Three weeks before firing coach Ben McAdoo during the season, Giants ownership said they wouldn’t be firing coach Ben McAdoo during the season. So with the Browns saying they won’t be firing coach Hue Jackson after the season, is that message subject to change, too?
Some in league circles believe that it is, and that (for example) a loss in each of the next four games, an 0-16 mark over two years, and a 1-31 run over two seasons will be enough to get the Browns to move on from Jackson.
Really, what keeps Jimmy and Dee Haslam from changing their minds? There’s no reason to fear being ridiculed by fans or media, since the performance of the team over the past two years already ensures that will happen. If anything, fans and media will be inclined to applaud the Haslams for reversing course in the face of 0-16, since it currently makes no sense to commit to keeping Jackson based on the performance of the team.
Sure, he wasn’t the one shopping for the groceries. But in today’s NFL, every resident chef should be able to periodically whip up a batch of chicken salad. Once in 28 tries is way too far from being good enough, and if the Browns hope to sell tickets and rally support and otherwise inspire any sort of confidence that ownership “gets it,” they’ll have to be ready and willing to not do what they currently say they’ll do.