Hue Jackson brings in Art Briles

Hue Jackson is showing a bit of desperation.

The Cleveland Browns are 0-5, and Jackson understandably wants to do all he can to right the ship.

Jackson’s idea? Bring in offensive guru Art Briles.

If you don’t know Briles, he was an offensive genius of a head coach at Baylor, coaching up offensive weapons like current quarterback Robert Griffin III. As Jackson rightly stated in his presser today, Briles is brilliant.

“The guy is a tremendous offensive mind," Jackson said today. "I think we all recognize that. If we recognize nothing else, he is that so just to learn some other things and hear some other things that I wanted to know and understand a little bit better I think is what this is truly all about."

However, Briles also has a bad backstory.

In May, Baylor fired Briles due to a “widespread sexual assualt scandal,” as USA TODAY phrased it. Based on the report of an independent investigator, Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton, Briles and his staff allegedly downplayed and perhaps even hindered sexual assault claims filed by female students against Baylor football players.

Now, that does not mean Briles is necessarily guilty of a heinous crime. KWTX of Waco, Texas reported that the investigation might have been flawed and the law firm “not independent.”

Not being a Baylor insider, it’s almost impossible to know the extent of Briles’ involvement in the scandal and just how much wrong he did. At the same time, there’s room for skepticism here. Why hire a man recently accused of obstructing the justice system, particularly in regards to sexual assault, a truly terrible crime?

Whether you believe Briles should or should not be coaching, as Jackson said, a person deserves a second chance.

“I respect what you are saying and understand that trail, but at the same time, I think everybody deserves an opportunity to kind of do what they do,” Jackson said. “I respect everybody's feelings and I don't condone anything or not, but that is not for me to judge. The opportunity to pick his brain and to have him be around and talk to him and get to know him outside of all of that in a different capacity was what was important to me."