Browns make it official, name Hue Jackson head coach

The Cleveland Brownshave named former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson as their next head coach.

Jackson had been scheduled to fly to New York on Wednesday night to interview with the New York Giants. The San Francisco 49ershad also expressed interest.

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam did not attend Tuesday's NFL owners meeting in Houston, sending his wife, Dee, as his representative. Haslam reportedly stayed in Cleveland to try to finalize a deal to hire Jackson.

"It's very exciting for us to name Hue Jackson as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns," Jimmy Haslam said in a statement Wednesday. "He embodies all the qualities that will provide strong leadership for our football team. He is highly experienced, deeply passionate about winning, and relentless in trying to find ways to put his players in the best position to succeed. He possesses that unique ability to reach the entire locker room in a way that demands accountability while getting the buy-in and team-first mentality that leads to positive results. I think our players will love playing for him. Dee and I warmly welcome Hue and his family to Cleveland."

Jackson's hiring appears to mean the end of quarterbackJohnny Manziel in Cleveland. A source close to the situation told ESPN Giants reporter Dan Graziano that the topic of Manziel was discussed at length in meetings between Jackson and Browns ownership. In those discussions, Jackson indicated he would prefer the organization move on from Manziel if he were to become head coach, and he was told that would not be a problem.

With Jackson as their offensive coordinator, the Bengals had the NFL's sixth-best rushing attack in 2014 and the league's seventh-best scoring offense in 2015. Formational and schematic creativity has been the hallmark of his offense. At times, he had wide receiver Mohamed Sanu throwing passes, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Andy Dalton. He regularly lined up extra offensive linemen into heavy sets to get the running game ignited, and sometimes threw to those linemen who were eligible receivers.

"I'm very happy for Hue. He is an outstanding coach and even a better friend," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "I wish him the very best 14 times each season."

A Los Angeles native, Jackson played quarterback at the University of the Pacific before joining the school's coaching staff in 1987. He had stops as an assistant at Arizona State, Cal and Southern Cal before arriving in the NFL in 2001 to coach in a similar capacity in Washington. He became Washington's offensive coordinator in 2003.

The next season, Jackson found himself in Cincinnati for the first time, coaching a receiving corps that included the likes of Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. While coaching those pass-catchers, Jackson directed the Bengals' first 1,000-yard single-season receiving tandem. Both players had more than 1,000 yards receiving in 2006.

In 2010, Jackson arrived in Oakland to serve as the Raiders' offensive coordinator before spending the next season as their head coach. They went 8-8, and he was fired after one season. Jackson came back to Cincinnati, where he spent the 2012 season coaching a defensive back group that included former first-round picks Adam Jones, Leon Hall, Terence Newman and Dre Kirkpatrick. He spent the 2013 season coaching running backs before becoming the Bengals' offensive coordinator in 2014.

Information from ESPN Bengals reporter Coley Harvey was used in this report.br/]