The Cleveland Browns’ coaching search didn’t last all that long, and they stayed in house elevating Freddie Kitchens from offensive coordinator to the 17th full time head coach in team history.
Certainly, the performance of the offense in the second half of the season, after Hue Jackson was let go, was a factor in Kitchens getting the gig. And his connection with Baker Mayfield didn’t hurt either.
However, the biggest factor may have occurred when the former Alabama quarterback was given the reins to the offense when Jackson departed.
Kitchens made the players part of the process. By accounts, he went to the guys who have to go out on the field and execute what they liked to run and what they felt could be effective.
And then he started using those plays, and they worked. That got him the respect of the offensive players. It’s called leadership.
Good leaders aren’t tyrants. They include their subordinates in the process, only putting their foot down when they have to.
One of factors we believe makes a successful coach is taking what you have and getting the most out of your talent. And it helps if you can go to those guys and take into consideration what they feel they are good at, and not trying to fit the proverbial square peg into a round hole.
And it’s not like Kitchens is some inexperienced young guy either. He’s been a coach for a long time. He spent six years in the college ranks, and has been coaching in the NFL since 2006, with his longest tenure being in Arizona.
We feel some have dismissed him because he was here in Cleveland last season. Let’s say Kitchens was the offensive coordinator for half a season in Indianapolis and was part of the Colts’ resurgence. We think that would have made him a hotter commodity.
Since he was here, the excuses were made, like the offense clicked because Cleveland was playing opponents like Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Denver, all of whom ranked in the bottom 11 in terms of yards allowed.
However, the Browns played three other teams in the bottom ten under Hue Jackson, and didn’t move the ball up and down the field.
The Jets and Buccaneers had bad defenses too, yet the Kitchen led offense gained more yards against the Texans and Ravens than the Jackson/Haley one did against those foes.
GM John Dorsey spoke at the end of the season about the new coach being a “leader of men”, and that may be more important than the strategic things a head football coach brings to the table.
That being said, let’s say thank you to Gregg Williams, who galvanized the Browns and guided them to a 5-3 record in the second half of the season. After a three year period totaling four wins, the players needed to know what winning felt like.
Williams provided that.
No one knows if Kitchens will guide the Browns to the playoffs in the future, the same as no one knows how long the players will buy in to his message.
Bill Belichick was a defensive guru. Andy Reid coached the offensive line and tight end before moving to quarterbacks coach. Pete Carroll was a defensive backs coach before becoming a coordinator. John Harbaugh was a special teams coach.
The point is there is no set way to become a great coach in the NFL.
Freddie Kitchens seems like he’s comfortable with who he is, and that’s a big difference from the guy who was here at the beginning of this season.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 