CLEVELAND — Maybe Jimmy Haslam finally decided his best chance to save his reputation as a NFL owner was to go the George Costanza route and do the opposite of whatever his instincts told him.
So now Hue Jackson and Todd Haley are no more. As happy unions go, it lasted slightly longer than Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra, with more conflict.
A marriage between a 1-31 head coach and a combative offensive coordinator/ex-head coach was never a good idea. Haslam either needed half a season to realize that on his own, or — the better bet — John Dorsey convinced him of it.
As to how Haslam and Dorsey arrived at the decision Monday that Gregg Williams should be the interim head coach, you’ve heard of “next man up?”
This was more of a case of last man standing.
A half season after showing up outside the Heinz Field visiting locker room to say he was bringing back Jackson because he believed his head coach was the right man to take the Browns to the playoffs — “I do, absolutely” — Haslam fired Jackson Monday, less than 24 hours after yet another despairing trip home from Pittsburgh.
There is a “good news” element or two attached to naming Williams (or anyone else for that matter) as interim coach. The Browns are finished playing the Steelers this season, so Williams can’t possibly follow Jackson, Mike Pettine, Pat Shurmur, Rob Chudzinski. Romeo Crennell and Eric Mangini in the procession of Browns coaches fired after losses to the Steelers.
Beyond that the most positive spin on firing Jackson and Haley is that the best side of the ball, defense, is preserved if not quite intact. Naming Coach Come Get Some, though, doesn’t necessarily make the Browns much better, just more entertaining.
Maybe Al Saunders or Freddie Kitchens will have some thoughts on how to run an offense that not only helps Baker Mayfield develop but succeed while he’s doing it? Jackson and Haley failed at that.
Most importantly of all what Monday’s correction says is that Haslam trusts Dorsey’s head over his own heart and instincts.
There wasn’t much to recommend Jackson after last season beyond the owners sentiment that he was a nice guy dealt a tough hand in the tear-down of the team co-directed by Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta.
Never in his first two years did Jackson leave you feeling the Browns were better than they would have been without him. Rarely did it happen this season, despite the Browns dragging (and getting dragged) into overtime so often.
You could find points in every game where Jackson’s decisions made little sense. But, trust me (to borrow a phrase), what did him in with Dorsey and the front office, if not ownership, was his Alexander Haig “I’m in charge” act here following the Tampa loss.
Jackson had every right to immerse himself in the offense, given the lack of production. He had that right all along.
So just do it. Don’t puff yourself up by pointing a finger at Haley and the offense. That was a terrible look for any coach, let alone one who leaves here with three wins in 40 tries.
Jackson walked it back the next day, saying it was frustration. But anyone who's been around the NFL (Dorsey) knows he handled the challenges and negative trending as Raiders coach the same way.
At both stops, Hue was always the guy who could fix things but never did. He was never the guy who caused the breakage.
Jackson was all for accepting responsibility as long as it didn’t mean accepting the blame.
That was the case a year ago but the owner couldn’t see it.
Instead of letting Dorsey hire his own coach and draft his franchise quarterback at the same time, Haslam somehow convinced himself it made sense to bring back a coach who had no status with the new front office.
How hard was this to see coming? My guess is if you asked Haslam and Dorsey, you’d get different answers.
If Monday is an indication that Haslam now trusts Dorsey more than his own instincts, that’s good. It’s also long overdue.
