As the world awaits the Oakland Raiders arrival on HBO's Hard Knocks, some of the Cleveland Browns coaching staff reminisced about the positives and negatives of the show. One person who was against the whole idea was former offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
According to Haley himself, he urged owner Jimmy Haslam not to do Hard Knocks. His opinion wasn't shared by Hue Jackson and the front office as the team went ahead and starred in the longtime series.
“We’re trying to make a drastic change here and turn things around, and this is the wrong thing to happen. I told the Browns owner, ‘Jimmy (Haslam), this is a mistake. Don’t do it.’ The No. 1 thing in camp is getting the team ready to be able to compete.”
Beginning in 2001, HBO had an idea to follow an NFL team to show a behind-the-scenes view of the on and off the field interactions of training camps. The series ended in 2002 but was brought back in 2007 and still is alive and well to this day.
For the Browns, it was a rollercoaster ride during Hard Knocks with there being multiple scenes showcasing the divide in the coaching staff. Among the coaching staff, there was a constant rift being shown between Haley and Hue Jackson (who has since been fired).
There has been a trend of coaches being fired after doing Hard Knocks in recent years. As a matter of fact, Bill O'Brien is the only head coach who still resides with the team he did Hard Knocks for. O'Brien and the Houston Texans were featured in 2015.
If the Browns showed anything in Hard Knocks last year, it's that you can't let the cameras affect you. The Raiders will get their shot at Hard Knocks this year and they certainly have some interesting characters along with Jon Gruden that will serve as entertainment for fans around the globe.
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