Hue Jackson is the new coach of the Cleveland Browns.

But if it weren't for the Browns of 2011, he might not be getting another chance to be a head coach. Jackson's meandering road to Cleveland actually started Oct. 16, 2011, when Jackson was coach of the Raiders and the Browns played them in Oakland.

Jackson's Raiders had started 3-2 and he had quarterback Jason Campbell playing the best football of his career. But in the second quarter, Campbell scrambled and was tackled by Scott Fujita. The result was a broken collarbone that ended Campbell's season.

Kyle Boller finished the game and was able to beat the Browns -- naturally and, yes, that's so Browns -- but Jackson stepped into the void filled by the death of Al Davis and went after Carson Palmer. The Raiders gave up a first- and second-round pick to get Palmer.

Oakland wound up moving to 7-4, but lost four of five, including a season finale with the division championship and the playoffs on the line, to finish 8-8. Jackson was highly critical of himself and his team after the game ("This team needs an attitude adjustment"), and Palmer wound up being traded to Arizona.

Jackson's tenure ended after the season. Longtime owner Al Davis had died in October of that season, and Mark Davis hired Reggie McKenzie to be the team's general manager. McKenzie fired Jackson and hired Dennis Allen. The Raiders have not been .500 since.

Jackson now says he simply wasn't ready to be a head coach, and the situation in Oakland was exacerbated by the death of Davis. He said he and Amy Trask were trying to do nine different jobs, and working for the Raiders that season was akin to walking through a maze.

But his dismissal from Oakland led him right back to his good friend Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, where Jackson built his credibility back first as secondary coach, then as running backs coach and finally as offensive coordinator the past two seasons as Lewis selected him to replace Jay Gruden.

The Bengals had two playoff seasons with Jackson as coordinator. He helped Andy Dalton grow, and he showed creativity in his offensive formations and play-calling.

He now is the Browns coach.

To think that his path to Cleveland began with a Cleveland player breaking the collarbone of his starting quarterback.