CLEVELAND -- As training camp for the Cleveland Browns kicks off, optimism reigns supreme.
Those outside Berea, however, appear to be less optimistic about the Browns' outlook for the 2018 season.
On Thursday -- the same down the Browns held their first preseason practice -- Odds Shark released its odds for the first head coach to be fired during the 2018 campaign. And although he didn't rank first -- that honor belonging to Tampa Bay Buccanneers head man Dirk Koetter -- Jackson wasn't far from the top of the list, measuring in at second with +500 odds, meaning a successful $100 wager would net $500.
Odds Shark's full list of first head coach fired odds are as follows:
- Dirk Koetter (Buccanneers) +250
- Hue Jackson (Browns) +500
- Vance Joseph (Broncos) +650
- Adam Gase (Dolphins) +750
- Marvin Lewis (Bengals) +1600
- Bill O'Brien (Texans) +2000
- Jay Gruden (Redskins) +2800
- Frank Reich (Colts) +3300
- Jason Garrett (Cowboys) +3300
Considering his 1-31 record over the course of his first two seasons -- and coming off an 0-16 campaign -- in Cleveland, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Jackson would be considered one of the likeliest head coaches to get canned this season. Although Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager John Dorsey have remained steadfast in their commitment to Jackson, plenty could change should Cleveland not get off to a fast start -- or worse, continue to wait for its next win.
Jackson, for his part, insists he isn't concerned about the past, let alone prop bets.
"This is not the same team. I have said it before, that was 0-16. This is a whole different team," Jackson said after practice on Thursday. "Every day, come out here with the mindset to get better. I think that we will do that. We just have to continue to do that on a play-by-play basis every day. If we do that, then good things are going to happen."
And if not -- well, the odds tell the story.