Bengals promote former Raiders coach Hue Jackson

A season removed from getting fired after just one year on the job as the Raiders head coach, Hue Jackson continues to move up the ranks in the Bengals organization, most likely in the hopes of one day getting a second shot at a head gig.

The Bengals announced Wednesday that Jackson will take over for the retiring Jim Anderson as the team's running backs coach, and he will serve as the special assistant to Marvin Lewis. It's a promotion from his job last season when he assisted the secondary and special teams coaches after he parted ways with Oakland.

“This is all about us getting better as an offensive team,” Lewis said in a statement. “It was a tremendous development for our staff that we were able to get Hue last year, and now I'm excited to expand his role.”

In some ways, Jackson got a raw deal in Oakland. In his one season, he lost his starting quarterback in Jason Campbell to injury (he did trade for Carson Palmer, though) but managed to finish 8-8. Yes, the Raiders probably should have beaten out Tim Tebow and the Broncos for that playoff spot, but in his first season with the team after putting up a respectable record, Jackson probably deserved at least another season.

But owner Al Davis, who hired Jackson, had died, and new general manager Reggie McKenzie wanted to bring in his own head coach. So, he axed Jackson -- who's since had to start all over again.

Now, though, Jackson appears to be working his way up once again. And he'll get to hone his resume with one of his strong suits -- in 2010, as the Raiders offensive coordinator, Oakland finished second in the league in rushing, and the next season as head coach, the Raiders finished seventh.

“People in football know what kind of offensive mind Hue brings to a staff, so he's going to be great with our running backs,” Lewis said. “And I'm going to take better advantage of his expertise in all aspects of football and coaching, which is very wide. He will help me be more effective in a number of ways.”

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