It’s a move that hardly anyone could have seen coming. Not only did former Oakland Raiders head coach Hue Jackson land in the very place he traded with to land current Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer, but he did so as the team’s new secondary coach, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Specifically, Schefter says he will also help with special teams.
It’s a puzzling move considering that Jackson has worked with quarterbacks and coached offenses in his past. Peter King seems surprised by the move himself after inspecting Jackson’s bio and wondering what the Bengals see in him for the position. While moving former offensive coach Juan Castillo to the defensive side is an experiment the Eagles tried this last season, this seems like another thing entirely.
Interesting enough, King also notes that the moves makes no sense “unless it’s a you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours Palmer trade payback.” Certainly the press conference will tell more, but for now this is a head scratcher on all sides.