CHICAGO -- The winless Cleveland Browns staggered one step closer Sunday to NFL notoriety, and when loss No. 15 had concluded, their coach vowed things will change in 2018.

If it sounds quirky ... well ... it’s the Browns, the Jimmy Haslam-led organization with a new general manager where a 1-30 coach has been told his job is safe.

Jackson takes the promise at face value. And after Sunday’s defeat in Chicago, Jackson spoke confidently about the future.

“I just know without question that we are going to get this fixed,” Jackson said as the Browns teetered closer to the 0-16 ledge. “I was able to look right in certain people’s eyes right after the game, right in our locker room, and I know we’re going to get this fixed.

“It’s just hard going through it.”

The team has not budged from its stance that Jackson will be back, but outside speculation and chatter increased that Haslam will change his mind and turn to a new coach in 2018 to go with new general manager John Dorsey.

There is precedent to Haslam revisiting a promise.

Haslam vowed during 2015 training camp he would not “blow it up” if things did not go well, then he fired coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer after the season. He vowed a multiyear rebuild when he hired Sashi Brown, then fired him before two years had ended and brought Dorsey aboard.

There’s also the unprecedented. The Browns have followed a franchise-worst 1-15 season with an 0-15 start; it's the worst stretch for a coach in NFL history, one game worse than Phil Handler, who coached during World War II.

"Guys are still rallying behind him," linebacker Chris Kirksey said of coach Hue Jackson. "We just got to get through this phase." Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire

League insiders who fully expect more change with the Browns point to the record, to fan anger and apathy and to the fact that Haslam would have a fresh start with a new coach and GM, which would give the fans a fresh start.

At a minimum, Jackson could be a tough sell to a fan base that has watched the past two seasons -- though a few victories would go some way toward erasing some memory banks.

Haslam, though, was adamant when he hired Dorsey that he would bring Jackson back. He said it in a statement, and he said it in a news conference. He said he hoped it would happen for 2018 and many years beyond, and he said it would happen even if Jackson finished 0-16.

Haslam evidently believes that the talent on Cleveland's roster is lacking, and with a more complete team Jackson would be a better coach.

Jackson obviously wants a chance to prove he is better than 1-30 or 1-31, and he doesn’t want that record to hang on his future. The only way to prove that is to return and improve the record.

This season’s Browns are an overturned truck of mistakes, immaturity and poor play. Witness Carl Nassib lining up offside Sunday and negating an interception and touchdown return by Myles Garrett. Critics charge that such things reflect on the coaching. Jackson’s defense is that he is working with a young roster torn down for a rebuild starting in 2018, and youth and a lack of talent lead to mistakes.

“Guys are still rallying behind him,” linebacker Chris Kirksey said. “We just got to get through this phase.”

The phase has proven most challenging. Sunday, the Browns fell apart after that interception was negated and lost 20-3 to a team with five wins.

The Browns are every bit the mess an 0-15 record would imply.

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Jackson said he was “pissed off” about the record, but he also made it very plain and clear Sunday where he plans to be in 2018.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life,” Jackson said. “So hopefully we’ll get on the other side of this. We’re going to get this football team where it needs to be. We’re going to get this organization where it needs to be and move forward.

“Right now we’re going to take the lumps, and we deserve them. This is who we are and what we are. Our record is what it is, what it’s been for the last two years.

“But like I said, I’m not going to let this define our organization, our players, our coaches, as we move forward.

“This is not going to be who we are.”