So Hue Jackson’s viability as Browns head coach is tied to finding a franchise quarterback?
Wow! There’s a shock!
Not.
Not at all, really.
Every NFL head coach – for that matter, every college head coach – has his viability, longevity and security tied to finding a franchise quarterback, keeping him healthy, surrounding him with great players and building a great relationship with him.
Period.
End of statement.
Although it is a big deal and really difficult to do – that is, to check off all those points – it is really no more complicated than that. It is the be-all and the end-all.
Winning is a by-product of all that and that’s another issue entirely, but to have the best chance to win, a coach has to have a big-time quarterback. There’s no other way to put it.
It’s just the way football is, whether it’s in Cleveland or somewhere else.
Think about the NFL head coaches who got fired this year. In one way, shape or form, almost all of them mismanaged – a pretty word for bungled – the quarterback situation.
A lot of other head coaches have also bungled things at quarterback. They are thanking their lucky stars that they’ve held onto their jobs, but they also know that the clock is ticking. If they don’t get it figured out soon, then they’ll be gone, too.
So Jackson’s realization of that, and the media’s constant questioning of him and others in the team’s hierarchy about that throughout the season and especially atMonday’s season-ending press conference (actually, I was shocked there weren’t more questions about it that day, because there definitely should have been), should not surprise – and certainly not shock – anyone at all.
That’s why I wrote the other day that if you follow just the quarterback search, you’ll be following all you need to know – all that’s important to know – about both the Browns and their chances to get better, and about Hue Jackson’s chances to survive.
