Hue Jackson won 3 games in 3 seasons but the Bengals are still interviewing him

The Cincinnati Bengals are looking for a new head coach for the first time in 16 years. At one of his final news conferences, now-former head coach Marvin Lewis endorsed just one man as his replacement: former Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson, who joined the Bengals staff after the Browns fired him in October. Jackson racked up a 3-36-1 record over three seasons, but Lewis had nothing but positive things to say about his old friend Hue.

On the heels of Lewis’ glowing endorsement comes this news from NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport: Hue Jackson may be interviewed by the Bengals as soon as Wednesday.

It looks like Jackson’s in the running for another NFL head coaching job.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for starters, he could actually get the job.

That’s being a little bit unfair. Jackson has more on his resume than his legendarily catastrophic showing as Browns head coach. He’s been working in football since 1987, first at the college level and then transitioning to the coaching staffs of NFL teams. He built a reputation as an offensive innovator who worked well with young quarterbacks. And in his endorsement, Lewis made a good point about Jackson’s time with the Browns and Oakland Raiders. Via ESPN:

Jackson went 8-8 when he coached Oakland in 2011, but was fired after one season when the Raiders missed the playoffs following a 7-4 start. The Browns were pretty terrible for two of the three seasons Jackson coached them, but that wasn’t entirely his fault. The product on the field was both bad and uninspiring.

Jackson could have redeemed himself

Jackson had a chance at redemption in 2018. Quarterback Baker Mayfield joined the team as the Browns’ first overall pick in the draft, and he was thoroughly impressive in the preseason. But Jackson stuck with Tyrod Taylor in Week 1, and then in Week 2.

The only reason Mayfield took the field in Week 3 is because Taylor got injured. Jackson finally named Mayfield the starter before Week 4, but even that was like pulling teeth. And for a guy with a reputation for working well with young quarterbacks, Mayfield seems to hate him.

That might be an understatement, because Mayfield seems to really, really hate him.

After Jackson was fired at the midpoint of the season, the Browns proceeded to win more games under interim coach Gregg Williams (five) than Jackson had won in his previous two-and-a-half seasons (three, two of which came in 2018 alone).

The Bengals need more than Marvin Lewis’ endorsement

Jackson worked under Lewis three separate times with the Bengals, so there’s probably no one in the NFL who knows him better. But it’s not clear how much weight Lewis’ endorsement will carry. He coached the Bengals for 16 years, so you’d imagine his endorsement has some meaning. But then again, Lewis and the Bengals just parted ways, so who knows.

There’s a chance that Jackson has changed in the few months he’s been back with the Bengals. But the (bad) reputation he built with the Browns is hard to brush aside, and the issues there obviously go deeper than just a really terrible record. It all depends on what the Bengals are looking for. If they’re looking for someone who can revive their stymied franchise and tailor a coaching philosophy to match the players, they may want to keep interviewing beyond Jackson.

But if they’re looking for someone to bridge the gap between now and whenever they figure out what they’re doing, Jackson could be that guy. Or he could be the same coach the Browns fired at the end of October. If the Bengals hire him, let’s hope they know which one they’re actually getting.

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