Someone in Cincinnati must know exactly what Hue Jackson’s job is.
But good luck getting a clear explanation from either Jackson or his boss about what it might be.
“In my own words: Whatever this organization needs me to do,” Jackson said, via Fletcher Page of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Whatever Marvin thinks I need to do to help him, to help him be the best version of himself. To help whether it’s offensively, defensively or special teams, I’ll do whatever they need me to do.”
Jackson’s title is special assistant to the head coach (assistant to the traveling secretary was taken), which is vague enough. When he was hired midseason in 2012, his title was secondary assistant and special teams coach.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis stammered around an answer, but seemed to make clear that Jackson’s role wouldn’t be on offense. They fired defensive coordinator Teryl Austin this week, and Lewis will call the defensive signals.
“Hue is here to, you know, right now he’s trying to find, you know, just get, uh, immersed back into what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and the added morsels to me about things he, you know, observes,” Lewis said. “That way he can assist with players on the field and with us defensively with the implementation and development of the plan and, you know, he’ll continue to look at things analytically. He’s got a lot more exposure to that than I’ve had, and that’s helpful because we have the data and just how they continue to use the data correctly. And so that’s good and he’s been involved in that quite a bit, so that’s another added plus exposure to things.”
Thanks for clearing that up, Marvin.
Jackson was just as clear about his time in Cleveland. He was fired after going 3-36-1, but declared the experience “good.”
“You know, regardless of what the record was, I mean, it was an opportunity and an experience and you can’t get those back,” he said. “I think I’m a better coach for it, you know, having gone through it. But at the same time, you know, nobody wants to have that kind of record, you know. But I’m looking to being here, helping this organization win and getting this organization back to where it needs to be.”
Whatever that entails.