Former Browns coach Hugh Jackson claims Cleveland’s front office ‘lies’ about rebuilding plans

Hugh Jackson wants to set the record straight on his time in Cleveland.

During an interview with ESPN 850 on Monday, the former Browns head coach claimed he was “lied to by the ownership and executive team.” Jackson, who served as the Bengals’ offensive coordinator before being appointed by the Bruins in 2016, told the radio station that he was never told that Cleveland would have to go into rebuilding mode before accepting the job. He said the franchise incorrectly portrayed him as an anti-analytics coach.

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“They were going to be football plus analytics, but they deliberately made it into football vs. analytics,” Jackson said. “You understand, it wasn’t going to happen – they weren’t looking for a coach. It was going to take them two years, and they were going to find a way to use us as an experiment to make sure they were getting data. They needed to get whoever was better – and that’s not right. I don’t care what anyone says. It shouldn’t happen.

“They lied to try to portray the picture I was against analytics. I would never have worked if it had been. They told me it was a resource to help me win. I did analytics. Sought to understand. To make sure that I was a collaborator, but one thing that stuck with me is that it’s all analytical things – and people have to understand that – one has to determine what is valuable. And how valuable that information is. “

Jackson, who is writing a book about his brown tenure, finished 3-36-1 from a two-plus season in Cleveland, including a 0–16 mark in his second year. Jackson said that he Received a contract extension In the midst of that disappointing season, but the Braves did not want to publicly announce the details of the deal.

He was eventually fired in 2018 after starting 2–5–1 and was replaced by interim head coach Gregg Williams. Jackson believes he was used as “Gullible” For Brown’s organizational failures.

“People need to go back and look at those drafts and see where those players are today,” Jackson said. “You should tell us everything you need to know. They are not in this team. They have not been. Some of them are not even in the league, yet we were expected to win. You can’t win that way. Still I overheard other people saying, ‘Well, everyone knew that this is a disturbance. This is what they are going to do.’ I have never been told that this is a disturbance. “

As for his future, Jackson said he is “not worried” about whether he gets another coaching job. He wants to share his side of the story because it’s just about “Right and wrong.”