"We greatly appreciate Hue's commitment to the Cleveland Browns organisation over the last two and a half years," Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said.
"We understand how critical this time period is in the development of our football team, individually and collectively, and believed it was in the organization's best interest to make the move at this time, in order to maximise our opportunities the rest of this season. We certainly only wish Hue, Michelle, and his family the best moving forward."
At an afternoon meeting Monday, players were informed defensive coordinator Gregg Williams would serve as interim head coach, according to multiple reports. Freddie Kitchens was promoted from running backs coach to offensive coordinator. Williams has 27 years of experience in the NFL, including as a head coach with the Buffalo Bills from 2001-03.
The Browns had three wins in two-and-a-half seasons under Jackson, who was hired in 2016. Cleveland was 1-15 in 2016, 0-16 in 2017 and is 2-5-1 in eight games in 2018 (3-36-1) for a winning percentage of .088.
The offense's struggles and disagreements between Jackson, an offensive-minded head coach, and Haley had created tension over the last few weeks. Haley, who was a head coach in Kansas City from 2009-11, appeared to be a possible candidate to be interim head coach after Jackson's firing before news of his own departure emerged.
General manager John Dorsey has never run a coaching search as a personnel executive. He joined the Kansas City Chiefs as a hand-selected GM by Andy Reid. Jackson was inherited as head coach by Dorsey when the Browns hired Dorsey at the end of the 2017 season.
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, who coached Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield with the Sooners, was asked Monday on the Big 12 conference call if he had interest in the opening in Cleveland.
"Right now, I could care less about the NFL. The truth is for me, I love Oklahoma. I love coaching [in Norman]," Riley said. "I love coaching college football. I certainly don't have that itch right now."
