Bengals’ Hue Jackson interviews for 49ers coach

Just hours after Cincinnati lost a heartbreaker to Pittsburgh in a wild AFC wild-card game — and after meeting with the San Francisco 49ers about becoming their next coach — Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator interviewed for the Browns’ coaching vacancy.

So now the Cleveland Browns are reportedly hellbent on hiring Jackson, who was about the only Bengal who couldn’t be blamed for the endgame atrocities in Saturday’s playoff loss to Pittsburgh (Jackson did, after all, get enough out of backup QB AJ McCarron to advance).

The Browns have also interviewed Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line coach Doug Marrone, Dallas Cowboys secondary coach Jerome Henderson and New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. The Cleveland Browns already interviewed him this past Saturday.

Jackson has been the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati since Jay Gruden’s departure to take the Washington Redskins head coaching job two seasons ago; Jackson returned to the Bengals after his one season as the Oakland Raiders head coach in 2011. Adam Gase interviewed with the Giants but since accepted the Miami Dolphins’ offer to become head coach.

The NFL Network and various other organizations are reporting that Jackson didn’t receive an offer from either the 49ers or Browns, which makes sense, to some extent.

Oops: Tomsula was sacked after 16 miserable games and certainly will never have another head-coaching opportunity in the NFL. It suggests either the Browns or Giants could be closing in on a deal to make Jackson their new head coach.

Jackson was the receivers coach in Cincinnati from 2004-06 – when Chad Ochocinco was their top target – before going to the Falcons as offensive coordinator. However, granting a relatively young and inexperienced coach the final decision on the roster is not something most teams would be willing to do. He was sacked amid an ownership change and joined Marvin Lewis’ staff in Cincinnati as a defensive assistant.

McDermott’s defenses have finished in the top 10 in each of the past four seasons. Pettine went 7-9 in his first season and then 3-13 in his last season with the team in 2015. “I worked with a lot of coaches in the [25] years that I worked for [Al Davis]”. If we look at McDermott’s work under an offense-oriented head coach like, say, Andy Reid, his record suffers.