Browns coach Hue Jackson doesn’t believe his right-hand man on offense will abandon him.
Despite coach Jim Harbaugh trying to lure Browns associate head coach-offense Pep Hamilton to the University of Michigan, Jackson is confident his top lieutenant will stay put.
“Is Pep Hamilton going to remain on our staff? Yeah, I sure hope so,” Jackson said Sunday afternoon during a conference call that centered on the Browns hiring defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and firing his predecessor, Ray Horton. “I mean I’ve known about the Jim Harbaugh situation from a week and a half ago. I feel very comfortable that Pep will stay.”
On Saturday morning, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Hamilton is considering leaving the Browns to reunite with Harbaugh, the head coach at Stanford in 2010 when Hamilton served as its wide receivers coach. Harbaugh has an opening on his staff at Michigan after passing game coordinator and quarterbacks/wide receivers coach Jedd Fisch left last week to become UCLA’s offensive coordinator.
On Sunday morning, Rapoport reported Harbaugh has been telling recruits for the past few days Hamilton will join the Wolverines.
“You know anything can happen,” Jackson said. “We want him to stay. We hope he stays. A young man is entitled to do what they feel is best for them. But I would think we’ve created a great environment, and I hope things are still good, and as far as I know, things are.”
Hamilton is Jackson’s highest-ranking offensive assistant. He helps game plan and works as the quarterbacks coach for the Browns, who went 1-15 during the 2016 season. So if Hamilton were to leave, Jackson would look to replace him.
But no matter who would be added to the staff in the event Hamilton flees, Jackson said he’ll continue to call the offense’s plays next season.
“Yes, I will,” Jackson said. “I don’t know why I would not. Until I get this organization where I need it to be, I need to continue to do what I think I have done in the past to play winning football. Obviously, we didn’t do it as well this past year. Trust me, I have looked at myself.
“Hue Jackson has to get better as well as anybody has to get better. I don’t run from that. I am not taking it off my head. I get how all of this works. I have been through these things before, and I know what we have to get done. I can see it. I just have to go make it happen.”
Although Jackson expects Hamilton to remain with the Browns, Jackson made it clear other changes are likely on the horizon when asked if he would retain the rest of the coaches on the offensive staff and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor.
“I am still looking at everything to be very honest with you,” Jackson replied. “I am not done [evaluating]. This is a thorough evaluation of our staff. I am going to do this brick by brick in how we have to do this and put this thing together. Everybody kind of knows where they are and where I am. If you are asking will there be more changes as we move forward, yeah, there could potentially be more changes.
“There could be more changes because guys have better opportunities. There could be more changes because I think something is going to improve us and make us better. When I set out to take this job, I told you my expectation was I was going to win here, and I am going to win here. In order to do that, we have to and I have to make some tough decisions as we move forward as to what is best for our football team.
“It is not personal. This is the business side of it. It is a hard side of it, and I get that.”
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.