Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown apparently view the hire of Hue Jackson to be the franchise's next head coach as more than just a positive for their own team. According to a report, they also view it as a detriment to the Cincinnati Bengals.
ESPN's Adam Schefter wrote on Thursday that the Browns hired Jackson, in part, because they "believe they weakened Cincinnati" in the process.
While that seems like little more than a moral victory, landing Jackson is not a small win for Cleveland. And really, neither is prying him away from the Bengals. The Marvin Lewis coaching tree has actually been fairly successful and, with Jackson's hire, continues to grow. Leslie Frazier, Jay Gruden, Mike Zimmer and Jackson have all landed head coaching gigs. This is actually Jackson's second go-round as a head honcho at the NFL level.
Frazier flamed out with the Vikings, but Zimmer looks to have Minnesota in a pretty great position going forward. Gruden seems to have a similar outlook with the Washington Redskins, who clawed their way to an NFC East championship and a playoff berth. And Jackson led the Raiders to a respectable 8-8 season in 2011 before a change at general manager brought his tenure to a quicker than expected end.
Considering the work Jackson was able to do with Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton this season, it makes sense that the Browns believe they've managed to weaken Cincinnati as much as they've strengthened themselves. Performing under Jackson this season, Dalton posted career marks in completion percentage (66.1), average yards per pass (8.42), fewest interceptions (7), and overall rating (106.3).
If Jackson can perform that same magic with Josh McCown or a quarterback the Browns select in the 2016 NFL Draft, he'll immediately up the chances of a football revival in Cleveland. And if Dalton falls back to earth somewhat without the safety net of Jackson in Cincinnati, then the balance of NFL dominance in Ohio may very well shift sometime in the near future.
For a franchise like the Browns that hasn't posted a winning season since 2007 and hasn't reached the NFL playoffs since 2002, any win, big or small, is important. And landing Jackson, at this early date, looks big. Taking an important piece away from what was a very successful Cincinnati puzzle this season is likely just icing on the cake.
Then again, if Lewis can continue his run of promising assistant hires, it may take more than prying Jackson away for the Browns to recapture the title of "Best NFL Team In Ohio."
