Former Browns Coach Hue Jackson Says Mental Health Struggles Exist for His Peers

In recent months, there has been an extra emphasis put on the mental health of multiple NFL players. Wide receiver Antonio Brown is often embroiled in this discussion due to his posts on social media. However, former Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals head coach Hue Jackson wants to make it clear that his peers often deal with the same struggles.

Speaking with Kristine Leahy of Fair Game, Jackson revealed that the mental health of coaches is often ignored in favor of the players. He isn’t on the staff of any team at the moment, but Jackson has spent considerable time among the ranks of coaches, both as an offensive coordinator and as a head coach.

“I’m going to do everything that I can on my part to do that,” Jackson said of shining a light on these mental health struggles. “Because the coaching side of it might be even greater or as great as the player side. There are a lot of people who deal with a lot of mental and emotional things that go on in football.”

As Jackson continued to explain, the standard operation for NFL coaches is to remain in the building long past they should have gone home. If they are sick, they don’t miss work; they don’t go to the doctor. Additionally, Jackson said that coaches often miss important things at their homes due to being at the team facility, which weighs on their mental health.

Jackson may be shining a light on these struggles with this interview with Leahy, but there is another coach that has been focused on certain aspects of this discussion. Bruce Arians, current head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, has a very strict policy for his staff. If they miss anything related to their children, he will fire them.

“I told my coaches in our first meeting, ‘If you miss a ballgame, a recital, anything to do with your children, I’ll fire you.’ Because I missed a lot of mine. And those years don’t come back,” Arians told Peter King in August.

“There’s plenty of time in this office to work; you can come back at midnight if you want to. But don’t miss that recital; don’t miss that game. Those things mean so much to your children, and it means so much to you. The games I did get to see my son play, I know he felt different, and I don’t want those guys to ever miss that.”

Obviously, simply attending recitals or birthdays is only one part of this discussion, but Arians is striving to keep his staff more involved with their families. This could ultimately play a role in their mental health in the long run, which is something that is very important to the former Browns’ coach in Jackson.

(Photo Credit: 2018 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty)