After watching Hue Jackson get fired last month, former Browns offensive coordinator Todd Haley apparently thought he was going to get the team's interim coaching job. At least that's the story from former Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano.
During an interview with 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland this week, Rutigliano gave some new details on what went down on Oct. 29, the day that both Jackson and Haley were fired.
"Why did they fire Todd Haley?" Rutigliano said, via Pro Football Talk. "I talked to him on the phone. When he was going to the office he thought he was going to take over. And he got fired."
Ouch. That must have been quite the stunner for Haley, who was let go by the Browns after just nine and a half months with the team. According to Rutigliano, Haley literally had "no idea" that he was going to get canned when he walked into the office of Browns general manager John Dorsey.
"He said to me, 'I had no idea. When I was going back into the office I thought possibly if they were going to let Hue Jackson go, that I would have the opportunity now to be the interim coach and then get the job eventually, and that's why I came here,'" Rutigliano said. "And then it went the opposite direction."
Instead of giving the job to Haley, the Browns dumped him and decided to name defensive coordinator Gregg Williams their interim coach.
As for Haley, Rutigliano did confirm one other fact about him: He apparently hated working with Jackson, which isn't a huge surprise. Haley and Jackson had seemingly been at odds since the team filmed "Hard Knocks" back in training camp. During one specific episode, Haley and Jackson famously clashed about whether or not players should be allowed to sit out practice when they're healthy. Jackson thought the rest day made sense, but Haley was adamantly against it.
"I don't think they had a relationship," Rutigliano said. "You're working with a guy who had one win and 31 losses and he's going to tell you what to do? And he proved all three years that he was incompetent. He wasn't qualified for the job."
It's now been two weeks since Haley's firing and he's kept quiet about his feelings towards the Browns (unlike Jackson, who recently went on a media tour and basically blamed everyone but himself for the team's failings. Although he did eventually accept a smidgen of responsibility).
With Haley not talking about what happened in Cleveland, it's interesting to hear Rutigliano's version of events of what happened on Black Monday. Rutigliano, who coached the Browns for seven seasons (1978-84), apparently talked to Haley after the firing because he's viewed by Haley as a mentor.
