UPDATE: Browns fire Jackson/Haley - Name G. Williams interim

[UOK]

I'm shocked /s

[wab]

About time. The Browns have more than enough talent to compete in that division right away.

[wab]

Al Saunders named interim Head Coach. I thought it would be Haley, but I guess they didn't want to double his workload.

[Rakshir]

I'm shocked they didn't do it last year. This year with rookie QB you'd have thunk he'd gotten a free pass. I'm ready for them to compete, tired of Browns being a joke.

[Otis Day]

Report I saw listed Haley is a casualty as well. Effed up situation.

Browns were always my AFC team. Sad state there.

[wab]

Yep. Haley also out per NFLN...

The Cleveland Browns wiped out their entire offensive brain trust on Monday.

In addition to firing coach Hue Jackson, the Browns also canned offensive coordinator Todd Haley, the team announced Monday. Freddie Kitchens will serve as the offensive coordinator.

Heading into Sunday's game at Pittsburgh, it appeared if a firing took place, either Jackson or Haley would remain with the organization while the other was let go.

Now both are out.

Haley was hired this offseason by Jackson to help reconstruct a woebegone offense and shepherd No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield. Under the rookie, the Browns offense improved for spurts, but inconsistency remained. Cleveland went from scoring 14.6 points per game (worst in the league) in 2017 to 21.1 (24th in the NFL) in 2018.

Under Haley's guidance, the Browns were predictable on offense. Following first-down incompletions or sacks, it was almost a given that Cleveland would call a running play. If spectators knew those plays were coming, you can bet defenses did as well. The Browns owned a 6 percent success rate on such runs, per Warren Sharp. The banality of Haley's offense began to hinder Mayfield's growth.

So too did the Browns' usage of their few playmakers. On a team needing all the offensive firepower it could garner, the lack of touches for Duke Johnson was borderline criminal.

The relationship between Jackson and Haley appeared frayed from the start. During the first episode of HBO's Hard Knocks, it was apparent that the offensive coordinator didn't completely buy into Jackson's plan. In the past week, that relationship came to a head publicly.

When it was reported that the team fired Jackson, it was assumed that Haley won the battle and would stay on. Wrong.

Clearing out the top two men on offense thrusts Mayfield into a precarious situation for the final eight games of his rookie season. The hope is, given the mental fortitude Mayfield displayed in college and early in his career, the cluster won't fray his development.

The Browns have been a bungled organization for decades, but firing both the head coach and offensive coordinator on the same day halfway into a season is a new level of chaos.

[wab]

Al Saunders rumor appears to be unfounded. Looks like they officially named Gregg Williams the interim coach.

After initially hearing Al Saunders name, the Cleveland Browns ended up naming defensive coordinator Gregg Williams as the interim coach following Hue Jackson’s firing.

The news has been coming in fast today for the Cleveland Browns, who have fired both head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. The two couldn’t survive a power struggle, which ended up leaving some holes on the coaching staff.

Originally, the word was the team would go with Al Saunders as the interim head coach, but apparently, those rumors were unfounded.

Instead, the Browns will be promoting defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to the position. This was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

It’s not a shocking move as Williams has done a good job with the defense this year. He’s also the one coach who has seemed to stay out of the power struggle while he focused on just doing his job.

As for his work as a head coach, Williams left a lot to be desired. Williams was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2001-2003 and never had a winning season (8-8non 2002 was his best record). After three seasons and a 17-31 record, Williams’ contract was not renewed.

Williams is probably most well-known for his involvement in the infamous ‘Bounty Gate’ scandal back when he was the defensive coordinator with the New Orleans Saints. That system paid players for big hits — and injuries — and led to many suspensions for players and coaches with the organization.

He joined the Browns in 2017 and while they were a mess that season, the defense has shown marked improvement under his tutelage this season.

[IotaNet]

Todd Haley as always been seen as a bit of a volatile personality -- I'm really surprised Cleveland hired him in the first place. I've also been told by some NFL insiders that Jackson is an idiot.

What the Browns need is their version of Pace/Nagy/Trubisky, Snead/McVay/Goff or Loomis/Payton/Brees. They have their QB of the future -- now they need some leadership to develop him and Jackson wasn't it.

If the Vikings have any kind of year, be on the lookout for John DeFilippo.

[wab]

Todd Haley as always been seen as a bit of a volatile personality -- I'm really surprised Cleveland hired him in the first place. I've also been told by some NFL insiders that Jackson is an idiot.

What the Browns need is their version of Pace/Nagy/Trubisky, Snead/McVay/Goff or Loomis/Payton/Brees. They have their QB of the future -- now they need some leadership to develop him and Jackson wasn't it.

If the Vikings have any kind of year, be on the lookout for John DeFilippo.

Dorsey has a heck of a future as GM as long as ownership stays out of his way and it seems like they are for the most part (Haslam wanted to keep Jackson, Dorsey made the call to fire him).

[UOK]

Haslem didn't make it sound like he was 100% on the level with Dorsey but that they want "collaborative" people. Jackson and Haley were too different, caused each other too many headaches, and were apparently neither was respected by the players.

Myles Garrett apparently isn't too enthralled with the Browns coaches, either. He's kind of a zen, chill dude and Williams is one of the old-world screamers, so that may be a big factor when evaluating the rest of the season and the next HC.

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

You can't win three games over two and a half seasons, and expect to keep your job. If it were any other team, my attitude would be, "good, they're cleaning house and trying to straighten things out." But it's the Browns, and they only know how to be the Browns. They don't know how to win, or do things the right way. I have ZERO confidence that they are going to get this new HC hire right, and ZERO confidence that they are going to develop Baker Mayfield into a franchise QB.

[southdakbearfan]

Watching hard knocks that place is an utter shit show.