Tag: Hue Jackson

Former Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson fired at Grambling State

Some Hue Jackson news.

Former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is out at Grambling State after two seasons.

Jackson went 8-14 over two seasons as the head coach there, going 5-6 this year.

“We want to thank Coach Jackson on his contributions to the GSU football program. We wish him well in all his future endeavors,” Dr. Trayvean Scott, vice president for intercollegiate athletics at Grambling State, wrote in a release. “This was not an easy decision to make but one that we felt was necessary to move our program forward. The goal at GSU is to compete for championships every year. As we move forward, we will be intentional in finding the right person to lead this program back to its rightful place as one of the top programs in the country.”

Jackson was the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati from 2014-15 before moving on to coach the Browns to a 3-36-1 record, including that 0-16 mark in 2017. He then moved to Tennessee State as a coordinator in 2021 before starting at Grambling State in 2022.

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Five things to know about Grambling ahead of LSU’s Week 2 contest

Here are five things to know about Grambling before it arrives in Tiger Stadium on Saturday.

For the second time in program history, LSU will host an HBCU in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night.

The Grambling State Tigers, led by former NFL head coach Hue Jackson, will come to town. LSU is a heavy favorite and looks to keep its 40-year winning streak against in-state schools alive.

This game comes at a needed time for Brian Kelly’s squad as they try to work out the issues from the three-score loss at the hands of Florida State.

Here are five things to know about Grambling before it arrives in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night.

Blast from the past: Brown hired Hue Jackson as HC seven years ago today

Today is the anniversary of one of the most infamous days in Browns’ history

Today is one of the more infamous days in the history of the Cleveland Browns. Seven years ago to the date, the Browns introduced Hue Jackson as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Long before any defensive coordinator search, this was one of the most polarizing hiring cycles in franchise history. He then went on to lead the Browns to a record of 1-31 before being fired midway through his third season in Cleveland.

As the story goes, the search committee had unanimously agreed to hire now Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott before being overruled by owner Jimmy Haslam, who decided to hire Jackson instead. One has to wonder where the Browns would be had they stuck it out with their plan and hired McDermott instead.

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WATCH: Former Browns QB DeShone Kizer breaks down Hue Jackson’s confusing playcalls

We were not the only ones confused by the playcalling of Hue Jackson as DeShone Kizer recalls his first time in an NFL huddle

Neither quarterback DeShone Kizer nor Hue Jackson are remembered fondly for their time as members of the Cleveland Browns. However, it appears those watching the Browns during that 2017 season were not the only ones confused by the offensive play that took place. Kizer recalls his first time in an NFL huddle and it is quite hilarious.

Later traded for safety Demarious Randall after just one season in Cleveland, Kizer still remembers that year with the Browns (how could he forget?). Walking over to Jackson for the play call, Kizer remembers the play now:

“Trips right off Y-counter motion deep pass 96 F sail X dagger KILL with 95 open.”

Kizer then recalls having to go back to Jackson three times for the call and still could not get it right. He ends the trip down memory lane with a hilarious quote, stating, “Coach, that is a long play. I’m used to [gestures with hand signals] a couple of signals, you go up and say 61, the offensive line is good and you’re ready to rock.”

It is fun to look back on that year now, but it sure was not fun to be a part of that season five years ago.

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Key takeaways from the Hue Jackson ‘tanking’ case and dismissal

Key takeaways from the independent investigation that concluded Jackson’s claims had no merit

The independent investigation into former Browns head coach Hue Jackson’s claims that the team financially incentivized losing games during his Cleveland tenure ended with no evidence that supported Jackson. A new and detailed report on the investigation and the claims has come out in the wake of Monday’s dismissal of the claims.

Gary Gramling and Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated wrote a lengthy investigative report on the entire case. While many Browns fans knew quite a bit of the grisly details before, it’s still a good read and a worthy refresher of how far the team has come from the time when Jackson went 3-36-1 as the team’s head coach with a substantially inferior roster to what the team fields today.

Here are some of the takeaways from their informative piece and on the overall Browns situation with Jackson.

Hue Jackson’s allegations against Browns not substantiated by NFL’s investigation

Jackson failed to meet with investigators after agreeing to but a review of thousands of pages of documents “determined none of the allegations could be substantiated” after a 60-day investigation:

As reported earlier, the NFL opened an investigation into the Cleveland Browns following allegations by former head coach Hue Jackson.

Jackson made comments following the lawsuit filed by Brian Flores against the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants. He later tried to clarify those comments in an interview on SportsCenter but the NFL decided to investigate.

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam did not mince words when responding to Jackson’s claims this offseason.

Jackson’s tenure with the team was a horrific stretch of football. While Paul DePodesta and Sashi Brown seemed in unison on the plan, Jackson pushed back on rebuilding with draft picks.

The league completed a 60-day investigation into Jackson’s claims and could not substantiate them:

In a press release, the NFL notes that Jackson did not meet with investigators as he originally agreed to do but the investigation was able to review thousands of documents and his public statements along with filing from a previous arbitration.

None of Jackson’s allegations could be substantiated despite that lengthy review.

Browns being investigated by NFL for tanking

Thanks to Hue Jackson’s allegations, despite his backtracking, the Browns are under investigation by the NFL:

While the Cleveland Browns open offseason activities and celebrate signing cornerback Denzel Ward to a huge contract extension, the team’s past seems to want to bite back. Earlier this offseason, former head coach Hue Jackson made comments about the team paying him to lose football games. Jackson’s comments were made in response to the lawsuit filed by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores.

Owner Jimmy Haslam spoke out harshly against Jackson following his statements. The current Gambling State head coach attempted to clarify his statements later:

Jackson did not state that he offered money to lose but that the organizations had bonuses for things that he believed did not lead to winning including things like having a very young roster.

Unfortunately, Jackson’s statements have now led to Cleveland being under investigation by the NFL for tanking. The Browns seem to welcome the investigation:

A Browns spokesperson sent the following statement: “Even though Hue recanted his allegations a short time after they were made, it was important to us and to the integrity of the game to have an independent review of the allegations. We welcomed an investigation and we are confident the results will show, as we’ve previously stated, that these allegations are categorically false. We have fully cooperated with Mary Jo White and look forward to the findings.”

While Jackson is at Grambling and Sashi Brown, the GM at the time, is the president of the Baltimore Ravens, current GM Andrew Berry was in the front office and Paul DePodesta remains as the chief strategy officer. If the team was found to be in violation, the organization and anyone still employed by the NFL could face punishment.

According to the report, the review is expected to be finished soon.

NFL probing Browns for tanking in 2016 and ’17

The NFL is probing whether the Cleveland Browns intentionally lost games over 2016 and ’17.

A National Football League investigator has spoken to the Cleveland Browns about the 2016 and ’17 seasons, which former coach Hue Jackson said saw the team intentionally lose games.

A couple of months ago Jackson took to social media and claimed the team incentivized him to lose games. He eventually recanted those statements.

The NFL is now probing those claims.

Spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed the league engaged former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White to look into Jackson’s allegations.

“The review is ongoing and is expected to conclude soon,” McCarthy said in an email to The Associated Press.

Cleveland went a combined 1-31 in the seasons in question. Jackson, was fired eight games into the 2018 season with a 3-36-1 mark with the Browns.

Reached by Sports Illustrated for comment, Jackson, who is the head coach at Grambling State, said, “Two years ago I tried to do this the right way, through the bylaws and constitution of the National Football League, to ask them to investigate the Cleveland Browns for all the allegations that I’ve made. So why open an investigation now?”

The Browns say they are cooperating with the investigation and released a statement.

Even though Hue recanted his allegations a short time after they were made, it was important to us and to the integrity of the game to have an independent review of the allegations,” a team spokesman said. “We welcomed an investigation and we are confident the results will show, as we’ve previously stated, that these allegations are categorically false.

“We have cooperated with Mary Jo White and look forward to the findings.”

 

 

How Hue Jackson tried to defend hiring Art Briles and created more controversy in the process

What the heck happened here? We break it down.

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. You may have heard about Hue Jackson and Art Briles and some very weird tweets and wondered what’s up with that. We’re here to help.

Art Briles is back coaching college football, with Grambling State hiring the former disgraced Baylor coach as an offensive coordinator.

It’s a decision that has rocked the college football world, and rightfully so. But it was made MUCH worse when the foundation for Grambling head coach Hue Jackson tweeted a statement in support of Briles … and that’s just the beginning.

Let’s explain:

Jimmy Haslam says Hue Jackson ‘has never accepted blame for one thing.’

Jimmy Haslam didn’t mince words when it came to Hue Jackson’s allegations. The vitriol was strong from the Browns owner:

Hue Jackson’s legacy will forever be connected to the Cleveland Browns organization. If that wasn’t true before this week’s allegations, it has been cemented by them.

First, Jackson made some claims on social media that insinuated that the team gave him bonuses for losing. Then the Browns addressed those claims with their own statement. Jackson followed that up with an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter and seemingly backtracked his allegations of getting paid bonuses for losing.

From that interview, it seems clear that Cleveland presented Jackson with a four-year plan that focused on youth, draft picks and the development of players for the first two seasons before expecting winning to start in years three and four.

In his first two seasons, Jackson went 1-31. While the team was young and draft picks were the focus, there was very little development of the young talent on the team. He was fired during his third season after going 2-5-1.

Owner Jimmy Haslam fired back at Jackson in an interview with the Knox News:

“Hue Jackson has never ever accepted any responsibility for our record during that time period,” Haslam said in an exclusive interview. “He’s been masterful at pointing fingers but has never accepted any blame. I have accepted a ton of blame, and rightfully so.

“There are a lot of things I could’ve done better. Hue has never accepted blame for one thing.”

Haslam went on to make it clear that the former head coach was never paid to lose games. Haslam’s remarks continued:

“I can’t think of any individual that I’ve worked with over the past 45 years that I spent as much time trying to help be successful as I did Hue Jackson,” Haslam said. “His third year, when our roster began to pretty dramatically improve, the eight games he coached we were 2-5-1. After Hue was dismissed, we went 5-3.”

One of the final remarks noted in the piece is the Browns owner noting that winning consistently is the goal but the team has not done that yet “… but we are getting closer.”