As is the case with a large contingent of offensive coordinators in the NFL, Hue Jackson was a former quarterback at the college level, albeit for the University of the Pacific which competes in what is now the FBS. Upon the end of his playing days, he immediately became a graduate assistant for the university and worked his way up through the college ranks, peaking as the offensive coordinator for USC from 1997 through 2000.

In 2001, Jackson departed for the NFL, where he has remained ever since. Beginning as a positions coach, he has also assumed the offensive coordinator role for three different franchises while even elevating to Head Coach of Oakland for the 2011 season. After Jay Gruden’s departure from Cincinnati and with two seasons as a positions coach there, he now finds himself back as the primary playcaller after being promoted to offensive coordinator.

As the table below indicates, the team totals for Jackson’s previous offenses were mediocre across the board with an average ranking between 16.3 and 18.3 in each category. However, Jackson has not been blessed with a roster near as talented as the current Bengals offense. His leading quarterbacks in the years listed were Patrick Ramsey, Joey Harrington, Jason Campbell, and Carson Palmer after a mid-season trade - to put it kindly, that group leaves a lot to be desired.

As the years went on, his offensive tempo does seem to have kept up with the times though and he’s remained near the league average in total plays. He even managed to post consecutive top-ten seasons in total yards while with the Raiders. Ultimately, the limited history combined with the poor level of playmakers at his disposal makes it tough to decipher much more meaning from the above numbers. However, listening to what Jackson has to say may prove useful. In the press conference announcing his promotion, he stated the following:

“We’re not going to shy away from throwing the ball when we need to, but I think in order to win and be a very good offensive football team you have to be able to run the ball and that’s going to be the starting point for us.”

And soon after that, he went on to describe how he envisions the offensive tempo:

“I want it to be fast and furious… Football is played in a frenzy, a kind of controlled, smart frenzy… You play in tempo mode your quarterback and your unit can handle. We haven’t totally decided what our tempo mode is yet. I know what I want it to look like… and I think we’re working toward that goal.”

For a look at how this mentality may affect the offense, head over to Footballyguys, where all offseason content is free.