Hugh Jackman fired from Browns

Submitted by I'm Batman on October 29th, 2018 at 12:21 PM

Somewhat inexplicable that a guy who went 1-31 was retained, but then fired for going 2-5-1 with 4 overtime games played. The team besides yesterday has seemed to show improvement. 

Why i'm trying to find logic in anything out of Cleveland though might be the more baffling question.

Perkis-Size Me

October 29th, 2018 at 1:15 PM ^

Urban wouldn't last in the NFL because his schemes rely on getting vastly superior athletes out in space and out-talenting you. In the NFL, you're running with the best of the best each week. The guys you're lining up across from run as fast as you, if not faster. They hit just as hard as you, if not harder. Jump just as high, if not higher. You get where I'm going with this. 

Yes, there are good teams and bad teams in the NFL, but there is so much more parity in the NFL than in college. A bottom-dwelling team can beat a Super Bowl contender and its really not that big a surprise. You don't recruit guys in the league like you do in college. There's a salary cap. The talent disparity he's been able to take so much advantage of in college would cease to exist in the NFL. That, and we've seen what the NFL does, over time, to running QBs. 

canzior

October 29th, 2018 at 1:23 PM ^

I used to think Urban would be fun in the NFL, the same way I though Chip Kelly would be fun  in the NFL. Although, I will say this, Meyer at least used to know how to win with less talent. I think he's capable of out-scheming coaches, but it seems like he has lost that since his late Florida years.  

I think the same of Nick Saban. I would wager that there are 25 FCS coaches that could go 10-2 with Alabama's talent. I don't know if Saban could win a national title this year taking over the current rosters of any except 5 or 6 teams. 

ca_prophet

October 29th, 2018 at 3:02 PM ^

On the flip side, there are only 5-6 teams who could realistically win the national championship at all, and I certainly would give Saban an advantage over most other coaches given those teams.

Not to mention, one of the biggest reasons Alabama has that talent is because Saban was the one who recruited it in the first place.  The more I watch and follow college football, the more I think that in-game tactical decisions are visible out of proportion to their overall importance.  The real coaching work starts 2-3 years before the players set foot on campus and the bulk of it is done Sunday-Friday and not on Saturdays.

TL,DR: College coaching is much more about recruitment and development than in-game decisions, and say what you will Saban pulls in top talent and sends it to the NFL.

youn2948

October 29th, 2018 at 3:17 PM ^

Saban is on the record as saying he likes college because of the lack of parity and the ability to have a large advantage over all of the other teams.  This was around the time he came back to college.  Yeah you can outrecruit, oversign, greyshirt, juco and fake classes on top of program prestige.

canzior

October 29th, 2018 at 4:20 PM ^

Yeah but recruiting ability is irrelevant in the NFL. 

Also, this isn't about recruiting. It's about whether or not he can take a team of equal or lesser talent than his opponent and win. Of course certain guys can just out recruit anyone else, but it goes back to what I'm suggesting. Nick Saban is winning games because he has better players. Not because he's a better football coach. 

enlightenedbum

October 29th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^

They won some games because there's actually a lot of talent on that roster.  From what I've seen it was poorly deployed (ex: Jabrill playing 20 yards off the ball most of the time).

I want to see Mayfield + Brohm.

Malum In Se

October 29th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^

I guess we'll never see him in Deadpool 3 now.

As for Hue Jackson, late last week, there was a rumor that Jackson and Todd Haley had a complete falling out over the direction of the offense.  It sounded like Haley was going to resign.  It appears Browns management sided with Haley over Jackson (and Hugh Jackman).

Mr Miggle

October 29th, 2018 at 12:32 PM ^

ESPN just had an article about turmoil in the Browns offensive coaching room. They suggested it would cost Jackson and/or his OC their jobs, most likely Jackson.

mGrowOld

October 29th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^

Thank God.  Our long national nightmare is finally over (apologies to a fellow Wolverine Gerald Ford for stealing his line)

Hue might've been the dumbest HC in NFL history and that's saying something.  Yesterday, for example, he kept three TO's in his pocket at the end of the first half knowing his team was down one at the time and the Steelers were going to get the halftime kickoff.  He allowed them to bleed the clock down to nothing then score a TD that effectively ended the game.  Asked about in his presser his response was 'I honestly dont recall that portion of the game so I'm not going to answer and say the wrong thing."  Mind you this is a guy that had no responsibility over the team's play calling anymore so time management was about ALL he had to worry about.

The Browns have the best turnover margin in the NFL at +11 and they're the only team with a losing record that has that strong of a turnover margin.  Hell the average winning % of the top 8 teams in +/- is 750% and we're 2-5-1 for Christ's sake.  Yesterday the team visably quit on him in the 2nd half.

He sucked beyond measure and was hated by his players, his staff and pretty much the entire city of Cleveland.  They ONLY person who couldnt see what a fucking moron he was had to be Jimmy Haslam and my guess is Dorsey gave him a "me or him" ultimatum or something cause as horrible as Hue was, the Haslams loved him for some reason.

Bring me Lincoln Riley please.  Whatever he wants - give it to him and LETS GO.  Lots and lots of talent here and we've got the franchise QB in place along with a great GM.

Go Blue in MN

October 29th, 2018 at 1:08 PM ^

I've never understood why people reference who is going to get the kickoff in the second half as being in any way relevant to decision-making as the clock winds down at the end of the first half.  There's 30 minutes of football left to play.  If your team's chance of scoring is better than the chance of screwing up and allowing the other team to score, you go for it.  Otherwise, you run out the clock.  It has nothing to do with which team gets the ball in the 2nd half. 

kehnonymous

October 29th, 2018 at 1:12 PM ^

He sucked beyond measure and was hated by his players, his staff and pretty much the entire city of Cleveland.  They ONLY person who couldnt see what a fucking moron he was had to be Jimmy Haslam and my guess is Dorsey gave him a "me or him" ultimatum or something cause as horrible as Hue was, the Haslams loved him for some reason.

Sad thing is that the bolded part is the alpha and omega for why positive change, I fear, isn't going to happen.  There's more to be excited about than ever for the Browns, but it starts at the top and Haslam isn't going to fire himself which is ultimately the change that *needs* to happen.

If you want to argue that Ray Farmer, Sashi, Pettine, Chud, now Hue, and heaven-knows-who-else deserved to be fired, no one's gonna debate that at all, but they were ALL hired by Haslam.  Until he stops hiring scrubs who absolutely have to be replaced 1.5 years later we're gonna be stuck in a Sisyphean cycle of burn down and rebuild, on-field talent notwithstanding.

I'll be happy as anyone else to eat my words, but... you and I have both seen this movie before.

pdgoblue25

October 29th, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^

Haley didn't respect Hue at all.  Word is he was leaking things anonymously, and undermining him.  Whether or not he was right in doing so because Hue is an idiot, you can't have a culture that's as toxic as that influencing a young team.  I think Dorsey was just sick of all of it. 

There are stories floating around of players showing up late to meetings and not really being disciplined by Hue.  I don't know Haley very well since he hasn't been here too long, but from what I saw on hard knocks, he seems to be intolerant of bullshit like that.

mGrowOld

October 29th, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^

Heard same thing here.  Hue was a "players coach" in the same way someone becomes the "cool dad" in the neighborhood.  Dont discipline anybody for anything and let the "kids" get away with murder.  Haley went about things wrong (allegedly) but make no mistake - he had Hue pegged for the lightweight he is on episode #1 of Hard Knocks when he called him out for having "veterans days off" during training camp.

FYI Greg motherfucking Williams is going to be named the interim HC this afternoon at 4:00pm.  Aint nobody gonna show up late for meetings and get away with it no more.