One of the great challenges for humans is to figure out what they’re good at and do it, and to figure out what they’re not good at and not do it. Twice-fired NFL coach Hue Jackson, like former NFL coaches Norv Turner and Wade Phillips, is very good at being an NFL assistant coach, and not nearly as good at being an NFL head coach.
While Jackson may still aspire to be an NFL head coach after an abysmal career record of 11-44-1, punctuated by a 3-36-1 disaster in Cleveland, no NFL owner should ever again fall under the spell of Hue’s performance as an assistant coach (which surely will be very good) coupled with the best efforts of his friend(s) in the media to get him a third bite at the NFL apple (which surely will be attempted).
So lets assume that the book can be closed on Hue Jackson’s time as an NFL head coach. Here’s an eye-opening stats from ESPN, shared by Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times on Twitter: To match Jackson’s .205 career winning percentage, Patriots (and once-upon-a-time Browns) coach Bill Belichick would have to lose a lot of games. Specifically, Belichick would have to lose 867 straight games. Putting it another way, that’s more than 54 straight years of 0-16.
OK, so Belichick may not be the fairest example. So we ran the numbers with a coach far closer to Hue than Belichick in career achievements: Former Colts coach Chuck Pagano. Based on a career winning percentage of .549 (56-46) in 102 career games, Pagano would only have lose to 171 straight games to match Jackson. That’s nearly ten-and-a-half consecutive winless seasons.
So, yes, Hue Jackson has proven that he’s not suited to be an NFL head coach. Maybe, if he’s lucky, he won’t get a chance to keep proving it.
