Cleveland Browns Introduce Hue Jackson as Head Coach

The Cleveland Browns introduced the team’s new head coach at a Wednesday press conference.

Hue Jackson, who coached the Oakland Raiders to a respectable 8-8 in 2011, replaces Mike Pettine, fired after a 3-13 2015 campaign.

“I have been in two of these organizations in the AFC North – I have been in Cincinnati, and I have been in Baltimore – and I can tell you first hand that there is nothing like the feeling of walking through these doors,” Jackson said at the presser. “Nothing. I know there is rabid fan base. The Dawg Pound, let me give you a fist bump because I am excited.”

Jackson’s arrival reportedly means Johnny Manziel’s departure. But the coach remained circumspect regarding that possibility. “I need to get into this building and have an opportunity to sit down and watch tape,” he insisted. “I don’t know Johnny personally. I know who he is, but at the same time, I think I have to give everybody on our football team the fair opportunity to see who they are and to truly learn who they are and then make decisions from there.”

The Browns last won a playoff game when Bill Belichick coached the team in the mid-1990s. They remain one of four NFL franchises never to play in a Super Bowl.

Jackson intends on rectifying the team’s woes.

“I think what you do is you start to build a team through the right vision,” he explained. “You have to have leadership, and I think players have to have some leadership, too, obviously in the locker room. After that, I think it is integrity. I think the players have to understand integrity is very, very important.”

He continued, “Then, you have to be accountable. You have to be accountable for what you are doing and how you are doing it. Then, you have to have some passion. You have to have great passion for what you are doing. You couple that with a little desire and determination and great things happen.”