If there is anything that Hue Jackson has been successful doing over the course of the past year, it has been losing jobs based in Ohio. He was fired as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in the middle of his third year on the job in 2018. Shortly thereafter, he returned to the Cincinnati Bengals as a special assistant for the remainder of the season.
The Bengals fired him yesterday, after he interviewed for the head coaching position that was recently vacated by Marvin Lewis. Jackson had worked under Lewis on Cincinnati’s coaching staff in three separate stints under a number of different titles. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that when Lewis went, he did too.
Prior to Jackson taking the head coaching job with the Browns, he was a re-emerging name on the coaching circuit after finding success as the Bengals’ offensive coordinator, helping to produce the team’s best offensive seasons in many years.
At the time, Lewis was already considering stepping away, or stepping back, at some point in the near future, and reportedly he wanted Jackson to succeed him as head coach. They even went so far as to present the idea to Bengals owner Mike Brown, who liked the idea, but when he declined to commit it to writing, Jackson chose to jump ship at his next opportunity to be head coach.
In hindsight, he didn’t exactly play those cards right. The Bengals’ offense hasn’t been the same since he left, with Cincinnati posting three straight losing seasons in the process. And Jackson became the second-worst head coach in NFL history based on winning percentage, managing a record of 3-36-1 in two and a half years with the Browns.
The Bengals are reportedly eying Los Angeles Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor as their target for their next head coach, but of course they are unable to hire him until the Rams’ season is over. They will host the Dallas Cowboys tonight, so if they win, Cincinnati will have to wait at least a week longer.
That’s fine for Mike Brown and company, who reportedly would love for their next head coach to be able to walk into the building with a Super Bowl ring on his finger. Cincinnati has not even won a playoff game since the 1990 season, as a reminder that I will never stop enjoying. It’s been 10,233 days since their last postseason victory.
What’s next for Hue Jackson, whose reputation has pretty much gone straight down the toilet over the course of the past three years? Considering the fact that he took a coaching role midseason, it’s highly likely he will pursue any job opportunity brought to him.
