The Cleveland Browns pulled the long overdue rip cord the week before and separated from Head Coach Hue Jackson after three wins in two and a half years – but when it comes to Jackson, the dismissal came too early.
Jackson complained to Mary Kay Cabot from The Plain Dealer: “The season is still long, we stood at 2-5-1 with a rookie quarterback and a rookie-left tackle. We had already played against Pittsburgh twice, defeated Baltimore and could have easily reached 3-4-1 if the refs didn’t take back our first down in Oakland. The fact that we’ve already had four overtime games shows that we’re a better team.”
That’s why he believes that the team was on the right track: “In my eyes it’s like this: If we can fix the offense, it’s a completely different story. That’s why I think the release was premature. I think the root of the problem lies in the first two years.”
Jackson obviously regrets his decision to hand over the Play Caller responsibility to Todd Haley. Jackson and Haley, who was only hired as the new offensive coordinator in the summer, did not get along at all and were fired together; the dispute between the two played a central role in the dismissal.
“If you look at the numbers 2016 and 2017,” Jackson continued, “when I was the play caller with less talent, you see that our numbers were on the same level or worse this year. It was hard for me to give up play calling because I knew we would get more talent with John Dorsey. I wanted to remind everyone what a Hue Jackson open looks like, but I felt like they wanted me to take care of the whole team and let someone else do the play calling.”
Ultimately, one should “rely on oneself. I knew that with our system I could make the U-turn in the open. So I was surprised that I wasn’t given the chance to show what I can do as a play caller with a much more talented offense.”