In the end, Hue Jackson was his own worst enemy. Despite the flawed trade for starting quarterback Carson Palmer for way too much and the failure to make the playoffs after leading the AFC West halfway through the season, Jackson would still likely be the coach of the Oakland Raiders if he hadn’t been such an emotional creature in the end — blaming everyone around him for the team’s collapse rather than just humbly ride off into the sunset of the off-season.
Now he says he’s learned his lesson in a recent interview with a San Francisco radio station. In the NFL, head coaches are recycled every few years, so he will get his chance again. If so, Jackson says his time in Oakland taught him what to say and what to avoid.
“ I know everybody made a big deal after the last game of the comments I made. I made ‘em and wish I hadn’t. Obviously I wish I would’ve done my normal which was go take a shower, put on my clothes, and then go speak. I was very emotional and felt like I felt based on the circumstances of the game and what was riding on the game and the fact that I didn’t think we took care of enough business to win the game. I said what I said. Not that I didn’t feel what I said I was feeling, but there was just probably a different way that it needed to be said. It’s a learning experience for me and I will grow from that.”