Cleveland Browns: Revisiting moves that have worked at the bye
By Randy Gurzi
Firing Hue Jackson and Todd Haley
The biggest mistake the Cleveland Browns made this offseason was retaining head coach Hue Jackson. After a 1-31 record in two seasons, it was clear he wasn’t the answer. On top of that, the whole theme of the season was changing the losing culture — which is impossible to do when keeping a coach who now owns the second-worst coaching percentage of all-time.
No one expected Jackson to last the whole season and it was hard to find anyone who was shocked at the announcement of his termination. What was a little surprising was the following news that Todd Haley was also let go.
Haley seemed like a logical choice to come in and replace Jackson as the interim coach. However, news broke prior to the firing of both that internal discord between Jackson and Haley was taking its toll on the team.
After two games, it seems obvious that the right move was made in both cases. Gregg Williams is a much more capable leader than Jackson and Freddie Kitchens has shown more creativity in his play calling than Haley did all season. He’s also getting Duke Johnson involved as the running back has three touchdowns in two games since Haley was relieved of his play calling job. While Haley was there, he had none.
Next. Freddie Kitchens is exposing previous coaches flaws. dark
Johnson isn’t the only player who has stepped up without Haley as guys like Mayfield, Chubb, and David Njoku all look much more competent with the new staff. This was clearly their best move of the season.