NFL - NEWS & NOTES

I'm hearing Kris Richard is a front runner for the Miami Dolphins job.

 

I'd like it on record that I didn't bring his name up. But since he was mentioned, i'll give my two cents on Hue....

I think we can all agree that Hue's win/loss record didn't help him any...Nor did his constant finger pointing or his player management.

You can't go 1-31 without failing on many levels...I don't buy the "he couldn't possibly win with that roster" bullshit, at all. Not saying we were good. Obviously we weren't, but we were in many games during that awful (1-31) run. Three OT games last year alone. Hue never had a clue what to do...It is NO surprise that the Browns took off the moment that Hue Jackson exited the building.

Truth is, Hue thought, after our stellar 2017 preseason, that we had righted the ship. He was talking about culture change, and how the ultra-talented Deshone Kizer was gonna lead the way. Then about 5 games into the regular season Hue realized how poorly he had assessed everything. It was obvious to anyone that watched, they weren't going to win a game with Kizer. So Hue cranked up his blame game to the max, and somehow got the owners ear. Which still amazes me....Then the panic move for AJ McCarron, which we all know came from Hue. What a disasterous trade that would have been. Lucky for Hue, Sashi sabotaged the deal, and pretty much got himself fired....I have no idea how Hue managed to hang onto his job after 1-31. I mean, it was SO bad, we had a sarcasm parade, yet Jimmy still decides to hang onto the coach...smh

Fast forward to this season. Hue refuses to consider starting Mayfield. Team decision or not, Hue was part of it. He told us all summer how there's no way he'll be able to overtake the experienced Tyrod Taylor. Ty was our starter, end of story. What we saw with our own eyes in the preseason did not matter. Even after two and a half games of horrific play from Tyrod , Baker only gets in because of an injury....It took Mayfield like one snap to show everyone Hue was an idiot.

Nick Chubb gets 2 carries against Oakland and goes over 100 yards with 2 TD's. The following week, he gets one touch. The week after that, two touches. Every presser the media wants to know why Chubb isn't getting the ball more. Hue gives that smug look and tells us all week after week, "it's just not that easy. We are trying to get him more involved. You just don't understand football and how difficult these things can be. That's why I'm the coach."...smh...As if we are all idiots.

Thank god John Dorsey just handled it by trading away Carlos Hyde....Boom, the rest is history. Chubb is ROY finalist.....It shouldn't have been that hard. Dude was a high draft pick star RB from Georgia. WTF was the problem? No doubt Hue would point at the other bozo, Todd Haley. But that's a copout. Hue could have made Haley play Chubb over Hyde. Neither one of those idiots knew what they were doing...

Hue is a joke, and I think he got exposed big time for the fraud that he is...Going on his two week media tour immediately after getting fired, so he could point fingers and place blame for what happened in Cleveland, didn't help him at all...

No love loss here for Hue Jackson...

 

Brian Flores.

 

Could come down to who loses first.

 

@Tim
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-expected-to-hire-patriots-brian-flores-as-hc

 

There was a report up yesterday linking Richard.

I believe Rapoport was the one to put Flores name out as a lock, so I'm gonna take the 'wait and see' approach, lol.

 

Gdmt I hate losing Flores. Let the Schiano speculation begin.

 

Looks like Steve Wilks is gonna be the new Browns DC.....

 

I think my info is a day late and a dollar short, TD. Looks like Flores is going to take the job.

 

Bears hire Chuck Pagano as defensive coordinator...

Chuck Pagano sat out one season. That apparently was long enough away from coaching.

The Bears have hired Pagano as their new defensive coordinator, replacing Vic Fangio, the team announced Friday night.

Pagano, 58, spent six seasons as head coach of the Colts, going 53-43 in the regular season and 3-3 in the playoffs before Indianapolis fired him after the 2017 season. He spent last season as an NFL consultant.

“We are excited to add Chuck to our staff as defensive coordinator,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said in a statement. “He has successful experience at many different levels in this league, and he is a great teacher with an aggressive mentality that fits our style of football. He is a man of high character and has a passion for the game that will no doubt add to the culture we have already started building at Halas Hall.”

Pagano has coached in the NFL for 16 years.

The Bears interviewed current defensive backs coach Ed Donatell and had interest in Todd Bowles before Bowles took the coordinator job in Tampa. (PFT)

 

I'll only pipe in here...I believe you are wrong. I Don't think Hue could have made Haley play Chubb, because he was stupid enough to give that power to his Coordinators...it's one of the reasons for the discord. Remember game 1? Press-"Hue, will Josh Gordon start"...Hue-"No it was a coaches decision, Josh will get some reps, but he isn't quite there yet, he will not start...coaches decision".... Right after opening kickoff, Josh Gordon trots onto the field with Todd Haley's smug face looking straight ahead not glancing towards Hue.

Point blank, Hue Jackson did not/could not demand respect. That's why he failed, thus the team failed.

 

Just a chirp back, I think you are wrong on this, but you are free to believe what you like. I'm not giving him the "easy out" to just point the finger at Haley. This was Hue Jackson's team... I think Hue truly believed that playing the veteran, Carlos Hyde, gave us the best chance to succeed. It wasn't until Dorsey forced the issue by trading Hyde away, that Chubb finally got some significant playing time....As I mentioned, Hue failed on many levels...If a HC can't override a coordinator that he thinks is making a mistake with the personnel being used on the field, then that's a huge fail in and of itself....During game prep, what did these ass clowns discuss all week? Nope, sorry, I'm not buying that at all. Both Hue and Haley wanted the veteran, Carlos Hyde, on the field....Even if your scenario was the case, we all know hue had Haslam's ear. If he wanted Chubb on the field, he could have made that happen. Haley wasn't his boss...

Every time Hue was ever asked about Chubb, he would drone on about how they are "trying to get him more touches", and then he would mention that they brought in Carlos to be the starter. Carlos was the veteran that's done it before at this level, and as long as he was good to go, Hue wasn't doing anything to get Chubb more involved.

Point blank: Just like Hue thought Tyrod was better than Baker, he also thought Carlos was better than Chubb...

 

Uh, That's exactly what I said. I wasn't necessarily blaming Haley, I was saying Hue had no control which led to the epic fail.

We can agree to disagree here..

Hue was butt hurt that they took the offense away from him. Example X, as soon as he was fired, he stated quite clearly.. 'I know I could've turned our offense around' if given the chance to 'call plays this season with a better roster'... He was allowing the coordinators to dig their own graves. ESPECIALLY Todd Haley. I don't think he took part in any way on game day. That way he could meet with Haslem on Monday to tell him why it went terribly wrong and how he would have done it differently.

Whether or not he was smart enough to realize the two rookies were better for this offense is irrelevant. They forced Haley on him and he resented every waking minute of it. He had no aspiration of helping Haley, thus he was an epic failure.

 

Are you disputing the fact that Shashi Brown gutted the roster starting in year 1 of the 5 year plan? He did it well enough to "earn" the #1 O/A draft pick two years in a row! Shashi was a master at accumulating assets - but he sucked at talent evaluation.

Year 1 he balked at giving Mitchell Schwatrz a minimal salary bump forcing Schwartz into free agency. (Year 3, Schwartz is an All-Pro right tackle for the Chiefs). And there were others that got "Schwartzed" by Shashi as well. The result was the Browns' roster in years 1 and 2 lead the league in the percentage of the roster that were rookies and it wasn't even close. Four out of the first five 2016 draft picks aren't even on the team anymore.

In year 2, Shashi stocked the roster with DeShone Kizer, Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan at quarterback. Yes, Hue talked these guys up. What did you expect him to say? "Sorry Browns fans - every one of these guys suck so don't expect much this year"? IMHO, this is what got Shashi canned. He did snag Myles Garrett with the 1st of two number 1 picks but that was a no-brainer.

Year 3 (enter John Dorsey). Do you really think Dorsey thought there was enough talent on the roster to win? The percent of roster turnover last year was staggering. He started by shedding players who underperformed or didn't fit the scheme (Danny Shelton, TWO Colemans, etc.). If Dorsey truly thought there was enough talent on the roster, then why would he sit back and buy into bringing Jackson back for year 3? We'll never know for sure, but I strongly suspect he either suggested or supported the idea that the Browns continue with Jackson ONLY on the condition that Jackson bring in an offensive coordinator. Little did anyone know that the #1 hot candidate they hired would turn out to be a usurper as Irish has already pointed out.

 

I think this goes back to the conversation we were having immediately after the Dorsey hire revolving around whether or not Haslam would give John full control of putting together the coaching staff or if he would continue to side with Hue.

It was my top concern with Cleveland. If Dorsey was being asked to build the roster he needed to be in control or at least have a clear say in how the coaching staff was going to be put together.

If not, you end up with a situation where the coach is getting players that he doesn't want, doesn't fit his scheme or is being told will work for what the broader vision of the team is, one that the coach may not agree with.

It depends on how many wins you would define 'winning' as.

I agree with this, but it also points back to Haslam wanting to retain Hue to the point that he would be willing to make compromises with the GM he just hired to build the roster that would include provisions to insulate the offense from Jackson.

Along the lines of what we will never know for sure - I would suspect that Haley was more of a Haslam hire than a Dorsey one, because when the shit hit the fan he was given no quarter, same as Hue.

And to further that thought - All the reports this off-season seem to indicate the Dorsey's input is being given the larger sway in the hiring process.

 

Just think about it from Hue's perspective. You are coming off (1-31)!!! In spite of the "parade", you somehow retain your job. Do you really think a HC in those shoes would just stand idly by, knowing that his OC is playing the wrong personnel on gameday?? lol. I mean, he HAD to know it was his ass if they didn't start winning now, Right? If he truly believed his best chance to win was being left on the bench, he'd have been shouting it from the mountaintops. Or at least, he be standing on Haslam's desk demanding changes. No human being in Hue's position is just gonna let his coordinators sink him in that fashion.....Hue didn't have a clue.

 

If having an offensive coordinator was a condition of employment . . . Yes.

 

Well this is turning into a conversation more suited for the Browns board. I'm not disputing any of this. Are we really doing this again? I mentioned that we were not a good team. I was just pointing out how bad Hue Jackson SUCKS as a football coach. Not sure why all the obvious stuff was even brought up. Was there anybody unaware that Sashi tore the roster down 2 years ago for a massive rebuild? You come at me with this crap every time I ever get on Hue's case. If you want to keep defending Hue Jackson, be my guest. But don't act as if I'm unaware of the way things have transpired in the world of Browns football. It's insulting, and I know that you know better....We obviously see things differently. You blame Sashi for everything. I don't.

Btw, where's were all the team's calling for Hue Jackson to come in for interviews?

I think even John Dorsey was surprised at how good Baker Mayfield was, and how quickly he took control of this team, but I'm not gonna speculate on what he may or may not have thought.

I know this much... If I'm an NFL HC that's barely hanging on to his job after an epic run like Hue's (1-31), I'm certainly not letting some obvious huge mistakes, in regards to the starting QB and RB personnel, being made by an assistant coach, take me down...That's just ridiculous. Every head coach knows, at the end of the day, he will be held accountable.

 

I don't think he did know...we are talking about a guy who went 1-31 and was brought back. Dee and his wife were friends. I think he felt he had complete absolution in the offense due to the delegation of the OC. I truly believe he thought he had another free year, because Dorsey talked Haslem into Haley. He seemed stunned when he was fired, which is what leads me to believe this.

 

Don't forget, he was brought in under the guise of the 5 year plan...he was only beginning year 3 of that 5 phase plan. He also was witness to the Bengals playing out of Marvin Lewis' career.

I don't pretend to KNOW what he was thinking, but his actions showed he lacked the capacity to live in reality.