“You hired a man that oversaw a program writhed with sexual assault perpetrators” - Stephen A. Smith on Hue Jackson hiring Art Briles 

Former Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson has, once again, found himself in hot water after a questionable hire on his staff with the Grambling State University Football team.

He was hired as head coach by the historically black university on December 10, 2021. He recently hired former Baylor University head football coach Art Briles as the team's offensive coordinator.

Briles was fired from Baylor in 2016 after investigations yielded that the program failed to properly acknowledge campus-wide allegations of sexual assault.

ESPN analyst and First Take host Stephen A. Smith had a strong opinion about the hiring on Friday morning's show.

“Let me be very, very clear. This is about the hiring of Art Briles. This is not about Hue Jackson as a person. This is not about Hue Jackson as a coach. This is not about Hue Jackson as a human being. This does not bring into question anything he said about Haslem, or the Browns, or anybody else. This is specifically regarding Art Briles."

Smith continued to speak on how others felt about the hiring decision.

"And, yes, I will call Hue Jackson because guess what? I find this decision to be egregious, period. There’s a better decision you could have made for offensive coordinator for Grambling State than this one. Doug Williams says it. Most people, including Keyshawn, were talking about it this morning. Most people are going to say that. That's how we feel. This is about the hire."

Stephen A. Smith then spoke about why he was so upset with the hiring of Art Briles.

"Let’s not conflict things. Let’s not confuse the issues. Let’s not try to be evasive. You hired a man who oversaw a program writhed with sexual assault perpetrators. The law has stated that. We've got people who are in prison because of it. As a result, nobody touched this man for six years for a reason."

Stephen A. continued on his diatribe:

"And if he's going to land someplace, it shouldn't be at a historically black college and universities where you have a lot of the players at Baylor, if not all of them, who were being accused of it, who happened to be black."

Smith ended by commenting on Briles not being the person to help lead young black men.

"Clearly, him being a leader of young black men is highly questionable. That's who you hired, Hue Jackson. There’s no way around that. So whether it’s you or somebody else that is texting me with your stuff, I will happily call you. Hell, if you want me to, I’ll fly out and visit you, and say it to your da** face. It's a ridiculous hire. That's the issue.”

Who is Hue Jackson?

Cleveland Browns v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Hue Jackson is a former NFL head coach, most notably with the Cleveland Browns from 2016-2018. He was the unfortunate recipient of his Browns not winning a single game in the 2017 NFL season.

In his brief stint coaching Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, the former Heisman trophy winner did not see eye-to-eye with the coach and even went as far as calling him "fake."

The Grambling State University head coach recently made headlines as he intervened in a lawsuit by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores against the NFL for racial discrimination. The former Browns coach made allegations that seemed to suggest Browns owner Jimmy Haslam also offered him money to tank games.

Jackson would later refute those comments.

As for the hiring of Art Briles, stay tuned as the uproar may cause the university to quickly go in another direction as offensive coordinator.