Browns hope Hue Jackson’s experience leads to success, respectability inside AFC North

If Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has his way, Cleveland is the final stop on Hue Jackson’s tour of the AFC North.

Hue Jackson

Jackson was hired as coach Wednesday, and his experience in the division in which the Browns have been a perennial doormat played a large role. He spent seven years, in two stints, as a Cincinnati Bengals assistant and two years as Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach.

The only franchise not on his resume is the Pittsburgh Steelers, where Haslam was a minority owner before buying the Browns for $1 billion in 2012.

“I kind of know the lay of the land and I know where we are and where we’re trying to go,” Jackson said Wednesday. “I understand that Cincinnati is one of the top teams in this league. Pittsburgh is still playing and obviously when you look at Baltimore, they had a down year, and we understand where the Cleveland Browns are.”

Right where they’ve been for too long — at the bottom.

The Browns are 21-63 in the AFC North since its inception in 2002. Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis is 18-8 against Cleveland, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin is 15-3 and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh is 14-2. The Browns have made one playoff appearance, in 2002, while the rest of the division has regular reservations in January.

The fastest way to a turnaround is to win inside the division. The Browns’ best years since returning in 1999 came in 2002 (9-7) and ‘07 (10-6) and coincided with 3-3 records in the North — their best in its 14-year existence.

Haslam believes Jackson can lead a reversal of fortunes.

“He understands the AFC North,” Haslam said. “He’s been a part of the AFC North and I think he’s going to be a great head coach for the Cleveland Browns.

“We think we got the right guy, but this is just the first step. Hue’s got to put together the staff, we’ve got to hire the right personnel person, got to get to building a really good football team because we’ve got a long way to go to be where we’re consistently competitive in the AFC North, which is one of the toughest divisions in football. And we all recognize that.”

The AFC North has had at least two playoff participants for seven of the last eight years. For the fifth straight year, and seventh of eight, the Browns finished in the basement.

Quarterback is the giant separator. While the other three teams have had long-term stability with Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh), Joe Flacco (Baltimore) and Andy Dalton (Cincinnati), the Browns have cycled through 24 starters since 1999, including seven in the last three seasons under Haslam.

But it’s not only the quarterback where the Browns fall short. They lack the overall talent and necessary depth across the roster, with a particular deficiency of playmakers on both sides of the ball.

Jackson mapped out his plan for winning.

“You’ve got to have leadership, and I think players have got to have some leadership, too, obviously in the locker room,” he said. “Then, after that, I think it’s integrity, and I think the players have got to understand integrity’s very, very important. Then you’ve got to be accountable for what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. Then you’ve got to have some passion.

“Then you couple that with a little desire and determination, then great things happen. Obviously, the thing that sits on top of that is work ethic. We’ve got to walk in this building every day ready to work and compete to be the best we can be, and that’s what I’m going to sell this football team on. That’s what I want this organization to be sold on because we’re chasing greatness.”

Jackson has been on the ground floor before. He joined Lewis for his second season in Cincinnati and helped build a consistent winner. Jackson was also on hand at the start of the Harbaugh era in Baltimore in 2008, helping Flacco become rookie of the year.

Jackson noticed a difference when he arrived at Browns headquarters and was greeted by employees from different departments.

“I’ve been in two of these organizations in the AFC North,” he said. “I’ve been in Cincinnati and I’ve been in Baltimore and I can tell you firsthand, there’s nothing like the feeling of walking through these doors. Nothing.

“There’s a lot of work to do. I’m excited about what needs to be done. I’ve already rolled up my sleeves and I’m ready to go.”

Despite his well-earned reputation for a lack of continuity, Haslam admitted Jan. 3 after he fired coach Mike Pettine that the turnaround will be a process and not a quick fix.

“I’m glad he said that,” Jackson said with a laugh. “I truly understand that and I really respect Jim saying that. At the same time, that’s not my mindset and I don’t want it to be our players’ mindset. We want to go and we expect to win every game we play.

“We’re not going to care who we play. We understand the AFC North. We understand who we have to play outside our division and we expect to have a really good football team. If I didn’t think we had a chance to do something special here, I wouldn’t be here.”

The marriage between the Browns and Jackson may not have happened if he hadn’t spent so much time in the AFC North. Haslam said he would bump into Jackson on the sideline before games.

“We just had a natural chemistry and would always visit a little bit before the games,” Haslam said. “So we knew each other a little bit. When we sat down on Sunday (in the first interview), we had a great session, it just felt comfortable.”

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