Ray Horton is a familiar name around Cleveland. He came and went with Rob Chudzinski, but in his one season put together a pretty good defense with limited talent. Uh...less talent than Hue Jackson inherits here. Because there is a lot of defensive talent here. Yes there is. Shut up.
Anyway, before coming to Cleveland, Ray was a head coach candidate. Despite the fact that he did a good job here, he no longer was when he left. Which was assenine.
He's got another chance now with his current team, the Tennessee Titans. I can't wish him luck. If the Titans don't make him their head coach, there's an excellent chance that Hue Jackson will land him.
Horton might actually be a sleeper. If he's denied again, he'll be out to prove something. More importantly, in 2015 he shared his defense with Dick Lebeau. He will have picked up on some of LeBeau's insidiously diabolical scheming. He should be a better defensive coordinator than he was before.
Ray will feel insulted if he reads this, but he shouldn't. When you stop learning and growing, you start dying. Dick LeBeau is among the best there ever was, and any defensive coordinator can learn at least a little from him.
Ray's defenses tend to be attack-oriented 3-4 hybrids adapted to his players. He listens to suggestions by his players. His defenses aren't simple, but are far less complicated than Mike Pettine's, and younger players don't require doctorates to learn it.
He won't overthink anything. This guy is best at rushing the passer, so I won't put him in coverage much trying to outsmart everybody. This guy is good in man coverage, but not in zone, so he'll do that.
Ray Horton would be a nice get for the Browns, and would have his base defense installed and understood in time to be viable in 2016.
Pep Hamilton was a hot head coach candidate heading into 2015. Then Andrew Luck's wheels came off, and then Luck went on IR.
He did a pretty good job with what he had left, but that wasn't much. He just got fired. I guess they have to blame somebody.
Hue Jackson, if he hires Kirby Wilson as running game coordinator, doesn't need another...well...Hue Jackson as offensive coordinator. Hue can call plays himself, and the new guy can focus on the passing game.
Pep Hamilton would find this a very easy gig, and could find himself a head coach candidate as of 2017.
That's because with nothing but smurfs and no running game worth mentioning (until late), this offense was respectable in 2015, and it's about to get two big, scary wide receivers added to it.
I don't know if Pep is the best man for the job, but he doesn't have to be.
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