Mike Pettine was fired after going 10-22 in two seasons as the Browns' head coach. Cleveland tapped into one of its AFC North rivals and hired former Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson to take over the reins. While this is Pederson's first stint as a head coach, Jackson held that role for one season with the Oakland Raiders and went 8-8 in 2011.
The Browns' front office was also revamped as former baseball executive Paul DePodesta was named the team's chief strategy officer. DePodesta is implementing an approach to scouting and player evaluation that relies heavily on analytics.