The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Browns fire Jackson, owner cites discord
BEREA, Ohio — Browns owner Jimmy Haslam finally tried the patient approach with his head coach. That didn’t work either. Haslam made his fourth coaching change since 2012 by firing Hue Jackson, who won just three of 40 games over two-plus seasons and then lost his job because of a feud with offensive coordinator Todd Haley that went public and threatened to turn a promising season into another one of those Cleveland catastrophes.
Haslam fired Jackson and Haley within hours of each other on Monday, a day after the Browns (2-5-1) lost their 25th consecutive road game — one shy of the NFL record.
“Hopefully, we made a big step today,” Haslam said. “It is hard to win in the NFL. If anybody knows that, it is us. I think the message today is we are not going to put up with internal discord. We want people who are collaborative and work together.”
As for his poor track record in finding coaches, Haslam offered no excuses.
“I will accept the blame because ultimately, it is the person at the head of the ship,” he said. “I will take the blame as ownership. I can’t explain it more than that. We have had different situations with different people. I know that it is something that we are not going to tolerate moving forward.”
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is Cleveland’s interim coach, and running backs coach Freddie Kitchens will take over for Haley.
Haslam said Williams, who coached Buffalo from 2001-03, was the only inhouse candidate considered to finish the season. While Williams has extensive experience and won a Super Bowl, he also has a checkered past. He was suspended by the league for a full season in 2012 for his role in the “Bountygate” scandal that rocked the New Orleans Saints.
Haslam said it’s premature to consider the next coaching hire for the Browns, who are 22-81-1 since he and his wife, Dee, agreed to buy the franchise in 2012.
The main objective now is to get through the season’s second half, beginning with a matchup on Sunday against the high-scoring, Kansas City Chiefs (7-1).
“We will have a collaborative effort in everything that we do here,” Haslam said when asked about a search for the team’s ninth coach since 1999. “Right now, we are focused on the next eight games and Gregg and his staff winning as many of those games that we can.”
There are already names floating around as potential candidates to be Cleveland’s next coach, including Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, who coached Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield in college.
“Not right now,” Riley said of his interest in jumping to the NFL. “You sit here and answer these questions and I always want to be truthful. The truth is for me is, I love Oklahoma. I love coaching here. I love college football. I certainly don’t have that itch right now.”
Just three weeks ago, the Browns, who went 0-16 last season under Jackson, appeared to have turned the corner following an overtime win against Baltimore.
But things unraveled quickly, thrust in the wrong direction by a power struggle between Jackson and Haley, who joined Cleveland’s staff this season after six in Pittsburgh. Following a loss at Tampa Bay last week, Jackson aimed blame at Haley by offering to help the team’s offense.
Haley publicly said he wasn’t offended by the remarks. But Jackson’s comments seemed to widen a divide between the coaches, who had disagreed on players getting days off during training camp and whether wide receiver Josh Gordon deserved to start the opener.