HUE JACKSON TAKES NFL'S CLEVELAND BROWNS HEAD COACHING JOB: DOES HE KNOW SOMETHING WE DON'T?

2 - 14, 3 - 13, 7 - 9, 9 - 7 (lost to the Steelers in the wild card round in their only playoff appearance in this run), 5 - 11, 4 - 12, 10 - 6, 4 - 12, 5 - 11, 5 - 11, 4 - 12, 5 - 11, 4 - 12, 7 - 9, 3 - 13...In case you haven't guessed it, those are the records of the Cleveland Browns since they regained the franchise that was taken to Baltimore by Art Modell following the 1995 NFL season. That's thirteen double digit loss seasons out of the last seventeen, in a league that's designed to promote parity. Are you kidding me? How bad can an organization get? Why, when opportunities exist in San Francisco with five Super Bowl titles, including an appearance with their current starting QB, and with the New York Giants, winners of four titles, two of which came with much of their current roster, would former Cincinnati Bengals' offensive coordinator Hue Jackson take the Cleveland head coaching job? The QB situation is a circus, the front office is a train wreck and the team is in total disarray.

Jackson is now the Browns' ninth coach since 1999. That's triple the number that Pittsburgh has employed since 1969. Butch Davis is the top of the heap, winning a whopping 41% of his games at the helm. The NBA has the 76ers and the NFL is stuck with the Browns. Talk about perpetual ineptitude, these guys would have passed on Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Andrew Luck and anyone else that might have been able to help in resurrecting this crappy franchise. Why the fans still show up to watch this team is a mystery to me. And now Hue Jackson, with opportunities still available in San Francisco and New York, chose a job that will be his for maybe two years if he's fortunate. Of course, the last head coaching job he accepted was with the Oakland Raiders, so maybe he's just a glutton for punishment. He lasted one season where he went 8 - 8, not a bad record in the other city by the bay. He has no chance for that kind of result in the next couple of years with the Browns.

Cleveland needs a quarterback, and party boy Johnny Football isn't the answer. The problem is there is unlikely to be a franchise signal caller in this draft. So why did Jackson take on this almost hopeless reclamation project? Maybe owner Jimmy Haslam sold Jackson on the changes he's made in the front office, much like the displays at his truck stops that funded his purchase of the Browns. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty skeptical about Haslam's chances of putting a winning football team in Cleveland. Just ask Jerry Jones how it's worked out for him in Dallas since the advent of free agency. Ditto Daniel Snyder in the nation's capital and Arthur Blank in Atlanta, despite what amounts to unlimited funds. Maybe they should consult the Rooneys in Pittsburgh, the Maras in New York and Robert Kraft in New England about hiring good football people, then getting out of the way and letting them do their job. The last time I checked, they've won eight of the last fifteen Super Bowls.

I wish Hue Jackson much success, even if there is probably a greater chance that I won the $1.5 Billion Power Ball drawing tonight. Some organizations are toxic, and unfortunately for football fans in Cleveland, the Browns are one of those. You can't fire the owner. Just ask me, I'm a Redskins fan.

Don't forget to check out my new book, "Roughing the Passer - A PK Frazier Novel" and my first, "Illegal Procedure - A PK Frazier Novel", available in print and e-formats at Amazon.com, iBooks and Smashwords. The third installment, "Offsetting Penalties - A PK Frazier" is due out in January.