Cleveland Browns and Hue Jackson: This time it is different

The Cleveland Browns hiring Hue Jackson as head coach may signal that things are finally changing for the Browns.

The day after a new coaching hire by the Cleveland Browns is always a happy one throughout Browns Town.

As fans we do what we always do: talk ourselves into the new guy being the guy, convincing ourselves that this time, finally, the Browns got it right.

It is no different this time following Wednesday’s announcement that Hue Jackson has been hired as the franchise’s 16th full-time head coach – and third since Jimmy Haslam purchased the team in 2012.

There is a lot to like about Jackson, starting with his work as an offensive coordinator with the Bengals.

As ESPN Stats & Information points out:

• Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton had the best season of his five-year career before his thumb injury ended his season. He had career bests in Total QBR (73.1), yards per attempt (8.42), touchdown-to-interception ratio (3.57) and completion percentage (66.1 percent).
• Jackson also oversaw a Bengals unit that ranked in the top 10 in yards per play and could score touchdowns inside the red zone and in goal-to-go situations.

Then there is Jackson’s view on what it takes to build a winning team in the NFL:

“I think the players have to understand integrity is very, very important.” – Head coach Hue Jackson

“I think what you do is you start to build a team through the right vision. You have to have leadership, and I think players have to have some leadership, too, obviously in the locker room,” he said at his introductory press conference. “After that, I think it is integrity. I think the players have to understand integrity is very, very important.

“Then, you have to be accountable. You have to be accountable for what you are doing and how you are doing it. Then, you have to have some passion. You have to have great passion for what you are doing. You couple that with a little desire and determination and great things happen.

“Obviously, the thing that sits on top of that is work ethic. We have to walk into this building every day ready to work and compete to be the best we can be. That is what I am going to sell this football team on, that is what I am going to sell this coaching staff on and that is what I want this organization to be sold on because we are chasing greatness.

“You have to be accountable for what you are doing and how you are doing it.” – Head coach Hue Jackson

“Sometimes people chase it and you don’t hit it all the time, but if you don’t chase it, you are going to hit the wrong thing. At least when you chase it, you might fall on something that is really good that gives a chance to be very special here.”

You don’t have to read too hard between the lines to know that a few high-profile players on the roster are about to learn a hard lesson about what it means to be an NFL player.

The biggest difference between the hiring of Jackson and the previous coaches is the reaction from the outside world.

It’s one thing as fans to get excited about a hiring, but to have the outside perspective be anything other than “meh” is quite a change.

Having said that, winning the opening press conference is one thing. Actually winning when it matters is something else all together.

But on that point, Jackson sounds ready for the challenge.

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“We want to go and we expect to win every game we play. Now that being said, there is a lot of things that need to happen to have that opportunity to come forth,” he said. “I came here to win. I came here to help our team have an opportunity to win football games. We are not going to care about where we play. We understand the AFC North and we understand who we have to play outside our division, and they are really good football teams. We expect to have a really good football team here.

“I didn’t have any preconceived notions and my mind didn’t need to be changed. Again, this is a tremendous organization led by some great people. Again, there are only 32 of these. I understood where they had been and where they’re trying to go. I like challenges. What a challenge, but when you have the support that I think we have here, those challenges become reality.”

If Jackson can turn those challenges into reality, then we will all look back as Wednesday being the day that everything changed for the Cleveland Browns.