Hunter Neel | October 30th, 2018
Coaching Changes Happening in Cleveland
Well, it’s been a busy day for the Cleveland Browns organization. After three years of constantly losing, even when the team probably shouldn’t have been, based on talent, the team had decided to part ways with head coach Hue Jackson.
Jackson has been the Browns’ head coach for the past three seasons. During that time he has had a 3-36-1 record. After going 0-16 last season owner Jimmy Haslam and new general manager John Dorsey decided to give Jackson another season to revive himself. It’s safe to say that after the first half of the season, Jackson has failed to improve the team despite having talent across the roster.
The Browns didn’t stop there though. Just hours after firing Jackson the team also let go of offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Haley was brought in as offensive coordinator in late January for the Browns. Before that, he served as the Steelers OC from 2012-2017.
The Next Step
Following the news of both fires, the team announced the promotion of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to interim head coach and running backs coach Freddie Kitchens to interim offensive coordinator.
Williams has been coaching in the NFL for 27 years, including three as a head coach and 16 as a defensive coordinator. Since his arrival with the Browns in 2017, the teams’ defense has improved significantly in many categories. Within the first year, the team went from 31st in the NFL in both total defense and rushing defense in 2016 to being ranked 14th in total defense and seventh in rushing defense in 2017.
Kitchens was brought into the Browns organization this year by Haley as the team’s RB coach. Before that, he was a quarterbacks coach in Arizona from 2013-2016. During that time Carson Palmer resurrected his career, made the Pro Bowl, and had some of his best seasons. With Kitchens familiar with Haley’s system it’s fair to assume they should keep the offensive concepts similar for Baker Mayfield. There is hope around the organization that the offense will improve going forward with this move.
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