Former Bengals assistant Hue Jackson interviews for Steelers OC position

A face very familiar to the Bengals interviewed in Pittsburgh earlier this week.

Hue Jackson, former Bengals’ offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, is looking for a new job in the AFC North. According to Dianna Russini, the Steelers interviewed him for their vacant offensive coordinator position.

This news broke on the same day that the Steelers announced they had signed former Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins. With Ben Roethlisberger aging, perhaps they want to see what Jackson can do to turn Haskins’ career around.

Jackson previously held that job with the Bengals from 2014 to 2015. Before that, he was with the Bengals as a wide receivers coach from 2004-2006. He helped coach Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh to become the first Bengals duo to record 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.

In 2008, Jackson became the quarterbacks coach for the Ravens. Jackson’s rookie quarterback, Joe Flacco, became the first rookie quarterback to win two playoff games in 2008.

Jackson went on to the Raiders to be their head coach, but lost his job after the 2011 season. He landed back in Cincinnati in 2012 and worked his way up to becoming the offensive coordinator in 2014.

In 2015, the Bengals’ offense was ranked seventh in the NFL despite missing their starting quarterback for the final four games. When Andy Dalton was out with a thumb injury, AJ McCarron stepped in and led the Bengals to only their second 12-win season in franchise history.

After the crushing loss in the playoffs, Jackson went to Cleveland to be their head coach in 2016. He only won three games in two and a half seasons there, going 3-36-1, making that the worst 40+ game head coaching stints in NFL history.

When fired by the Browns, Marvin Lewis hired him as the special assistant to the head coach. Since Lewis had just fired his defensive coordinator and took over defensive duties himself, he wanted someone with experience as a head coach on his staff.

While Jackson may be one of the worst head coaches in NFL history, his abilities as an offensive coordinator are much more valuable. After all, he was on the coaching staff for two of the best offenses in Bengals’ history.

If Jackson gets the job with the Steelers, he will have worked for every team in the division.