Before the Browns lost for the 15th time this year, extending their two-year skid to an even-more historic 1-30, a report surfaced regarding plans being made by coach Hue Jackson for 2018. If he’s still the team’s coach in 2018.
Via Chris Mortensen of ESPN, Jackson will hire an offensive coordinator for next season.
Jackson had an offensive coordinator in 2016, but Pep Hamilton escaped left to join the University of Michigan in early January. This year, Jackson opted not to have an offensive coordinator.
Regardless of Jackson’s reason for not having an offensive coordinator (he claims it wouldn’t have been fair to hire a guy who would have gotten the blame for the team’s offense stinking, when the blame belongs to Jackson), not having an offensive coordinator in place provides a layer of insulation against an in-season firing.
A postseason firing for Jackson remains possible. Yes, owner Jimmy Haslam has said both publicly and privately that Hue will be back. But if/when (when) the Browns become the second team in league history to go winless in a 16-game season, it could be harder for the Browns to keep Hue than it was for Tennessee to hire Greg Schiano.
Especially if G.M. John Dorsey goes all in to get Haslam to allow Dorsey to hire his own coach.
Although Jackson has been and presumably will be a great offensive coordinator in the future, there’s no excuse for failing to win at least one game in a 16-game season. As we all learned last week in the final moments of Patriots-Steelers, coaching makes a difference. When a coach can’t make a difference one time out of 16, that coach perhaps shouldn’t be a head coach.
There’s no shame in admitting it. Other coaches, like Norv Turner and Wade Phillips, consistently failed as head coaches but continued to thrive as coordinators. Jackson has failed nearly as badly as a head coach as he possibly could, winning only one time in nearly two full seasons.
Frankly, it’s hard to understand why he’d even want to keep doing something that he’s consistently proven he can’t do. The persistence is admirable, but it would greatly benefit from a dash of self-awareness.