BEREA: Browns coach Hue Jackson has learned how to play it cool since the last time he led an NFL team, and the lesson could be vital as he guides one of the youngest rosters in the league.
Jackson reflected Monday on how he’s changed since his time with the Oakland Raiders in 2011, his only previous season as an NFL head coach. He also looked to his second chance starting in earnest Sunday when the Browns visit the Philadelphia Eagles for the regular-season opener.
“I think I’m a lot calmer. I thought I was about to lose my mind the first time I did this,” Jackson said after practice. “I think I get it now. I understand the process of it and understand really what we are trying to accomplish, which really keeps you calm during the week.
“It is really important for our football team. They need to see me be very consistent week in and week out. We are not blinking. We are just going to keep getting better. We are going to keep working. We have a big game this week, and we are looking forward to it.”
The new Browns regime led by head of football operations Sashi Brown and chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta has spearheaded a radical overhaul of personnel. The process has left the Browns with 17 rookies (including 13 they drafted), two first-year players and nine second-year players on the 53-man roster.
Growing pains are sure to come, but Jackson hopes there is a silver lining.
“They are not ‘NFL-ized.’ They haven’t been in the National Football League. I think some of our guys are just going to go play, and I think that is what we have to do as a football team,” Jackson said. “We can’t get worried about anything. ... It is not really about Philadelphia. It is really about us and how we prepare and our process and how we get ready to go play.”
Phillyvoice.com ranked all 32 NFL teams by age during cutdown day this past weekend. The data change daily with roster moves, but as of Saturday night, the Browns were the second-youngest team with an average age of 25.08 and the Los Angles Rams were the youngest at 25.
New Browns punter Britton Colquitt said he feels “ancient.” He turned 31 in March.
“Sometimes guys when they get older can get a little ornery and things like that,” said Colquitt, who won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos last season. “These [young] guys are happy to be making a paycheck and doing something they love.
“Of course, there’s more to it than just a game. There’s a lot of stress and things like that involved. But with a younger team, they are just happy to be out here, and they don’t know that there have been down years.”
Jackson has said younger teams require more patience, but he refuses to let inexperience detract from the “expect to win” mantra he’s spread since he was hired on Jan. 13.
“I have an expectation and I’m not backing down from that, and I’m not changing that thought process in our players,” Jackson said. “That is just what we are going to do and we are going to find a way to do it. I don’t know how it’s going to happen. By hook or by crook, we are going to get this done. We have to. That is all I know. I don’t know anything else.”
Coming off a 3-13 season and in the midst of a blatant rebuild, most outsiders don’t expect the Browns to win more than a few games in 2016. Some think a winless season isn’t far-fetched.
Yet Jackson oozes confidence.
“I hope I have always had it. It is just the way I am,” Jackson said. “I thank God for that. I’m very grateful for my mom and my dad for instilling that in me because at the end of the day, if you don’t believe in yourself, it is not up to everybody else to believe in you. You have to believe in yourself. I try and really believe in what we are doing here and how we are doing it. We just have to go prove it and do it on a consistent basis.”
The opportunity is on the horizon, but the team’s history is daunting.
The Browns are 1-16 in regular-season openers since 1999, including 0-3 on the road. They haven’t prevailed in Week 1 since 2004. No Browns coach has won his debut with the team since Bud Carson in 1989. The franchise has posted just two winning seasons during the expansion era (2002 and 2007) and made the playoffs once (2002).
In other words, Jackson’s composure will be tested as he searches for an elusive turnaround.
“I try to be the same every day. There is not much change in me whether good or bad,” Jackson said. “It can’t be because those guys are going to follow my lead, and I get that and this organization is going to follow my lead. We have a lot to do. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win every game. I think you guys all know that. I’m going to be very consistent in my approach to our football team and to what we are doing. What we need to do is start getting the results that we all desire.”
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.