By John Thornton- I know people(me) have wondered why the Bengals haven’t brought back former assistant coach Hue Jackson, but that seems to be a dead issue now.  Reports are saying that Hue agreed to a 3 year deal to become the OC for the Oakland Raiders.  I actually talked to Hue over the phone last night, so I knew he was contemplating long and hard over his next move.  The Bears were reportedly in the mix to hire Hue.  I begged him to take that job for personal reasons, Hue is a close friend of mine and I love to frequent Chitown and that would give me another excuse to go there.  But professionally it wouldn’t have been a bad move for Hue.  Working with a good, young offensive talent in QB Jay Cutler, WR Devin Hester, WR Johnny Knox, RB Matt Forte, and TE Greg Olsen would have been a plus.  But Hue chose the Oakland Raiders.  People are gonna ask why he chose a dysfunctional place over one that seemed to better.  Hue is from the Bay area, and I’m guessing that he wanted to have more authority over the offense than he has had in recent years in Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Baltimore.  I’m sure his contract is guaranteed and I’m sure that he will get a shot to run the team if something were to happen with current head coach Tom Cable.  But why not Cincy?  Hue is good friends with Marvin Lewis, recruited Carson Palmer to USC, a father figure to Chad Ochocinco, recommended and vouched for Mike Zimmer to be the next DC last off season.  Hue did leave Cincy to take the OC job in Atlanta when Bobby Petrino was the head coach of the Falcons, but that lasted less than a full season.  Maybe it’s just hard to bring  guy back to a place that he left?  I don’t know.  Seems like there should have been a place on the staff for a coach that could and would help the team.  Like I said before, the Bengals were close to being a contender this year.  Being aggressive is what’s needed.  If they don’t want to let go of any current coaches, create a spot for another good one.  Teams have done that before.  The Colts did it for Leslie Frazier when the Bengals fired him in 2005.  In my opinion, it’s cheaper to hire Hue and have him help develop the WR’s and maybe help Carson, than it is to draft guys and not have them develop and waste money on them.  But Hue would also have to agree to that kind of a role, which I’m not so sure he would take.  But it’s worth trying.

More on Hue to Oakland from Ravens site