Hue Jackson is in the process of evaluating his coaching staff as he enters his second offseason in Cleveland. The Browns head coach made as much clear Sunday on a teleconference to address the hiring of new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who replaces Ray Horton after one season at the helm.
"Until I get this organization where I need it to be, I need to continue to do what I think I have done in the past to play winning football," he said. "Obviously, we didn't do it as well this past year. Trust me, I have looked at myself, too. Hue Jackson has to get better as well as anybody has to get better. I don't run from that. I'm not taking it off my head. I get how all of this works. I have been through these things before, and I know what we have to get done. I can see it. I just have to go make it happen."
Against that backdrop, Jackson suggested more changes could be coming and, perhaps more importantly, also outlined why he's taking a careful inventory of what the Browns need going forward.
"This is a thorough evaluation of our staff. I am going to do this brick by brick in how we have to do this and put this thing together," he said.
"Everybody kind of knows where they are and where I am. If you are asking will there be more changes as we move forward, yeah, there could potentially be more changes. There could be more changes because guys have better opportunities. There could be more changes because I think something is going to improve us and make us better."
Jackson said that approach is rooted in whatever gives the Browns their best chance to win following a 1-15 season.
"When I set out to take this job, I told you my expectation was I was going to win here, and I am going to win here," he said.
"In order to do that, we have to and I have to make some tough decisions as we move forward as to what is best for our football team. It is not personal. This is the business side of it. It is a hard side of it, and I get that. I have been through it before as an assistant coach and as a head coach so I know what that is like, but at the same time, I think all of us within this profession get it because at the end of the day, this is truly about winning. It is not about anything else. It is about winning. It is what it is going to take for us to become the type of organization that we want to be."
That's why Jackson tapped Williams, a 26-year NFL veteran who spent the past three seasons as the Rams, to oversee a defense that finished 31st in total yards and points per game.
"You have to have vision, you have to have support when you get ready to make decisions and then you have to execute the decisions you have decided to make. I do get it," he said. "Those decisions need to come out right. I do get that. I want you guys to all know that. These decisions need to come out right. Those are the decisions and the chances you have to take in this profession."
