Former Browns coach Hue Jackson accused Browns owner Jimmy Haslam of lying to him about the nature of the rebuilding process in Cleveland.
Jackson said on ESPN 850 in Cleveland that the extent to which the decision-makers would use analytics wasn’t disclosed to him when he took the job.
“There’s no doubt I was lied to by ownership and leadership of the team,’' Jackson said, via Cleveland.com. “They were going to be football plus analytics, but it was football vs. analytics.’'
Jackson said he plans to publish a book about his experience in Cleveland, a story he says hasn’t been accurately told.
“I think I became the fall guy because that was the narrative . . . the truth needs to come out . . . for other minority coaches. They need to know the pitfalls out there. My story has affected some of their futures,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he signed a contract extension in the middle of the 2017 season, when the Browns were 0-8 and had gone 1-15 the year before. But Haslam wouldn’t announce the deal.
“I got a contract extension at 1-23, midway through the season,’' Jackson said. “I wanted to go public with it, but the Browns didn’t.’'
There’s little doubt that Haslam deserves a fair amount of the blame for the Browns’ lack of success since he bought the team. But the reality is, a lot of coaches have come and gone since Haslam bought the Browns, and none has had as bad a record as Jackson.