Even without a game to play and the season behind them, Hue Jackson and the Cleveland Browns managed to get humiliated — this time, by the Reese’s Senior Bowl.
The Reese’s Senior Bowl named their coaching staffs for this year’s All-Star event, going with the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans. In cooperation with the league, the Senior Bowl staff picks two teams to coach the event. Normally, the opportunity goes to teams that retained their head coach starting with the worst record. The Cleveland Browns finished 0-16, finishing dead last and three games behind everyone else in the league but will not be coaching the event despite retaining their 1-31 head coach.
In a week where the Browns were trying to get some positive press with the announcement of adding Alonzo Highsmith from the Green Bay Packers to add to John Dorsey’s front office, they’re derailed by the latest humiliation at the hands of Hue Jackson.
On January 2nd, Hue Jackson responded to a question about coaching the Senior Bowl. “If we have the opportunity to, then we would,” as reported by Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.
Jackson was also asked about the opportunity to see Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. “No question. Anytime that you can be around those guys I think is great because you get to see them in a whole different light.”
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The very next day, the coaches were announced with the Browns are trying to say they declined. A lot must have changed in 24 hours or more likely, this is another embarrassing lie that is increasingly commonplace with Jackson and the Browns.
One reason the Browns could be passed over is a massive shakeup in the coaching staff, but the Browns have yet to make any kind of coaching move. They haven’t fired anyone, no one has quit and the only thing that has been announced is their to interview a few offensive coordinator candidates. Ken Zampese, formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals and then Sean Ryan, the current quarterbacks coach of the Texans.
The Texans, selected to coach in the event, have fired or parted ways with four coaches so far and could end up losing two more to other opportunities. Currently, they’re down their running backs coach, defensive backs coach and both of their special teams coaches with the potential of losing their quarterbacks coach (to the Browns to be offensive coordinator) and defensive coordinator, who is being considered for head coaching opportunities.
Last year, the Browns switched out their entire defensive coaching staff and some offensive coaches, eliminating this as a possibility.
So that just leaves the possibility that the league, Senior Bowl or both, thought so poorly of Jackson, they simply rejected him. And it comes down to how they ran their practices last year. Most who attended the event found the practices unacceptable. This is just a taste.
Boring. Unorganized. No energy. No flow from session to session. Worst practices I’ve seen in all my time going to the senior bowl.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 3, 2018
The more diplomatic version would be calling the practices selfish. They did not run a league friendly practice that served the needs of every team as the Chicago Bears did in a contrast to the Browns last year. Instead, the practices were extremely specific and appeared designed to only benefit the Browns. In fact, the Browns crossed anyone who didn’t stick it out through the week off their draft board.
The argument can be made that this is good for the Browns, but it’s easy to see why it would make them unpopular with the rest of the league and why they would complain. Jackson and his staff coached this like they were never expecting to be back and despite qualifying for the distinction in spectacular fashion, ensured they wouldn’t get the opportunity.
Jackson and the Cleveland Browns can try to play it off as if they declined the opportunity to spend a week coaching some of the best players in the upcoming draft, including one of the top quarterbacks, as incredibly arrogant and frankly stupid that would be for a team coming off an 0-16 season. That doesn’t pass the smell test. This reeks of league personnel going to the Senior Bowl and asking them not to let Cleveland Browns coach, putting the Browns in a must lie situation.
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The Browns will obviously still have scouts and personnel people in Mobile for the event to watch the practices and interview players, but this is humiliating. Jackson cost his team an advantage in the scouting process, only adding to his impressive list of head coaching blunders. So long as Hue Jackson remains in that position, this will be standard operating procedures.