The Browns have their new head coach and introduced him Wednesday night.
Owner Jimmy Haslam called Hue Jackson “the right guy for the Cleveland Browns” in his opening remarks. Haslam and Sashi Brown flanked Jackson at the podium for his introductory press conference; Brown is the former general counsel who was promoted to executive vice president of football operations earlier this month after general manager Ray Farmer was fired. Wednesday marked Brown’s first public appearance since being promoted.
Brown, Haslam, Haslam’s wife, Dee, and new chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta handled the interview process. Jackson listed those four as the reasons why he accepted the job Wednesday instead of waiting for a scheduled Thursday interview with the Giants.
The next major piece in this latest Browns’ restructure is adding a chief personnel executive, and Brown said Jackson will be involved in that process.
“I’m not worried abut who picks this player or that player,” Jackson said. “All I want to do is win.”
Because Brown has control of the 53-man roster, other teams do not have to let personnel execs under contract interview with the Browns. So, unless there’s a team willing to grant permission to someone who has ties to Jackson or an ex-NFL executive currently looking for a job, the Browns may end up promoting internally.
“We’ll set out in earnest to find our top personnel person this week,” Brown said. “Hue will be involved.”
Jackson said he needs to start responding to text messages and calls from prospective assistant coaches but had nothing decided. A source told PFT that Jackson plans to call his own plays, but Jackson he hasn’t made a final decision and will “do what’s best for the organization” in building an offensive staff.