Hue Jackson declined to remain with the Cincinnati Bengals and eventually succeed Marvin Lewis as their head coach by instead opting to join the Browns in January.
Now Jackson is the face of the NFL’s only winless team, so it would only be natural for him to have some “What was I thinking?” moments.
But when he gazes at the other sideline as the Browns (0-12) face the Bengals (4-7-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium, Jackson swears he won’t be thinking about what could have been.
“That is so in the past it is not even funny,” he said. “I am here. I am embedded here, and my record is what it is. You do not look back. I am looking forward. I can’t wait for the day that I am sitting in an opportunity to be playing to go to the playoffs. I won’t look back on any of those decisions made. I am where I am supposed to be and doing what I am supposed to be doing.”
Browns players desperately want to win for Jackson because they haven’t sensed his energy wane or commitment waver despite all of the misery.
After they fell 27-13 to the New York Giants on Nov. 27, Jackson fought back tears while he said “being 0-12 is probably the hardest thing ever.”
In the starting lineup for the first time since he suffered a fractured left shoulder Sept. 11, quarterback Robert Griffin III explained why “it’s paramount” to earn a victory for Jackson.
“When you see Coach break down like that, as a player in this locker room, we already wanted to play hard for him, but it makes you want to play harder for him and win for him because he doesn’t deserve to be 0-12,” Griffin said. “... Seeing that emotion from Coach lights a fire.”
Running back Duke Johnson said the postgame news conference wasn’t the first time Jackson became emotional.
“You can see it every day,” he said. “You can see it after the game and he kind of wears it on his sleeve because he wants us to understand how much he cares and how much he believes in us.”
Belief is hard to maintain because Sunday marks 364 days since the Browns last won on Dec. 13, 2015. If they fall to the Bengals, their losing streak will last longer than a year. They have dropped the past 15 games, 22 out of 23 and 30 out of 33.
Of course, the possibility of finishing this season with the dreaded record of 0-16 is hanging over their heads, too. Only the 2008 Detroit Lions have lost all 16 games.
There are many sources of motivation for Browns players to halt their drought: seeing hard work pay off, alleviating the stress of the streak and avoiding the eternal embarrassment of 0-16.
Yet wide receiver Andrew Hawkins said Jackson is “the No. 1 reason why a lot [of players], especially the older guys, want to get it done.”
“He’s the one that guys feel like is really getting the short end of the stick because obviously an 0-12 team doesn’t indicate how great of a head coach you are,” Hawkins continued. “No one’s going to look at that record and say, ‘Aw, man, he relates to the players great, guys work their tails off for him, he cares about them and players appreciate that and play hard for him.’ This is a win-loss business.
“That’s the biggest disappointment for a lot of the guys is the fact that we can scream on a mountaintop how great of a coach Hue Jackson is, but we haven’t been able to get the wins yet. I don’t think it’s a matter of if, I think it’s when, but at the same time, I think this last stretch [of four games], that’s an important part for us.”
The Browns fell to the Bengals 31-17 on Oct. 23 at Paul Brown Stadium, and the agony of defeat tormented Jackson more than usual because it came at the hands of so many close friends.
“It stung doubly I guess when we look at it,” Jackson said. “It was right after my birthday, the whole nine yards, so it did not feel good.
“Do not remind me. OK? ... It was a beatdown. They beat us pretty soundly.”
But the Browns are coming off a bye this time, so Lewis expects Jackson to have some extra tricks up his sleeve.
“We’ll get a ball of knives,” Lewis said. “Lucky us. That’s the way it goes.”
Still, the Browns are 5½-point underdogs. They have lost their past four games against the Bengals and are in danger of tying their longest losing streak in the series.
“Obviously, getting a win this week would be really big for us for a number of reasons,” nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas said. “But I think the man that’s leading the ship right now is very well-respected in the locker room and we understand how important it would be for him to be able to beat the Bengals.
“I don’t think there’s many coaches in the NFL — in all of NFL history — that would have been able to handle this situation as well as he has. He’s just been so outstanding and he means so much to this team and to these players right now, and I think we all feel very fortunate that he’s our head coach.”
The Bengals felt fortunate to have Jackson as an assistant coach for seven seasons (2004-06 and 2012-15). He was their offensive coordinator for the past two years.
“I love the guy,” Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict said. “I am mad that he left us, but obviously, he had to go take another opportunity. He is going to change that program. It is going to take time.”
The Browns hope it starts against the Bengals.
“It would be pretty sweet,” run game coordinator Kirby Wilson said. “... I would love to see [Jackson] get this victory and get going. It is harder because he is the head coach and everything falls on him. Anything that goes wrong or good, it is a direct reflection of your head coach. So we would love to get this win.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.