When the Cleveland Browns abruptly fired Hue Jackson a few weeks ago, not many people were surprised. I mean, he won the same amount of games for the number of years he was almost the head coach—three.
Within hours of his firing, one name quickly floated the top of the list for Jackson’s possible replacement—former Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Bruce Arians. 2014 AP NFL Coach of the Year publicly announced his retirement from coaching at the commencement of last season, but he recently announced that the only job he would seriously consider is the Cleveland Browns Head Coach vacancy.
Arians actually spent roughly three years with the Browns back in the early 2000s, serving as offensive coordinator under the tutelage of head coach Butch Davis. But why should he come back? And why only come back to a team that won zero games last season?
Well, in his mind, it is simple. Arians sees a young star in quarterback Baker Mayfield, a player that he can build his entire offensive around. He also sees a young, strong defense that is hungry to establish themselves as a force in the NFL.
He already has a plan in his mind for this young Cleveland Browns team, and if I were a Cleveland Brown fan, I’d be banging on general manager John Dorsey’s door every night until they get a deal done.
Bruce Arians is what Cleveland needs—a beloved, battle-tested coaching guru who is determined to turn a city of losers into a city of champions.