’t have any more rookie nerves, ” Johnson said after practice. It’s extremely hard to post a winning record when you go 2-4 every year within your own division. Get me players, I can coach ’em.

In his only season as Raiders coach, Jackson went 8-8, but he was sacked anyway because general manager Reggie McKenzie didn’t want him.

That season changed the trajectory for Jackson.

“This time around, I think we were better organized. I haven’t forgotten that too much”, Harbaugh said.

Haslam had his second meeting with Jackson on Wednesday in Cincinnati, and after excusing the well-liked coach from the room, Cleveland’s owner turned to two of his executives and announced they were done looking.