The Cleveland Browns fired head coach Hue Jackson last week. The decision came as a surprise to the coach but he was not the only one surprised by moves made last weekend. According to former head coach Sam Rutigliano via Baskin & Phelps, former offensive coordinator Todd Haley expected to be named the interim head coach of the Browns once Jackson was fired.
"Coach Sam Rutigliano spoke with Todd Haley last week and tells us: Haley was blindsided by his firing though he thought there was a good chance Jackson would be axed, and a big reason he came to Cleveland was the opportunity to be eventual head coach."
It was the belief of Cleveland Browns on 247Sports from the beginning that Haley anticipated being named the interim head coach after the team parted ways with Jackson. For a coach that reportedly had other opportunities to be an offensive coordinator in this league, it made no sense to pick the Browns, who, at the time, did not have quarterback Baker Mayfield, quarterback Tyrod Taylor, wide receiver Jarvis Landry, running back Carlos Hyde, running back Nick Chubb, wide receiver Antonio Callaway and others.
The Steelers parted ways with Haley on Jan. 17 after six seasons in Pittsburgh. Haley has worked with the New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs in addition to Pittsburgh. The 50 year old has served as an offensive coordinator for eight seasons with Arizona and Pittsburgh. He was also the Chiefs head coach for three seasons. The 50-year-old Haley was the Cardinals' offensive coordinator during the team's run to Super Bowl XLIII.
Upon being hired, Haley explained what led him to the job.
“I had some options, but this really appealed to me – the challenge aspect of it, Hue like I said, Mr. and Mrs. Haslam and [General Manager] John [Dorsey]. I think there are pieces in place to be successful. I went out to Arizona to be a coordinator, and Arizona had not had much success. A lot of people thought I was crazy for leaving Dallas when I did, but man, when you are a part of turning it around and having success, playing in big games and having success in big games, there is nothing like it. That is what appealed to me – the challenge and the people I was going to be working alongside of.”
Im just glad it's over and we can finally move forward and become a real football team. Thanks for adding to the dysfunction Hue, but I wont miss you like some here will.
Has dude ever been in an nfl stadium on a sunday afternoon as anything other than a spectator ... NO
Hes been a HC at ANY LEVEL for an ENTIRE YEAR now ... yup .... thats right ... YEAR ... no S on the end ... AT ANY LEVEL ... u can put the S on after this years done ...
U think this may be the definition of cart before the horse ...
Come on guys ... this is a JOKE ...
Let the guy get wet behind the ears ...
A 2nd year college HC that has never been a HC before and who has never even been an un paid asst. in the nfl and were morons for not having any interest in him ... ...
This makes so little sense that based on the thiefs history i’d say that makes it 50/50 ... *L* ...
COME ON KING JOHN ... we need u buddy ... GOOD LUCK ... our future hinges on it ...
I haven't been on the Lincoln Riley for head coach train. I don't follow college football as closely as the NFL and don't know a whole lot about him.
You don't think Hue should have reached out to Riley and talked to him? Riley was the QB coach, OC, or head coach for three years while Mayfield was the starter there. It seems like Hue should have tried to contact him to learn more about the offense, what made Mayfield tick, etc.
Hue was the CEO of coaches after all. It seems like it would fit in perfectly with that.
What exactly was it that he did here in his third year?
I haven't been on the Lincoln Riley for head coach train. I don't follow college football as closely as the NFL and don't know a whole lot about him.
You don't think Hue should have reached out to Riley and talked to him? Riley was the QB coach, OC, or head coach for three years while Mayfield was the starter there. It seems like Hue should have tried to contact him to learn more about the offense, what made Mayfield tick, etc.
Hue was the CEO of coaches after all. It seems like it would fit in perfectly with that.
What exactly was it that he did here in his third year?
Its just another example in a long line of examples as to why Hue thought he was special and was never going to succeed. He's like the kid in HS that gets the cliff notes version of the book, and when the test comes not a single question had to do with the cliff notes and then has no idea why he failed because he "studied". The test had to be the problem, not him.
IDC if Haley Haslem and Dorsey all went there. As the HC of the football team, and who's job directly relied on this kid or this pick at that time, you would think that Hue would have been doing every single due diligence to get every single piece of information to see if he would fit with his team.
I haven't been on the Lincoln Riley for head coach train. I don't follow college football as closely as the NFL and don't know a whole lot about him.
You don't think Hue should have reached out to Riley and talked to him? Riley was the QB coach, OC, or head coach for three years while Mayfield was the starter there. It seems like Hue should have tried to contact him to learn more about the offense, what made Mayfield tick, etc.
Hue was the CEO of coaches after all. It seems like it would fit in perfectly with that.
What exactly was it that he did here in his third year?
In defense of Hue, I don't think so. As he said, we had all the tape he needed. Plus, Dorsey scouted him heavily, probably did talk to some people and had already decided when he took the job that he was going to draft Bake.
What I find interesting is Dorsey was reported as not telling anybody who he was going to draft before the draft. It was reported he didn't tell anybody who he was going to draft until the eve of the draft, or maybe even the morning of the draft, so I am not sure how Hue had all that much input.
I am not ripping Hue, I just don't see the stories meshing.
I do remember reading that Depo told Jon that the numbers point to Bake as the #1 pick.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
I don't peruse the political crap section and would rather not have that garbage spill on to here please!
Some of us stay in our areas of interest and don't bother with that board. Why do we have to suffer by having it ooze into the "Pure Football" section?!
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Not sure why all this drama over the least winning coach in nfl history
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Is it typical for a fired coach to do this many interviews
No. Can you picture Ben McAdoo sitting up there with those guys? I have no idea who is advising Hue, but they need to throw their body in front of these hits.
Marcellus Wiley was critical, though fair. And he was critical in a good way, or nice way or fair way, not sure what the best adjective is but you get the idea from those suggestions.
Jason Whitlock was very critical and attacking Hue with his criticisms. Then when Hue responded, his facial expressions and head nodding was priceless. It was clear that he wasn't buying anything Hue was saying. I wish he would have been more like Marcellus with his criticisms. I think it would have turned into a much more insightful interview if he had.
Why was Housh even there? I don't think he said a single word.
Hue actually did a pretty good job. I have watched several videos of Hue interviews and this one was by far his best. He handled himself quite well and gave some pretty good political answers. Though he clearly stats that he talked to Haslam about taking over the play calling which he previously denied.
Am I perfect? No Am I trying to be a better person? Also no
If he handled it with class with a not talent QB like Peterman...I think it would be a snap with Baker at the helm.
He's never going to see a contract like the one he had. So at least the guy is setting himself up for life. Hope he stays on at a much much lower rate as our 2nd stringer.
jmho
Defense wins championships. Watson play your butt off! Go Browns! CHRIST HAS RISEN! GM Strong! & Stay safe everyone!
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Thanks for sharing. I've seen that story of Haley only coming to Cleveland to take over as HC before.
The only thing that bothers me about the article is talks of Hue being incompetent. I just don't see that. I also don't see how an incompetent person could climb the NFL ranks.
I think its more bashing because of his record. And yes he has to own that, but we all know that we could have inserted Vince Lombardi, and we still would have sucked the past 2 years. Solely because of who we had at QB. QBs play a huge role in a teams success.
I'm torn between that being my favorite Hue Jackson quote and this:
“As I said earlier, it's not about personal wins for me anymore,” Jackson said. “I've done all that. It's about organizational wins. I brought Todd Haley here for a reason, to help this organization get to winning and, to me, when you look at it from that standpoint, I hope we all get it.”
I'm torn between that being my favorite Hue Jackson quote and this:
“As I said earlier, it's not about personal wins for me anymore,” Jackson said. “I've done all that. It's about organizational wins. I brought Todd Haley here for a reason, to help this organization get to winning and, to me, when you look at it from that standpoint, I hope we all get it.”
Good one. With Hue getting the axe, guess I'm kind of forced to get a new sig now. lol.
I kind of liked one article I read a while back about Denzel Ward piloting a no fly zone. That would be catchy for a sig. That lost some luster after the KC debacle though to be fair, there were a lot of injuries.
The only thing that bothers me about the article is talks of Hue being incompetent. I just don't see that. I also don't see how an incompetent person could climb the NFL ranks.
I think its more bashing because of his record. And yes he has to own that, but we all know that we could have inserted Vince Lombardi, and we still would have sucked the past 2 years. Solely because of who we had at QB. QBs play a huge role in a teams success.
Some who climb the ranks are cut out to be a head coach and some aren't.
A quarterback does play a huge role in a team's success. As does the head coach. If you have 1 win in 2 years the problem isn't the roster.
Thanks for sharing. I've seen that story of Haley only coming to Cleveland to take over as HC before.
The only thing that bothers me about the article is talks of Hue being incompetent. I just don't see that. I also don't see how an incompetent person could climb the NFL ranks.
I think its more bashing because of his record. And yes he has to own that, but we all know that we could have inserted Vince Lombardi, and we still would have sucked the past 2 years. Solely because of who we had at QB. QBs play a huge role in a teams success.
The incompetent comments came from coach Sam, not the writer..though all in all it was a hack.
When you have a former coach saying the recently departed coach was incompetent, there was a problem.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
No way Hue hired Haley...Hue knew Haley's history and Hue knew Haley would have designs on being named the Browns next HC, after Hue was fired.
It was said that Hue and Haley did not see eye to eye from day one...go ahead and believe Hue hired Haley...it shows you didn't do any homework into the background of the situation.
Bingo...and now that explains the horrific play calling. What a Scum Bag
"I had no idea. When I was going back into the office I thought possibly if they were going to let Hue Jackson go, that I would have the opportunity now to be the interim coach and then get the job eventually, and that’s why I came here.’ And then it went the opposite direction.”
That is why he came here...to have Hue fail and him take over the HC job interim and afterwards!
Glad he is gone and I hope he has problems getting any job in the NFL!
Defense wins championships. Watson play your butt off! Go Browns! CHRIST HAS RISEN! GM Strong! & Stay safe everyone!
"This will be the greatest turnaround etc. . . . but I won't be around to see it. PS and I am taking my replacement with me."
Not sure what more chatting up might produce. Move along. Conspiracy folks might see Haley tanking for HC, but that is a stretch IMO. But, have fun with it.
"Every responsibility implies opportunity, and every opportunity implies responsibility." Otis Allen Glazebrook, 1880
I haven't been on the Lincoln Riley for head coach train. I don't follow college football as closely as the NFL and don't know a whole lot about him.
You don't think Hue should have reached out to Riley and talked to him? Riley was the QB coach, OC, or head coach for three years while Mayfield was the starter there. It seems like Hue should have tried to contact him to learn more about the offense, what made Mayfield tick, etc.
Hue was the CEO of coaches after all. It seems like it would fit in perfectly with that.
What exactly was it that he did here in his third year?
My bad dawg .. haven’t really followed the thread ... thought u and a few others were talking about not reaching out to him as a HC candidate ... I ASSumes that and made a BUTT out of myself ...
My apologies ...
I’m also BUMMED ... i was THRILLED he had been officially ruled out ... *LOL* ... he’s not gonna be consdered for the reasons i mentioned ...
Once again .. i apologize ... sorry abou that ...
With that said ... now i’ll Disagree with u and the others on this premise also ... *LOL* ...
I’m sure Hue spent plenty of time discussing Bake with Riley pre-draft ... especially shen it became evident to them he was the guy ... they knew early on ... they may not have discussed it or made it official ... but from the sounds of it ... once they went to the weight room that day .. IT WAS OVER ....
Hue had plenty of time pre-draft to get to know Bake through Riley ...
Also ...
Did Peterson get ahold of wentz’s college coach ... o’brien Get ahold of dabo about Mr. Watson? ..
U get my drift ... this is just INNOCENT HUE PILING on IMO ... at least from u .. ...
"This will be the greatest turnaround etc. . . . but I won't be around to see it. PS and I am taking my replacement with me."
Not sure what more chatting up might produce. Move along. Conspiracy folks might see Haley tanking for HC, but that is a stretch IMO. But, have fun with it.
Haley tanking for Hue... that is funny.
We are scoring 21 points in average Our O is actually better than the D on the average points scored/allowed per game ranking.
Still people blame the OC, while it is clear for me that it was the D that was lacking, specially because it was completely out of sync with our O.
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