Browns hire Hue Jackson: Marla Ridenour's final thoughts
By MARLA RIDENOUR Published: January 13, 2016
The scene was unforgettable, and as far as I know, unprecedented.
Owner Jimmy Haslam walked new Browns coach Hue Jackson to the entrance to team headquarters, opened the door and insisted Jackson go inside first. The lobby was ringed with about 60 employees applauding their new leader.
Their faces were hopeful, their applause not just cursory, but enthusiastic.
Owner Dee Haslam hugged him immediately before Jackson stepped into the circle. He looked back at Jimmy Haslam, still by the door, and mouthed, "Wow!" Jackson was probably not referring to the frigid temperature outside, but the warm welcome that washed over him.
"We've got a lot of work to do," Jackson told the employees working in the facility while it undergoes another renovation, the rest downtown at FirstEnergy Stadium. "We're going to chase greatness here, that's for sure. That's what we're interested in doing. The AFC North, we want to win the division championship. We want to go to the Super Bowl and win that, too. That's what it's all about."
Jackson will be the Browns' 12th full-time coach I've covered since I started in 1981 and I've never seen anything like it.
Neither had Jackson, 50, a 15-year NFL veteran who began his coaching career at his alma mater University of Pacific in 1987.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that before in my life," Jackson said later. "To me, that told me that this building is electric and they want to win and they expect to win and they understand that there’s a lot of work to do, but everybody is ready to roll up their sleeves and go to work.”
My timing was impeccable. I pulled into the parking lot across the street about five minutes before Haslam arrived in a black SUV, driving Jackson from the airport. I watched the lobby scene from the glass-enclosed entrance outside the front door, just on the other side of Jimmy Haslam.
I couldn't see Dee Haslam, but I knew the employees' greeting was her idea, and I was right.
During his 36-minute press conference, Jackson hardly ever mentioned Jimmy Haslam without speaking of Dee. More than once, he referred to "Jimmy and Dee and Paul and Sashi" and how comfortable he felt with them.
Jackson will be the Browns' fourth coach since Jimmy Halsam took over in October, 2012 and any comfort level between him and Pat Shurmur, Rob Chudzinski or Mike Pettine was short-lived.
But the atmosphere seems to be changing, and it's not just because of new chief strategy office Paul DePodesta from the New York Mets and executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown, promoted from general counsel.
It's possible that the person who recognized the warm, familial atmosphere the Browns were lacking was Dee Haslam. It's possible that it wasn't just Brown, DePodesta or the search firm of Korn Ferry that kept Jimmy Haslam focused on a seemingly well thought-out plan and won over a candidate they likely wouldn't have landed in previous searches.
Any other search, any other year under Haslam and Jackson probably gets on a plane to interview with the New York Giants on Wednesday and is hired there on the spot.
Dee Haslam is now listed as owner in the Browns media guide and also serves as president of the Cleveland Browns Foundation. She's a member of the NFL's legislative and conduct committees. At the league meetings in Houston this week, she cast the Browns' vote on the teams seeking to move to Los Angeles while her husband interviewed Jackson for the second time Tuesday in Cincinnati.
Asked to explain why he included Dee on the search committee and has given her a bigger role, Jimmy Haslam said, "Dee's been my partner for a long time, OK? Both of us are in a place in our businesses where we can now spend a lot more time here. Besides it was great to have her along, she adds value, she reads people extremely well.
"I know a lot of people asked about the NFL meeting. Once we saw we were still going to be zeroing in on the search, it was great to have Dee be able to go to the meeting, represent us extremely well. She's a tremendous asset, not just to me but to the organization. I'm very happy to have her by my side. She's been a big help."
It's possible that those who will lead the Browns from dysfunction to relevance are Jackson, DePodesta, Brown and Haslam. Dee Haslam, that is.
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