Hue Jackson is not going anywhere

The Cleveland Browns are having a season that is miserable, even by their own standards. But there is no reason to make it worse with a coaching change.

The worst start in franchise history.

The worst defense in franchise history.

An offense that is continuing a nine-year trend of ineptitude.

A quarterback situation that is as unsettled as it has ever been.

A final destination that seems to get further away with each passing week.

It is safe to say that Hue Jackson’s first year as head coach of the Cleveland Browns has not gone quite the way he hoped it would.

“I think we also understand what we have to do in order to get this changed.” – Hue Jackson

It was always nothing more than a pleasant fantasy, or delusional thinking if you want to go that route, to believe that Jackson would come into town and transform a moribund franchise in the span of a few months.

Jackson’s first season in town has been undone by injuries, strange play calling, more injuries, Ray Horton, even more injuries, and the lasting impact of Ray Farmer’s ineptitude.

During and after Thursday night’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens it became clear that the honeymoon period between some Browns fans and Jackson has come to an end. Even those fans who knew and understand what was coming are feeling a bit of a strain as 0-10 is still pretty hard to take.

While Jackson hasn’t been perfect – and his impact as a head coach is still more theoretical than proven – the idea that another organizational explosion is on the horizon is nonsensical.

The Browns should operate under a simple formula when it comes to their head coaches. Unless it is blatantly obvious that the man in charge is incompetent – think Eric Mangini or Pat Shurmur – well, if Romeo Crennell got four years then everyone else should get at least three.

Jackson touched on the issue on Friday when he essentially pointed out that everyone knew what signed up for prior to the start of the season.

“We all recognize when you are playing a lot of young players that these seasons, records, whatever it is you want to say can go a lot of different ways. For whatever reason, it hasn’t gone the right way for us,” Jackson said when asked about the pressure of being 0-10. “We have not had very many breaks as we have been through the season. That is a huge part of it, but at the same time, I don’t think anybody wants to be in the situation we are in today.”

More from Dawg Pound Daily

• How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
• Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
• 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
• Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?
• 5 Free agents from Super Bowl LVII Cleveland Browns should target

“(Owners) Jimmy Haslam and Dee Haslam have been outstanding. Obviously, they don’t like to lose, either, but I think they understand the plan and what we are trying to accomplish. I have total faith and confidence in them and the vision that we have created.

“I feel very comfortable with where we are – not where we are as far as our record – I feel very comfortable as far as where we are in my relationship with them and how they feel about where we are headed.”

More changes on definitely on the horizon once the off-season hits, although those will (and should) be focused on the roster rather than the coaching staff. (Although if things keep going the way they have it will be hard for Jackson to make a case for a second year of Horton as defensive coordinator.)

But to contemplate yet another head coaching change is something that should not even be part of the discussion. This Browns team was flawed coming into the season and a combination of forces – both in and out of his Jackson’s control – have made things worse. No one likes 0-10, but this season was never about winning games, so to hold Jackson to an arbitrary won-loss record is not really fair.

No matter how rough the final two months of the season will be, the absolute worse thing to do is to take a major deviation from the plan. The front office has set the team up perfectly to absolutely own the first two rounds of the draft next spring and there is no reason to take two steps back at this point

Especially since Jackson is looking at the situation with eyes wide open.

Next: Cody Kessler proving he is not the answer

“I do understand what the issues are and where we are and where we are going to go, but also, it has been tough,” he said. “I have a good staff who stands behind me. I have an owner who has been unflinching. I have executives in the front office starting with Sashi, Paul and AB who have not blinked, and they get it.

“Are we disappointed for where we are? Yeah, but I think we also understand what we have to do in order to get this changed.”