Cleveland Browns News: Did Todd Haley join Browns to take Hue Jackson’s job?
By Randy Gurzi
Reports have surfaced that Todd Haley thought he was about to be named interim head coach for the Cleveland Browns, and that may have been his goal all along
Todd Haley was fired the same day as Hue Jackson, but the former Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator hasn’t done the damage control world tour that Jackson has. That doesn’t mean he’s said some things he believed were off the record.
For instance, there have been some reports that Haley has opened up to a mentor in Sam Rutigliano, who has relayed Haley’s thoughts. The biggest being that Haley thought he was going to be named interim coach before being blindsided with his firing.
What’s most interesting is Rutigliano says Haley took the job in Cleveland with the expectation that he would replace Jackson. While that’s all in the past now, it shows just how foolish it was of owner Jimmy Haslam to force general manager John Dorsey to work with Hue Jackson.
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No one respected Hue and not one person believed he would be coaching by season’s end. That explains why he’s no longer here.
That story and more can be found in today’s Daily Dawg Tags.
Cleveland Browns News
"Why did they fire Todd Haley?” Rutigliano said. “I talked to him on the phone. When he was going to the office he thought he was going to take over. And he got fired. . . . He said to me, ‘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.”"
The biggest story isn’t that Haley thought he would be interim, it’s that Haley knew Jackson was a terrible coach and only joined to take his job. Again, this is a huge shot at Hue Jackson who had no business being on the sidelines this season. It also helps explain why there was so much friction between Haley and Jackson — of course, that’s probably the norm when a GM is forced to keep a lame duck coach.
"Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have officially turned their fourth coaching search over to general manager John Dorsey, a league source told cleveland.com."
This is surely the best news Browns fans could have ever heard. The terrible statements coming from Hue Jackson of late shows how bad Jimmy Haslam was duped in the past by unqualified coaches, so leaving the decision up to Dorsey is huge. Cleveland, we have hope. And the Haslam’s deserve credit for admitting someone else is better qualified in this area.
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