Hue Jackson’s Grambling State tenure is over after two seasons.
The school announced Tuesday that it had parted ways with Jackson after a 5-6 campaign in 2023. That was a two-game improvement from Jackson’s first season with the team when the Tigers went 3-8.
“We want to thank Coach Jackson on his contributions to the GSU football program. We wish him well in all his future endeavors,” Grambling State athletic director Trayvean Scott said in a statement. “This was not an easy decision to make but one that we felt was necessary to move our program forward. The goal at GSU is to compete for championships every year. As we move forward, we will be intentional in finding the right person to lead this program back to its rightful place as one of the top programs in the country.”
The longtime NFL coach was hired in December of 2021 after spending that season as the offensive coordinator at Tennessee State. He was brought in to replace Broderick Fobbs as the Tigers went 4-7 in 2021 following the canceled 2020 season.
Jackson’s 8-14 record with the school means that Grambling State is still searching for its first winning season since going 6-5 in 2019 — and the gamble of hiring a coach with longstanding NFL ties didn’t pay off.
Before spending a season at Tennessee State, Jackson was out of football in 2019 and 2020 since a role as a special assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals after his firing from the Cleveland Browns.
Jackson’s tenure with the Browns was historically futile. Cleveland was 1-15 in 2016 before going 0-16 in 2017. He got a third season with the franchise despite the 1-31 record over two seasons before getting fired as the Browns were 2-5-1 through eight games in 2018.
Cleveland failed to win a road game in 20 tries during Jackson’s time as head coach. Before he was the Browns’ head coach, Jackson spent the 2011 season as the Raiders’ head coach. The Raiders — in Oakland at the time — went 8-8 that season after a 7-4 start and Jackson was fired after the season was over.
