Hue Jackson was officially hired as the Cleveland Browns coach Wednesday after he spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati. He’s expected to end the Johnny Manziel era in Cleveland after just two tumultuous seasons.
Manziel’s two years with the Browns have been just about anything but good, with off the field issues surrounding the young quarterback seeming to never end.
Ian Rapoport first reported the news via Twitter:
The Hue Jackson Era in Cleveland will trigger the end of Johnny Manziel and the #Browns. Expect the new coach to move on from the QB.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 13, 2016
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot had a similar tone when writing on the Browns’ hiring of Jackson:
A source close to Jackson told cleveland.com that he won’t want to risk his job and reputation on Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who angered the club during the final weekend of the season by traveling to Las Vegas just days after being diagnosed with a concussion.
While Rapoport’s tweet and Cabot’s report seemed to just about seal any kind of doubt that might lie in anyone’s minds, Jackson spoke in a different tone at his introductory press conference.
“I have to give everyone on this team a chance to see who they are and go from there,” Jackson said.
“We got the right guy for the Cleveland Browns,” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said, per Cleveland.com. “He’s smart. He’s tough. He’s confident He’s competitive. He’s been a head coach before. He’s got a great offensive mind. He’s got a tremendous track record developing quarterbacks. He’s very, very competitive. He understands the AFC North. He’s going to be a great head coach for the Cleveland Browns.”
With that type of confidence from the owner, it most definitely sounds like anything Jackson says in regards to the quarterback situation will go.
Outside of Manziel, the Browns have Josh McCown and Austin Davis under contract next season as the team’s only other options at quarterback, but they will surely go on the hunt for other options as the offseason begins.
The team has the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, and will almost certainly use it on finding a franchise quarterback – even if the crop of college quarterbacks doesn’t seem up to the level set in previous years.
