Cleveland Browns: Could Gregg Williams pull a Hue?

If the Cleveland Browns do go with a coach other than Gregg Williams, could he make like Hue Jackson and head south to coach the Cincinnati Bengals?

With the Cleveland Browns taking their time to find their next coach, it’s seeming less and less likely that Gregg Williams will keep the job permanently. Sure, the team interviewed him, but they knew all they needed to know about Williams based on him running the team for a half season even before sitting down for a face-to-face discussion.

During that time, he took a 2-5-1 squad and won five-of-eight games, nearly leading them to a winning record as they lost by just two points to the Baltimore Ravens in the last week of the season to finish 7-8-1. Even with his success, the market for Williams seems lukewarm as the chatter outside of Cleveland is non-existent — even with so many head coaching jobs open.

One such opening is in the same state even as the Cincinnati Bengals are looking for a coach after moving on from Marvin Lewis. Oddly enough, they have interviewed the man Williams replaced in Hue Jackson — who famously went to the Bengals to be a ‘special assistant’ after being fired following a Week 8 loss.

More from Dawg Pound Daily

However, the Bengals would probably be smarter to look at Williams, rather than the proven loser Jackson. And that’s what Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com is suggesting as he says the Bengals are looking at the wrong person by interviewing Hue Jackson (which we all agree with).

"“But the Bengals are looking in the wrong direction.Assuming the Browns don’t want Williams as head coach, he should be at the top of the Bengals’ list. Even if he’s a quick-fix guy, the Bengals need that. The Cincinnati job is one of the least attractive of the eight NFL openings. So far, Williams has not been rumored to as a candidate anywhere other than Cleveland.” — Pluto, Cleveland.com"

Pluto brings up a great option for the Bengals, but the real question here is whether Williams would go to Cincinnati the same way his predecessor did. Jackson went to the Bengals solely to help them beat the Browns — which didn’t happen as the Browns embarrassed them twice and even poked a lot of fun at Jackson.

Williams, however, seems to have much more respect for the players in Cleveland. He’s also stated his desire to stay in town even if he doesn’t get the head coaching job, and he seems sincere in that.

He’s stated in the past he turned down multiple jobs to work with the Browns and has never backed down from such statements. Cleveland has been good to Williams and they were the first team to put him in charge of a roster (even if on an interim basis) since his involvement in Bounty Gate. He had coordinator jobs, but this was his first crack at being a head coach again, and he was successful in that endeavor, which helps him going forward even if it isn’t here.

Next. Four candidates for contract extensions in off-season. dark

So in the end, Williams may listen to other jobs, but he doesn’t seem likely to reward the Browns faith in him by going south the way Hue did. Although, should he decide to do so, it’s also unlikely the players would aim to embarrass him the same way they did Jackson. But that’s what happens when you help players win, rather than blame them for your losses.

Home/Browns News