The rift between the Browns’ coaching staff and personnel department is something of an open secret, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that the rift may have widened even more this week.
Per La Canfora, team ownership held a conference call with its scouts and football operations staff this week, and while the call was ostensibly intended to give the talent evaluators a vote of confidence, some within the organization have ascribed a very different meaning to it. Team sources said that the call was more of a “kiss of death” than anything else, and a sign that there could be another major shakeup on the way.
Owner Jimmy Haslam has stated that he wants to maintain continuity within his front office and coaching staff rather than engage in the same constant turnover that has plagued the organization for years. However, the Browns look to be heading towards another dismal season in 2017, and in response to questions as to whether the team could win this year or is again looking towards the future, head coach Hue Jackson said on Monday, “I think this team can [win]. I think we have to do some things better and work a little bit harder and make sure that we do some of the detail things right, but that question that you just asked, I think that is something you have to talk to [executive vice president] Sashi [Brown] about and the executive team.”
Those comments are what triggered Haslam’s conference call with football operations, and the fact that he felt compelled to have such a call at this point in the season have suggested to some that change could be on the way. As La Canfora writes, the Brown/Jackson partnership, such as it is, is looking increasingly untenable, and the team may have to show marked improvement in a big hurry (i.e. start winning a few games) to prevent Haslam from cleaning house.
Earlier this month, we saw yet another instance of discontent between Jackson and Brown, and Jackson’s comments this week suggest that things may only be getting worse.
Hue Jackson was great in Oakland. They played .500 when no one expected them to. Jackson wanted more authority. He did not come back. Looks like he is trying to the same in Cleveland…
Hue Jackson is a good coach…needs a better defensive scheme/coordinator but I’m not so sure analytics have as much of a relevancy in football as they do in baseball
Hue gotta believe ! Seriously tho you can’t be expected to win if your gm is cutting all your players
Anything that comes from La Canfora on the Browns is motivated purely by the insane jilted Mike Lombardi trying to take down Haslam as revenge for canning him. Shows lack of intelligence and awareness on the part of TR writers more than anything else. Why propagate poorly sourced gossip? Oh, right, the clicks.
fan of hue’s but not a fan of sashi or paul