Hue Jackson - Pro Football Rumors

Joe Thomas On Johnny Manziel, Browns’ Future

February 11th, 2016 at 6:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Joe Thomas concedes the Browns are going to move on from Johnny Manziel, calling the 23-year-old quarterback’s latest drama “a sad ending to the story,” Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets.

A six-time first-team All-Pro, Thomas said Manziel complained about concussion symptoms on Wednesday before Week 17 and didn’t see him at the Browns’ facility again, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal tweets. Thomas, however, tells reporters (including Cabot, via Twitter) he did not see Manziel the morning he was diagnosed with a concussion and only heard about the then-second-year signal-caller complaining about concussion-related symptoms.

Recent conflicting reports emerged on the nature of Manziel’s absence that week, with alcohol potentially residing at the root of his concussion diagnosis.

Manziel, seen in Las Vegas that weekend and absent from a concussion protocol-mandated check-in, started eight games in Cleveland in two seasons and finished with a 57.8 completion percentage in 2015. “It didn’t work out for Manziel in Cleveland for a lot of reasons. Hopefully he’ll get his life on track and be able to use talents,” Thomas told media, including Ulrich (Twitter link).

Manziel is under investigation by Dallas police for alleged domestic violence of his ex-girlfriend Jan. 30.

Thomas sees the Browns “probably” using their No. 2 overall pick on a quarterback, per Cabot (on Twitter). The 10th-year left tackle added (via Ulrich, on Twitter) the Browns have a bright future, as long as they “pick the right QB.”

Both Hue Jackson and Sashi Brown informed the 31-year-old Thomas he remains a key part of Cleveland’s future and the team’s new power structure doesn’t want to trade him. Thomas told media (via Cabot, on Twitter) he doesn’t think the Browns entertained the notion of trading him until the Broncos called at the trade deadline.

Jackson and Thomas met at Super Bowl 50, with Cleveland’s longtime left-edge protector telling Ulrich (on Twitter) the new Browns coach was the “No. 1 guy” he preferred in the team’s latest coaching search and that he’s “all in” (Twitter link) despite the team discussing him a trade last season.

Thomas would prefer the Browns retain free agent linemen Mitchell Schwartz and Alex Mack, calling them the best right tackle and center in the NFL, respectively, but knows such moves may not occur (Twitter link). Schwartz is an unrestricted free agent, and Mack can opt out of his Jaguars-created contract.

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Browns Add Eight To Coaching Staff

February 8th, 2016 at 5:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns continued to fill out their coaching staff Monday, with Hue Jackson announcing the hiring of eight coaches to work for him during his first season in Cleveland, according to a report on the team’s website.

All of which are position coaches or other assistants after the Browns announced more than two weeks ago the additions of Ray Horton, Pep Hamilton and several others.

Here’s the full list of coaches and their respective titles.

Rock Cartwright, offensive quality control
Louie Cioffi, defensive backs
Ken Delgado, assistant defensive line
Johnny Holland, inside linebackers
Cannon Matthews, assistant defensive backs
Robert Nunn, defensive line
Eric Sanders, defensive quality control
Ryan Slowik, outside linebackers

Cioffi served in the same position under Horton during his previous one-year stint as the Browns’ defensive coordinator in 2013. Cioffi’s worked with Horton in 10 of his 21 seasons.

Nunn was the Giants’ defensive line coach from 2010-15, collecting a Super Bowl ring in guiding the NASCAR package-powered team to the 2011 championship.

Slowik served as the Jets’ defensive line coach last season.

Coaching Notes: Browns, 49ers, Dolphins, Singletary

January 23rd, 2016 at 9:31am CST by Ben Levine

Browns coach Hue Jackson was seeking a defensive coordinator who was familiar with the division, making Ray Horton the perfect fit. As Tom Withers of the Associated Press writes, the 55-year-old has spent time on the coaching staff for the Steelers and Bengals.

“He knows this division,” Jackson said. “He was raised in this division. He played in this division. He understands what needs to be done to get our defense back to where it needs to be. I wanted somebody that knew the lay of the land and understood the division, understands the culture here and understands the change that we need to make and someone who can lead our young players and develop players to get better.”

Let’s check out some more coaching notes from around the league…

The 49ers have hired former Buccaneers linebackers coach Hardy Nickerson for the same position, tweets Alex Marvez of Fox Sports. Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole notes that Nickerson will be coaching the inside linebackers, while Jason Tarver will handle the outside linebackers.
The Dolphins have hired former Broncos offensive lineman Chris Kuper as their new offensive quality control coach, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan.
Former 49ers coach Mike Singletary has interviewed for several assistant gigs, but the 57-year-old told CSNBayArea.com that he’s seeking a job with more responsibility. “I didn’t want to be a linebacker coach again,” he said. “I’ve been studying my tail off since I left San Francisco to become a coordinator at the very least, and hopefully become a head coach. When that didn’t happen, I began to work that much more, visiting coaches and learning everything I could possibly learn, primarily on offense.”

AFC Rumors: Manziel, Wolfe, Gase, Jags

January 22nd, 2016 at 10:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Johnny Manziel will have to transform into the kind of constant presence around the team facility that Andy Dalton and Carson Palmer were under Hue Jackson with the Bengals and Raiders, respectively, per Albert Breer of NFL.com, if he’s to have any shot at staying with the Browns and competing for a job.

Jackson, understandably, prefers quarterbacks who make the team’s headquarters their home during the offseason. These characteristics are essentially the antithesis of Manziel’s behavioral pattern since arriving in Cleveland, and Jackson’s all-out interest in making the quarterback the fulcrum of the team’s progress will probably be spent on someone who isn’t on the Browns yet.

“[Jackson] changed Andy’s routine to get him around us more and around the other offensive players more,” a Bengals coach told Breer, before adding how Jackson pushed to get the game plan to Dalton early in the week, “so he could talk through it in more detail. Then, he pushed [Dalton] to meet separately with other skill guys and some offensive linemen to get them on the same page as him.”

Here are some more details on Manziel and some of the rest of the AFC franchises.

In an appearance on Jay Mohr’s Fox Sports Radio show earlier tonight, an initial filibuster from new Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta on whether Manziel would be on the team next year turned into the former baseball exec offering a “pass” as a response, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer relays. The comedian gave DePodesta yes, no or pass options, and after insisting he choose one after three initial responses, DePodesta said, “pass.” Obviously not a hard answer on the scrutinized ex-first-rounder, but signs continue to point Manziel away from Cleveland.
Derek Wolfe admitted he took “a big cut” compared to what he could have received on the open market in order to stay with the Broncos, Mike Klis of 9News reports. “I don’t really do this for the money. The money is great but you do it to win. That’s why I took a little bit of a haircut to stay here. I took a big cut. But you do it if you want to stay with the No. 1 defense,” said Wolfe in describing the process that went into his signing of a four-year, $36.7MM deal with the Broncos last Friday. In disclosing the terms of Wolfe’s full deal, Klis reports the defensive end will earn base salaries of $4.5MM in 2016, $5.5MM in ’17, $8MM in ’18 and $8MM in ’19, the latter two figures not guaranteed. Wolfe’s largest cap number in this deal will, as of now, loom in 2018, when he’s set to count $9.55MM against the Broncos’ cap.
Jaguars senior offensive assistant Frank Scelfo‘s accepted a position at the University of Texas-San Antonio, where he’ll become the Roadrunners’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter). Scelfo coached the Jags’ QBs in 2013-14 before assuming the senior offensive assistant title last season. He served as the OC for Tulane and Louisiana Tech from 1999-2009.
Gus Bradley leaned on Monte Kiffin to help make the decision to promote Todd Wash to defensive coordinator, Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union reports. The retired Kiffin still serves as a consultant to the Jaguars and Bradley, whom he hired in Tampa Bay when he was the Buccaneers’ DC.
Adam Gase has shown patience while sorting out his staff as holdovers decide whether to stay or go, according to Breer, who adds that sort of approach runs counter to the tumult that permeated through the Dolphins‘ facilities last season.

Schefter On NFL Head Coaching Searches

January 21st, 2016 at 8:42am CST by Luke Adams

While the Browns liked Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, the team recognized the importance of upgrading its offense, which was one reason Hue Jackson was the choice as Cleveland’s new head coach, writes Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. According to Schefter, the Browns believe that by hiring Jackson they not only strengthened their own organization, but weakened a division rival, in the Bengals.

Schefter has some details on the rest of the head coaching decisions as well, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights….

The Giants “seriously entertained” the possibility of hiring Mike Smith as their head coach and keeping Ben McAdoo at offensive coordinator, says Schefter. However, when the Eagles expressed legit interest in McAdoo, the Giants knew they couldn’t risk losing him.
As for those Eagles, they were determined to be more patient this time around than when they hired Chip Kelly, but two of their top candidates – Adam Gase and McAdoo – were hired by other teams while Philadelphia was being patient. Since the club was already familiar with Doug Pederson, it was “completely comfortable” turning to him despite the fact that his initial interview was ordinary, according to Schefter.
The 49ers viewed Kelly, Mike Shanahan, Tom Coughlin, and Anthony Lynn as viable candidates, and felt they would have been in good shape no matter which direction they went in. The fact that Kelly is the only one of the group without a Super Bowl ring was a factor in San Francisco’s choice, since the club feels he’ll be hungry to get that championship.
The Buccaneers took a week to hire Dirk Koetter even though most people expected him to be the choice all along, leading to some whispers that the Glazers “attempted a big swing” before officially promoting Koetter, says Schefter.
Despite a final push from Ray Horton last Saturday, the Titans‘ owners never wanted to get away from Mike Mularkey, who was their top choice all along.
As for the Dolphins, they entered their coaching search planning to be aggressive, and Gase’s desire to land a head coaching job – after being passed over last year – matched up well with that aggressiveness from the team, making him the first new coach hired this month.

Sunday Roundup: Manziel, Forsett, Jags

January 17th, 2016 at 12:50pm CST by Rory Parks

As the Panthers have their way with the Seahawks in the early going of this afternoon’s Divisional Round matchup, let’s take a look at some news and notes from around the league:

We heard just a few days ago that new Browns head coach Hue Jackson was prepared to move on from Johnny Manziel, and the comments he made during a Bleacher Report interview this morning reaffirmed that sentiment. Per Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jackson told Bleacher Report that if Manziel was, in fact, in Las Vegas during the season finale, that would indicate to him that Manziel is not starter material. Jackson then went on to say, “I do believe that this team does need a quarterback.”
Although it’s certainly not a lock, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com believes the Ravens will bring back Justin Forsett next season. The team would gain only $900K of salary cap space by cutting Forsett, and although the other backs on the team’s depth chart have shown some promise, they have significant flaws and are largely unproven.
Packers WR Randall Cobb suffered a bruised lung in last night’s heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Jason Wilde of ESPN.com tweets that the team does not yet have an update on Cobb.
Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley has finally begun his search for a new defensive coordinator in earnest, bringing in Marquand Manuel and Lou Anarumo for interviews last week. Per Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union, Bradley hopes to have the search wrapped up by January 25, and Manuel and/or Anarumo could join the Jacksonville coaching staff even if they don’t land the coordinator position. O’Halloran adds that current defensive line coach Todd Wash could still be promoted to DC.
In a separate piece, O’Halloran looks at the issues facing the Jaguars‘ new DC, whoever it may be, including what to do with Jonathan Cyprien and whether the team should pursue an elite corner like Prince Amukamara or Greg Toler in free agency or if it can afford to look for a second-tier option.
Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com offers his breakdown of the Titans‘ cap situation and free agency outlook.
Mark Maske of the Washington Post observes that the teams looking for a new head coach this offseason were thinking offensively. Of the seven new hires, five were offensive coordinators, and the other two (Mike Mularkey and Chip Kelly) are of course offensive-minded.

Browns Negotiating With Pep Hamilton

January 16th, 2016 at 4:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

A day after we heard Hue Jackson wasn’t planning to hire an offensive coordinator to start his Browns regime, the Browns are negotiating with former Colts OC Pep Hamilton, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter).

Hamilton is in talks to become the Browns’ assistant head coach/offense, basically becoming the top offensive assistant to Jackson in the event these negotiations progress toward Hamilton joining the Browns’ staff.

Jackson, per Cabot will be the Browns’ play-caller this season, just as he was with the Bengals the past two years and with the Raiders, when he coached in Oakland in 2011.

Hamilton, who called plays in Indianapolis before being fired after the Colts started 3-5 this season, met with Jackson on Friday to initially discuss a potential role in Cleveland.

The Browns today informed 2015 offensive coordinator John DeFilippo he would not be back next season. DeFilippo has two years remaining on his contract, which the team will be required to pay out.

Andrew Luck‘s offensive coordinator at Stanford before moving to Indianapolis, Hamilton carried a reputation as a conservative play-caller with the Colts. Hamilton reportedly wasn’t receptive to internal calls to speed up the Colts’ offense this season. An injured Luck helped the Colts regress from third in total offense in Hamilton’s final full season in Indianapolis to 28th this season.

Hamilton previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Jets, 49ers and Bears from 2004-2009 before spending three seasons in Palo Alto.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images

Browns Rumors: Wilson, DeFilippo, Patricia

January 16th, 2016 at 2:46pm CST by Sam Robinson

2:46pm: The Vikings have denied Wilson permission to become the Browns’ running-game coordinator, ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson reports (on Twitter). Minnesota would have needed to grant Wilson approval to meet with Jackson about this position, and the Vikings halted that overture today.

Earlier updates: As eight teams prepare to extend their seasons, let’s look at one that’s firmly in offseason mode. The Browns appear to be going with Hue Jackson‘s plan to not hire an offensive coordinator and have fired John DeFilippo and several other staffers. They are considering Pep Hamilton and Vikings running backs coach Kirby Wilson to come aboard as key offensive assistants, however. Here’s the latest from Cleveland.

With DeFilippo’s time with the Browns deemed a one-year experiment today by new Jackson, the first-time OC has a chance to join the Rams as their passing-game coordinator, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. A 37-year-old Youngstown, Ohio, native, DeFilippo interviewed for the Rams’ position as well as the 49ers’ head-coaching vacancy recently filled by Chip Kelly. Cabot reports DeFilippo was waiting to hear Jackson’s plans for his offensive staff before making a decision on potentially heading to Los Angeles. Rob Boras ascended to the position of the Rams’ offensive coordinator Friday after serving in that capacity in an interim basis when the team fired Frank Cignetti during the season. Under DeFilippo, the Browns’ passing game, despite being saddled with Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel and missing Josh Gordon, amassed 4,155 yards — fourth-most in franchise history.
Jackson ended up with the Cleveland job, but the Browns were also eager to visit with Patriots DC Matt Patricia for a second interview, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (Twitter links). The team contacted Patricia to gauge interest, which didn’t seem to be mutual. Had Patricia been more interested in the fluid position, talks may have progressed to a second interview, Rapaport notes.
Jackson and former Colts offensive line coach Hal Hunter have engaged in talks about the veteran assistant joining the Browns’ staff, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. Hunter, 56, spent the past three seasons as the Colts’ co-offensive line coach before the team announced Thursday that Hunter wouldn’t be retained. After spending more than two decades as a college assistant, Hunter served as the Chargers’ offensive line coach from 2006-11 and offensive coordinator in 2012.

Browns To Fire OC John DeFilippo

January 16th, 2016 at 9:45am CST by Ben Levine

The Browns have informed offensive coordinator John DeFilippo that he will be released from his contract, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter). The reporter adds that head coach Hue Jackson will call the offensive plays in 2016, meaning he’ll presumably go without an offensive coordinator.

Jackson said yesterday that the Browns would likely go into next season without an OC. Jackson called plays the past two seasons with the Bengals, and he also had similar duties as head coach of the Raiders in 2011. Still, the new head coach is eyeing some big names for his coaching staff, having interviewed ex-Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton yesterday. Earlier today, ESPN’s Josina Anderson tweeted that Hamilton was considering the position of assistant head coach with Cleveland. The team has also reportedly been eyeing Vikings running backs coach Kirby Wilson.

DeFilippo has been coaching since 2000, when he spent several years on the staff for Fordham, Notre Dame and Columbia. He got his first NFL gig as the offensive quality control coordinator with the Giants in 2005, and he’d go on to be the quarterbacks coach for the Raiders (two tenures), the Jets, and San Jose State. In early 2015, DeFilippo was hired as the Browns offensive coordinator. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com tweets that the coach still had two years left on his contract, which the Browns will be responsible for.

Browns To Go Without Offensive Coordinator?

January 15th, 2016 at 7:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

During a radio interview Friday, Hue Jackson mentioned he does not plan to hire an offensive coordinator after being brought on as the Browns’ head coach, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Jackson will almost certainly call plays in Cleveland this season after doing so in Cincinnati the past two seasons and in Oakland in 2011, when he served as the Raiders’ head coach.

The newly hired Browns HC didn’t rule out the possibility of someone else calling plays but seems intent on doing so himself, and this could well mean the Browns going without an offensive coordinator this season.

“Right now in my mind, I don’t really plan on having an offensive coordinator ‘cause I want to reserve that right to call plays,” Jackson said on a Sirius XM Radio appearance.

“I think that’s something that’s gotten me this job. So if it’s something that you’re an expert at, I think you want to continue to work at that and keep that in your pocket so you can use it to help your team. Now if I get somebody I really trust who has that [expertise], then obviously I’m very willing to kind of give that away as we go, but it’s got to be somebody I really trust and admire.”

This move would basically make Jackson the head coach/offensive coordinator. Jackson worked with an offensive coordinator in Oakland, Al Saunders, in his 8-8 slate in the Bay Area.

Jackson interviewed ex-Colts OC Pep Hamilton on Friday, per Ulrich, and seeks to bring Vikings running backs coach Kirby Wilson aboard as a running-game coordinator. Wilbert Montgomery‘s served as Cleveland’s running backs coach the past two seasons.

The Vikings would have to grant the 54-year-old Wilson permission to interview for this job. Wilson has been the coach of six different franchises’ backfields, the longest stint coming with the Steelers from 2007-13. Prior to catching on in Pittsburgh once Mike Tomlin took over in 2007, Wilson coached with the Patriots, Washington, the Buccaneers and Cardinals from 1997-2006, with a one-year stint mixed in as USC’s wide receivers coach.

The Browns ranked 25th this season under first-time OC John DeFilippo.

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