PITTSBURGH -- Jimmy Haslam took what is an excruciatingly hard job and made it harder.

After the Cleveland Browns lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 28-24, the Browns owner gave Hue Jackson yet another vote of confidence, insisting he'll rerun as coach in 2018.

I asked Haslam where he saw progress.

"It's been uneven," he said.

Talk about grading on a coach-friendly curve.

The Browns were 1-15 in Jackson's first season. Now, it's 0-16. No coach in NFL history ever has had a 1-31 record in two seasons.

Then Haslam admitted keeping Jackson as coach was "understood" when John Dorsey was hired as general manager.

I hate this set-up.

We saw a shotgun football marriage before when Mike Pettine was hired as coach, then the Joe Banner front office was fired.

Haslam promoted Ray Farmer to general manager. He set up a system where the coach and general manager both report to ownership.

Farmer and Pettine didn't know each other. That did not create a great working relationship. They both were fired after two years.

I prefer a system where the general manager hires his own coach. It makes them accountable to each other.

I also like a setup where the coach reports to the general manager -- and the general manager reports to the owner.

But Haslam had Sashi Brown and Jackson both reporting to him.

Now, it's Dorsey and Jackson. Haslam admitted Jackson and Dorsey didn't know each other before they were brought together in Berea.

The owner insists Dorsey and Jackson are working well together, meeting each day. Haslman said he has two meetings a week with his football men.

WHY JACKSON?

So why would Haslam keep Jackson?

The owner said Jackson was "one of the hottest assistants out there" when the Browns hired him in 2016.

Jackson is the third coach hired by Haslam, who bought the team in 2012. He's the only one who was the owner's top choice.

Haslam insists the former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator "has not lost his magic."

Jackson was very effective calling plays and running the offense with quarterback Andy Dalton in Cincinnati. Rumors still linger that the Bengals will want to hire Jackson as their head coach in 2018 to replace Marvin Lewis.

The Browns would have to let Jackson out of his contract for that to happen. If the Bengals call about Jackson, the Browns should work hard to make some type of arrangement for him to go to Cincinnati.

That would allow Dorsey to have input in a new coach.

Who knows if that will happen.

But this much is certain: Haslam has never felt such a strong connection to any of his previous coaches (Pat Shurmur, Rob Chudzinski, Pettine) or executives (Mike Holmgren, Banner, Mike Lombardi, Farmer or Brown) as he does Hue Jackson.

So he's doubling down on Jackson and demanding Dorsey join him.

WHY DORSEY?

Why would Dorsey take the job knowing he had to work with Jackson at least for 2018?

First of all, he was fired in Kansas City despite a 47-21 record in the previous four years. There are only 32 NFL general manager jobs, and only a few come open each season.

As Dorsey tells everyone, "any player personnel man worth his weight" would want the Browns job because of all the goodies in the draft and salary cap.

The Browns have picks 1, 4, 33 and 35 in the first two rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft. They have more than $100 million in salary cap room.

From Dorsey's point of view, he inherits a team that is 1-31. He knows he can improve on that.

I have no doubt Dorsey will work hard with Jackson to build a roster.

But I'd love to know what the general manager really thinks of his new coach after watching the last four games since he took over.

Maybe Dorsey can help Jackson be a better coach, and it goes well beyond adding more talented players.

Perhaps this system will work.

But having my new general manager keep a coach with a 1-31 record is still a stunner to me.