By Peter Gleason
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is at the NFL owners meeting in Houston and his acolyte Howie Boy Roseman is doing … whatever office boys do.
The Eagles are no closer to hiring a coach, but the Browns are hiring Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson as the successor to Mike Pettine, NFL Media columnist Micheal Silver reported Wednesday.
“They made me feel comfortable,” Jackson told Silver.
Jackson went 8-8 with an undermanned 2011 Raiders squad in his lone head coaching stint, but took backlash for orchestrating a Carson Palmer trade that paid few dividends for Oakland.
He ultimately landed in Cincinnati as assistant secondary and special teams coach in 2012, teaching defense for the first time in his career. He has since worked his way back up the coaching ladder, assuming coordinator duties after Jay Gruden was hired by the Redskins in 2014.
Already well respected for his work with wide receivers and running backs, Jackson earned praised for elevating Andy Dalton into the MVP discussion and getting backup AJ McCarron ready to play meaningful games in a playoff race.
“We’re happy to help Hue,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis recently told Silver. “We know how rough it was for him four years ago, when he basically went through hell, and how hard it was for him to work his way out of that. He has been a great addition to our staff for four years, in ways that people don’t even understand.
“Now, he’s getting the attention he deserves, and we’re very happy for him. We want to support him in any way we can.”
Considering his success with Cincinnati’s quarterbacks, it will be interesting to see if the Browns believe he can salvage the future of Johnny Manziel.
