Hue Jackson has been looking forward to this day for months. And now, it's finally here.
"You think it's far away," the Browns first-year coach said in January, "but it's right around the corner."
Indeed, members of Cleveland's roster returned to Berea on Monday morning, marking the beginning of voluntary offseason workouts under Jackson and a new-look coaching staff that includes the likes of associate head coach Pep Hamilton and defensive coordinator Ray Horton.
"(We have to) just to make sure we're crossing all the T's and dotting all the I's as a staff; making sure that we're prepared," he said, "so when these players get back here, that we hit the ground running."
At the NFL's annual scouting combine in February, Jackson outlined something of a vision for the Browns going forward.
"I think it's about team. I think what I want our players to buy into is that we're going to be a football team, that we'll be accountable to each other, and we all know accountability goes both ways," he said.
"Then on top of that, we'll be a group that's hard-working, that we'll have some grit, that we'll be physically and mentally tough and be resilient. I think if we go about it that way and we change the mindset of what we've been, then I think we have a chance to do something that's really special.
"Again, how fast that's going to happen? I don't have that blueprint. But I know one thing: no one's going to work harder at it than myself, our coaching staff and the organization."
Monday marks the latest chapter in that journey.
