As what has been well documented, for those of you who are
Browns fans, and most likely assumed, for those of you who are not Browns fans,
the Browns once again lost in overtime on a Sunday. This time the Browns
succumbed to America’s number one evader of sexual assault – quarterback Jameis
Winston and his fellow Buccaneers. This game went similarly to the Browns’ other
non-wins – Browns defense played well, offense left a lot of chances on the
table, the refs missed a blatant call which could have increased the Browns’
chances of winning, and the Browns turned the ball over which provided the
Buccaneers with advantageous field position to kick the game winning field
goal. The blog would end now if it wasn’t for Hue Jackson and his post-game
press conference!
That’s right.
Although Hue has driven me crazy over the past two plus years with his lifeless
presence on the sideline, his constant look of a lonely fifth grader who just
has had his lunch money stolen for the eighteenth time, and his indecision
during every facet of a football game, I can confidently and graciously thank
Hue for providing me with blog material to entertain my readers. Hue, in the
post-game press conference, told the nation that he will be getting more
involved with the offensive decision making and play calling.
I’m not gonna continue to watch something I
know how to do keep being that way. That’s just the truth. That’s nothing
against anybody in our building, that’s just what I do and I need to be a
little bit more involved . . . Being a head coach and an offensive guy who has
done this, I feel like I have every right to jump in there and see if I can
help. And assist. And see if I can get this thing where it needs to be. We need
to be better on offense, and if that’s my specialty, I need to be involved more
and I will be.
I take Hue’s statement as an insult to every Cleveland
Browns fan who has any sort of memory capacity. Hue’s comment makes it seem as
though he hasn’t been calling the offensive plays in Cleveland for the past two
years. In fact, his offensive play calling allowed the Browns to earn one win
in thirty-two games. That’s how good it was! Hue’s an offensive guy and he has
“done this” before, in that he has called offensive plays that produced the
most lackluster two-year span for any team in the NFL, ever. Furthermore, and I
have to believe that it was the new general manager, John Dorsey, who
instructed Hue to hire an offensive coordinator for the 2018 season, Dorsey
probably did this because he, like the rest of us reasonable people, saw how
absolutely dismal Hue’s offensive play calling and management was in the
previous two seasons. Actually, if I were Hue, I wouldn’t even be thinking of
getting involved with the offense, as I would still be in shock for somehow
keeping my job after sucking so terribly for so long.
To better assess whether Hue’s “offensive expertise” would
better help the Browns, I compared the last year’s offensive stats from week
one thru week 7 against the same time period this year. In short, the Browns
have improved in every offensive statistical category, albeit not
astronomically. Now, there are several outside variables for why this
improvement could have happened – better players, easier schedule (although we
actually played a lot of the same teams in the same period), and weather –
outside of change in the “offensive guru.”
Rushing Yards Per
Game
2017 Average Rushing
Yards Per Game: 92.3
2018 Average Rushing
Yards Per Game: 135
Passing Yards Per
Game
2017 Average Passing
Yards Per Game: 212.6
2018 Average Passing
Yards Per Game: 222.4
Turnovers Per Game
2017 Average
Turnover Per Game: 2.7
2018 Average
Turnover Per Game: 1.4
Points Per Game
2017 Average Points
Per Game: 14.7
2018 Average Points
Per Game: 21.6
Hue made this passive
aggressive comment mainly towards his offensive coordinator, Todd Haley, but
also to his boss, Dorsey, because he is a man who is seeing the light. The one
statistic that wasn’t listed but is markedly the most important statistic in
every league sport, is the amount of wins a team has earned. Hue has mustered,
so far, a remarkable record of three wins, 35 losses, and one tie. The only
remarkable part of that record is the fact that somehow Hue has not been handed
a pink slip. However, it appears that, finally, even lifeless Hue understands
that his funeral is coming, and he is trying to make his last, futile, appeal.
Reading Hue’s quote
shows all the signs of a man on death row, trying to fight the prison guards’
grips, as he is dragged toward the electric chair chamber. Most notably, Hue never wanted to hire an
offensive coordinator, but rather it was most likely part of his plea deal with
John Dorsey. Hue would be able to keep his job as a head coach, as long as he
stopped, essentially, “coaching.” So Dorsey allowed Hue to “hire” his “own”
offensive coordinator, but it probably went more like Dorsey hiring Haley and
Hue announcing, in the press conference, that he decided to hire an offensive
coordinator. Hue gives this away when he states, “I’m not gonna continue to
watch something I know how to do keep being that way. That’s just the truth.
That’s nothing against anybody in our building . . ..” Hue probably has been
told to leave the offense alone and let Haley do his thing. Hue knows he has been told this because he
quickly tries to protect himself by making sure that he isn’t pointing blame or
frustration at “anybody in our building.” Hue, face it, you are pointing blame
at, not only Todd Haley, but your own boss and 
soon
to be executioner – John Dorsey. Further, Hue takes another swipe at Dorsey by
saying, “Being a head coach and an offensive guy who has done this, I feel like
I have every right to jump in there and see if I can help.” Again it is
conceivable to imagine that Dorsey, in the offseason, instructed Hue not to
coach the offense. Hue took this as his power being depleted, and it was, and
so this quote basically is claiming that because Hue is still the head coach,
he has some sort of implicit powers that cannot be taken away – “I feel like I
have every right to jump
in there . . .”. Hue also suggests that he was hired specifically for his
offensive prowess and because he has “done this” before. However, and as stated
earlier, all Browns fans have seen Hue coach offense before, and as the stats
show, it wasn’t pretty.
soon
to be executioner – John Dorsey. Further, Hue takes another swipe at Dorsey by
saying, “Being a head coach and an offensive guy who has done this, I feel like
I have every right to jump in there and see if I can help.” Again it is
conceivable to imagine that Dorsey, in the offseason, instructed Hue not to
coach the offense. Hue took this as his power being depleted, and it was, and
so this quote basically is claiming that because Hue is still the head coach,
he has some sort of implicit powers that cannot be taken away – “I feel like I
have every right to jump
in there . . .”. Hue also suggests that he was hired specifically for his
offensive prowess and because he has “done this” before. However, and as stated
earlier, all Browns fans have seen Hue coach offense before, and as the stats
show, it wasn’t pretty. 
Hue’s
rant won’t save him, and it probably just made matters worse within the
organization because now the Browns have a man who isn’t playing by the rules.
This statement has caused there to be a schism of power within the locker room.
Will players choose the general manager’s man, Todd Haley, or will they get behind
their wavering, if isolated, head coach – Hue Jackson? Whichever way they go won’t save Hue, unless
they somehow make the playoffs. Dorsey most likely did not want to fire Hue in
the middle of the season, preferring to take a whole year to find “his guy.” In
the meantime, he made Hue a lame duck coach and instilled Todd Haley, a
somewhat competent if almost as dumb offensive coordinator, to make offensive
decision making. Hue’s death sentence has not been dismissed, and if anything,
his complaining may have just moved up his execution date. 
