Only Preseason, But Still Overreaction.

The pre-season in the NFL has become an out and out joke, but that hasn’t stopped fans from overreacting to the Cleveland Browns’ first loss in games that don’t count, last Friday at Tampa Bay.

One of the reasons it shouldn’t be taken too seriously is the intentions of the head coach’s toward these games.

For example, and we have no inside information here, let’s say Freddie Kitchens prepared his team one way and told his friend, Bruce Arians, now the head coach of the Buccaneers, to run some stuff the Browns haven’t seen in order to see how the players would react.

Maybe they agreed to do this to each other’s teams to gauge how the two teams would respond to some adversity.

We just don’t know.

Remember, there were some who were upset in the first game against the Redskins, when the Browns opened the game in the no huddle, hurry up offense.

We speculated then that Kitchens told Washington coach Jay Gruden he was going to do this, and offensive coordinator Todd Monken confirmed it a couple of days later.

This doesn’t mean the Browns don’t have issues on the offensive line or in the kicking game. It does mean the issues aren’t greater than they were before kickoff last Friday night.

It isn’t like it was 10 years ago, when the third pre-season game was the dress rehearsal game. Back then, the starters played pretty much the whole first quarter of the first game, about a half of the second, and three quarters of the third.

That’s not the case anymore.

Baker Mayfield played one series in the opener against Washington. He didn’t play at all in the second contest at Indianapolis. Most of the starters did the same.

Heck, Odell Beckham Jr. nor Jarvis Landry has stepped foot on the field of play through three exhibition (yes, we know the NFL doesn’t like them called that) games.

The preseason has become a series of glorified scrimmages, and many teams, including the Browns, have gone to organized practices against other teams where the action and hitting can be controlled.

Remember 2017 when the Browns went 0-16? They were 4-0 in the preseason. Hue Jackson was trying to win those games.

We heard Kitchens say if they are keeping score then he wants to win, but our guess is he’d be a lot more upset about a loss on September 8th than he is about the Tampa game.

Someone is going to win Thursday night in the game against Detroit, but it is likely no one of any importance to the 2019 Cleveland Browns will play in that game, and the same can be said of most NFL teams.

It’s time for the NFL to cut back to two games, and start playing them off-site, so season ticket holders don’t have to pay full price for them. Or, if you want to play a home game, give season ticket holders an option to buy them at a reduced price, and if they don’t sell them to the public at a lower price.

Maybe someone who can’t afford to go normally can get to see an NFL game in person.

As for the results, don’t get to concerned, because again, we don’t know what the opposing teams are trying to accomplish.

There will be plenty of time for concern when the regular season starts next week.

Does Kitchens Have The Right Experience? Let’s Wait And See

Without a doubt, there is a lot of buzz surrounding the Cleveland Browns this season, for the first time in a long time.

While some point to the last seven games of the 2018 season, where the brown and orange went 5-2, others point out those wins didn’t come against anyone with a winning record.

And although some people like the hire of Freddie Kitchens as head coach, citing what he did with the offense last year when he took over as offensive coordinator, other feel having a half season under his belt in that job make him ill-equipped to handle his new gig.

The truth is no one knows what kind of head coach Kitchens will be, although he impressed GM John Dorsey enough to give him the job, which should count for something.

We also feel having a structure where the head coach reports to the general manager, so that makes them work together, and there is no sniping to the owner about the other person, is a breath of fresh air in Berea, and that also bodes well for the franchise.

But unlike some in the media, who hold Kitchens’ lack of experience against him and therefore are waiting for him to make mistakes to prove their point, we take an opposite tact.

We always take an optimistic view of new coaches, preferring to wait for them to show us they can’t handle the job before being critical.

Let’s face it, the great coaches in the NFL come from all different backgrounds, so there is really no way to judge any of them until the games start for real.

Heck, Hue Jackson was considered a “hot” coordinator when Jimmy Haslam hired him prior to the 2016 season, and no one can debate he was an abject failure in his tenure in Cleveland.

The coach everyone is trying to duplicate, Sean McVay, was in charge of the offense in Washington, and in his last season, the team had the third ranked offense in the NFL.

The other two years he was in charge? They ranked 13th and 17th.

John Harbaugh, who does a magnificent job getting the most out of his talent with the Baltimore Ravens (it pains us to say it), was a special teams coordinator for nine years with the Eagles and spent another year as a defensive backs coach before landing the job in Baltimore.

On the other hand, the coordinators for winning teams, squads that have made deep runs in the playoffs have failed as much, if not more, than they have succeeded.

Gus Bradley is a recent example. He was the defensive coordinator of the “Legion of Boom” in Seattle, but went 14-48 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He’s back in the coordinator pool with the Chargers.

Being a lead assistant is a lot different than having all of the responsibility on your head. Some guys are cut out for the job as head coach, others are better suited to be assistants. There’s nothing wrong with that.

As for Freddie Kitchens? We won’t know until the games kick off for real on September 8th. We understand every Browns’ fan is excited about this season, but reserve judgment on the head coach until a few games have been actually played.

Pressure To Win Should Be Welcoming To Browns

Losing isn’t any fun, but it also doesn’t bring any pressure. That’s what the Cleveland Browns have dealt with for much of the last 25 years.

This year is different. This year the Browns are expected to contend for a playoff spot if not win the AFC North.

It all starts next week when training camp commences in Berea.

GM John Dorsey has put together a solid roster, and winning five of the last seven games the prior season puts expectations at a higher level than they’ve been since Cleveland came off a 10-6 season in 2007.

The 2008 squad, coached by Romeo Crennel, started the season losing their first three games, but rebounded to 4-6 after a Monday night win over Buffalo.

They lost their last six games as the offense fell apart, scoring no more than 10 points in any of those games, and were actually shutout in the final two games, losing 14-0 to Cincinnati with Ken Dorsey at quarterback, and dropping a 31-0 decision to Pittsburgh with Bruce Gradkowski at the controls.

From there, the Browns have been largely irrelevant as a franchise.

After the 2016 and 2017 seasons produced just one win combined, things could only go up, right?

Following those two disastrous campaigns, the organization drafted what should be franchise cornerstones in Myles Garrett and Baker Mayfield, a pass rusher and a quarterback, arguably the two most important positions on the field.

Add in the acquisition of All Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and suddenly the Browns have a national buzz around them. But can they live up to the hype?

New coach Freddie Kitchens, never a head coach before, understands the expectations and repeatedly says the players have to know they haven’t accomplished anything to this point, and he is there to remind them if they start believing it.

Yes, the Browns went 5-2 to end the season, but they didn’t beat any teams with an above .500 record in that stretch. In fact, there only win over a playoff team last season came over the Ravens, and Hue Jackson was the head coach!

Fans shouldn’t expect the division to be a cakewalk either. After all, the Browns didn’t beat the Steelers last year, and the Ravens still have one of the game’s best coaches in John Harbaugh, even if they have a QB who can’t pass.

The reasons for optimism are real though. Mayfield showed signs he can be one of the sport’s premier signal callers, and as everyone should know by now, if you have that quarterback, you have a chance in every game you play.

On Thursday, the pressure to succeed starts for the first time in over ten years. The Browns are supposed to be good. A playoff berth is expected by the fan base, although playoff contention should be a more realistic goal.

Kitchens knows it, Dorsey knows it, and Mayfield and the rest of the roster knows it.

They know, barring injuries, that a 6-10 record will be viewed as failure. There can be no excuses.

That’s the new challenge for the Cleveland Browns. Gutting the roster is easy, the first chore is to acquire talent, and next thing on the checklist is to convert the talent to victories on the field.

Finally, the Browns have the pressure to be an NFL playoff team.

The Disconnect Between Dolans, Fans

Cleveland sports fans have different relationships with the owners of their sports teams.

Since the early 1960’s, the Browns have been owned by out of towners. Sure, Art Modell moved to northeast Ohio, but he was a New Yorker. After he moved the team to Baltimore and the Browns rejoined the NFL in 1999, Al Lerner, another ex-New Yorker owned the team.

His son, Randy, sold the team to Jimmy Haslam, from Tennessee. None of these guys really had the trust of the fans of the team, for various reasons, although right now, Haslam gets a break because of the hiring of GM John Dorsey.

The Cavaliers were brought into the NBA by Nick Mileti, born in Cleveland.

At one point, Mileti owned (through partnerships) the Cavs, the World Hockey Association Cleveland Crusaders, and the Indians, as well as building the Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio, a world class sports arena.

Because he was from here, the fans warmed to Mileti. After all, he brought professional basketball to the area, and at the time, many thought the Indians were headed out of town before he bought them.

Mileti didn’t have a lot of money, but he had vision and passion for Cleveland sports.

Unfortunately, the baseball fans in the area have never bought into the current ownership, the Dolan family.

Dick Jacobs is looked fondly on by Tribe fans because he built a solid organization, which hadn’t been seen for years, and his teams won, for the first time in 40 years, the Cleveland Indians were among the best teams in the sport.

And with the revenue pouring in from the new ballpark combined with a contending team (and no football team), Jacobs signed off on adding players. The payoff was five straight post-season appearances and two American League pennants.

Those Indians were brash and cocky, and the fans loved it. Our baseball team was competing with the Yankees and Red Sox, and beat them in the playoffs.

Jacobs got out of the game before any rebuild had to be done. And that’s where the Dolans came in.

We believe that Cleveland sports fans want to see in their teams the same attitude they have, that of an underdog. The attitude that we can be as good as the bigger cities, a “we’ll show you” feeling.

The Dolans simply don’t exude that type of feeling.

Think about some of the things the fans and the media alike bring up in discussing their stewardship of the professional baseball team.

They talk about “windows of opportunity” and consistently remind the ticket buying public that Cleveland is a small market.

You never hear words like that coming out of Dan Gilbert’s mouth. Gilbert’s attitude seems to be screw you, we’ll win anyway.

And in our opinion, that’s why fans gravitate to the Cavaliers’ owner more, even though the Indians have been the more consistent franchise over the last 15 years.

Even though Gilbert is from Detroit, he displays more of the Cleveland spirit than Larry and Paul Dolan. They seem resigned to their situation, instead of fighting the big boys.

This year might be the ultimate test case. The Indians have a slim chance in the division race, but they have virtually the same record as the Boston Red Sox. And you know the Red Sox aren’t selling.

This might be the reason ticket sales suffer too. As we know, there is plenty of interest in the team, the local ratings are among the best in baseball, but Progressive Field isn’t the “place to be” for a variety of reasons.

Browns’ “Dawg Defense” Had Two Star Corners. Is This Part II?

Most people figured the Cleveland Browns would go heavy on defense in this year’s draft, and GM John Dorsey did not disappoint.

He selected five defenders, one offensive lineman, and a kicker on Friday and Saturday, upgrading a defense that ranked third last in the NFL in yards allowed last season. They also ranked 21st in points allowed.

They survived and even thrived early in 2018 because they were causing an inordinate amount of turnovers, but once those declined, the Browns had problem stopping opponents.

And that 29th ranking in yards allowed was helped by two good performances against the offensively challenged Broncos and Bengals in two of the last three games on the slate.

Dorsey took a page out of the Browns’ past with his first pick, the 46th overall, taking CB Greedy Williams from LSU.

The last time the Browns had a very good defense, and indeed, the last time they had a Super Bowl contending team, was in the late 1980’s and their defense was led by a pair of shutdown cornerbacks, Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield.

With Williams and last season’s rookie sensation, Denzel Ward, the Browns hope to have the same effect.

Williams’ supposed weakness is considered to be the willingness to tackle, but seriously, would you rather have a cornerback who could tackle, but not be able to cover?

Those 80’s teams did not have a pass rusher like Myles Garrett, let alone someone like Olivier Vernon on the other side. Those guys should see sack totals rise because the corners will be able to provide tight coverage.

Adding those two to T.J. Carrie and Terrence Mitchell give new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks a lot of guys who can cover wide receivers, and that’s is of the utmost importance in today’s NFL.

Dorsey also added two linebackers who should help provide depth in third round pick Sione Takitaki from BYU, and Mack Wilson from Alabama.

Wilson was projected by some draft experts as a second round value, so getting him with the 155th choice (5th round) could be a coup for the front office.

And really, that’s what this draft was about, right? Good teams have depth. You can’t have one injury bring your entire team down. Hopefully, guys like Takitaki and Wilson can challenge players like Joe Schobert and Christian Kirksey, and therefore build a stronger roster.

One thing we know about the NFL, there will be injuries, and how you handle them goes a long way in determining your final record.

6th round choice Drew Forbes, brings another athletic offensive lineman to the roster, again, an area where you can’t have too much depth.

They still have Desmond Harrison, who started early last season, and Austin Corbett is a first year starter. Dorsey brought in Eric Kush, Bryan Witzmann, and Kendall Lamm in free agency, but you can’t have too much depth there.

The surprise pick was kicker Austin Siebert. A former teammate of Baker Mayfield, he is reputed to have a strong leg.

Greg Joseph did a decent job last year after arriving during the season, but was still too inconsistent. We are sure Dorsey and the coaching staff would like someone more “automatic” on field goals and extra points.

We have said this before, but the “trust in Dorsey” folks have it right. After what he has done to this roster, he earned and deserves the benefit of the doubt.

With this draft, he emphasized the biggest area of weakness on the team, the defense. On the other hand, there was talent here, Pro Bowl talent like Garrett, Ward, Schobert, and newcomers Vernon and Sheldon Richardson.

The Browns want a defense that puts pressure on their opponents. Let’s see if this draft helped that. Having two press cornerbacks helps for sure.

Plenty Of Time For Browns To Address Remaining Holes.

Since the Browns’ surge in the second half of the 2018 season, fans are chomping at the bit for training camp to start.

This feeling was intensified by the trade in which GM John Dorsey picked up All Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr, and pass rusher Olivier Vernon from the Giants.

That move, along with the free agent signing of DT Sheldon Richardson, and of course, the drafting of Baker Mayfield, have the Browns going from the doormat of the league in 2016 and 2017 to media darlings.

However, it is time to maintain calmness.

Not in thinking the Browns should be a good football team in 2019, on paper, it says they should, but in wanting the roster to be complete…right now!

Dorsey traded starting safety Jabril Peppers in the Giants trade and last week cut the presumed starter, Derrick Kindred, who was picked up by Indianapolis. He traded for Eric Murray from Kansas City, sending Emmanuel Ogbah to the Chiefs.

Then, on Friday, he signed former Steeler and Packer Morgan Burnett as a free agent. Do we believe the front office is satisfied they replaced Peppers, who played very well in the second half of the season? No, we are sure they aren’t.

Because the Browns have their quarterback, people seem to forget there is a little something at the end of this month called the NFL Draft. It used to be the highlight of the spring for football fans here.

But since Cleveland dealt its first round pick to New York, it feels like we are forgetting about the selection process, and we have no doubt Dorsey will be looking to upgrade the safety position and probably the linebacking corps in the draft.

We would also expect another quarterback to be brought in via the draft or a trade. Dorsey keeps telling everyone that Drew Stanton is the back up, but the former Michigan State QB hasn’t played since 2017, and hasn’t completed over 50% of his passes since 2014 when he went 5-3 as a starter with Arizona.

While the Browns don’t have a first round pick, they do have three fifth round picks, which Dorsey may use to move up in the second or third rounds to get a player he feels fits on the Cleveland roster, perhaps a safety or a linebacker.

As for the quarterback, that could come later, perhaps even as late as after teams cut down to 53 players before week one of the season.

Also, the Browns did ink the best QB in the newly defunct Alliance of American Football (AAF) in Garrett Gilbert, who had the most passing yards in the league and was with the Carolina Panthers last season.

The fans need to use patience. The excitement is real and understandable, but the schedule hasn’t even been released as of yet, so the campaign isn’t starting next week.

There is plenty of time to fill out the Browns’ roster, and we doubt John Dorsey is satisfied with the personnel on his squad. There will definitely be more to come.

We can all watch the draft differently this season, and the GM’s history shows he is not afraid to make moves. So, the Browns may be very active that weekend.

Just don’t go crazy because safety hasn’t been addressed, or outside linebacker, or left tackle. There is a lot of time between now and July when this edition of the Cleveland Browns takes the training field.

Deal For Beckham Ushers In New Browns’ Era?

In 1970, the Cleveland Browns had a problem. Sure, they won the NFL title just six years earlier, and went to the championship game in ’65, ’68, and ’69, but after Bill Nelsen’s knees were starting to fail him, and the Browns needed someone to turn the reins over to.

They made a decision that would haunt them for several years, when they traded All Pro receiver Paul Warfield, who averaged over 20 yards per reception the previous four years to the Miami Dolphins for the 3rd overall pick in the draft, which they used to take Purdue QB Mike Phipps.

Warfield became an important piece to two Super Bowl titles for the Dolphins, made five Pro Bowls and two All Pro teams with Miami, and eventually went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Phipps played seven years in Cleveland, going 24-25-2 as a starter, but did guide the Browns to the playoffs in 1972, throwing five interceptions in a loss to, you guessed it, the Dolphins.

That was the only playoff appearance for the Browns, an NFL power from 1950 to 1970, until the Kardiac Kids season in 1980, with Brian Sipe at the helm.

Now, the Browns have their quarterback in Baker Mayfield, and made the reverse Warfield trade Tuesday night, getting WR Odell Beckham Jr. from the Giants for a first round and third round pick in next month’s NFL Draft and former first round pick Jabrill Peppers.

You can make an excellent case that Beckham is the Warfield of today.

His first three years in the league, he averaged 96 catches for 1374 yards and 12 touchdowns. He missed much of 2017 with an injury, but played 12 games last season, catching 77 passes for 1052 yards.

Remember, that his QB, Eli Manning, is on the downside of his career, while Mayfield is ascending.

We heard the rumors that it would take two first round picks to get the wide receiver, so in our opinion, getting him for just one, is a big win for John Dorsey and the Browns.

We will not minimize the loss of Peppers, who played very well in the second half of last season, but remember, his big supporter, former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has departed, and new coordinator Steve Wilks may want something different from his strong safety.

Besides, don’t forget Derrick Kindred is still on the roster, and he was a starter when Peppers was playing free safety during his rookie season.

And the third round pick Dorsey moved wasn’t even the Browns’ choice, it was New England’s, as a result of the Danny Shelton trade.

Look at the weapons at Mayfield’s disposal when training camp starts in July. He has a solid running game in Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson, and that’s not even taking Kareem Hunt into account, because he will likely be suspended to start the season.

He’ll have Beckham, who is a threat to take any play to the house, with Jarvis Landry and Rashard Higgins at wide receiver, and David Njoku, who we feel is a budding star, at tight end.

The defensive line has been bolstered with the trade for Olivier Vernon, and the free agent signing of Sheldon Richardson. The linebackers and secondary could still use some depth, but the Browns still have a lot of picks in the draft too.

Make no mistake, the Browns have entered into “win now” mode. Anything short of a playoff berth in 2019 should be viewed as a disappointment, not just to Dorsey and coach Freddie Kitchens, but to the fans as well.

You can’t help but be excited.

Browns Make A Trade And Use Patience

The legal tampering period in the NFL started yesterday, so the NFL rumors will start flying around over the next couple of days.

The Browns did make a move ahead of the league’s new year, trading guard Kevin Zeitler to the New York Giants for pass rusher Olivier Vernon.

We will spare you the whole “trust in Dorsey” stuff, but we will say we do believe the Browns have a pretty good idea of what they have in last year’s second round pick Austin Corbett, and wouldn’t have made the deal without a staunch belief he will be more than a adequate replacement for Zeitler.

Remember, Corbett was a few picks away from being a first rounder last season.

As for Vernon, our opinion defensively is the same as former Browns executive Ernie Accorsi, who said the most important positions on the field are quarterback, and guys who can get to the quarterback.

That means you can never have enough pass rushers, and the Browns needed someone opposite Myles Garrett, who could pressure opposing passers.

Vernon had 22 sacks in his 39 games with the Giants. Contrast that to Emmanuel Ogbah, who has had 12.5 sacks in his three year career, spanning 40 games, with the Browns.

Ogbah’s high total in sacks for a season was 5.5 in his rookie year, the season he played without Garrett as his bookend. We are sure Dorsey and the coaching staff didn’t love that Ogbah didn’t make opponents pay for double teaming the former first overall pick.

It’s a risky deal because Zeitler is a quality player, but the Browns had a replacement for him on the roster, and used a strength to fill a weakness. We wish other teams who play in Cleveland would do the same thing.

Outside of pass rushers, the other thing good defenses can’t have enough of is cornerbacks, and that’s an area we believe Dorsey will continue to build on in the off-season.

We wouldn’t be surprised if a corner was drafted in either the first or second round in the upcoming draft, nor would it be a shock to see one signed in free agency, perhaps Steven Nelson, who played with Kansas City (Dorsey factor) last season.

With the release of TE Darren Fells, no doubt a tight end will be sought too. Fells is 33, and we know Dorsey prefers younger players who still have an upside.

It’s hard to believe with all of the two tight end sets the Browns use, they will go into the season with just David Njoku, Seth DeValve, and Orson Charles, who really played H-back, on the roster.

We also believe the team knows they need to upgrade the defensive tackle position. Larry Ogunjobi needs someone next to him who will make offenses pay for double teaming him too. Today’s signing of Sheldon Richardson will help there too.

Remember, when Dorsey strikes, there aren’t a lot of rumors attached signaling a move. That’s how he operates.

We do believe the general manager at his word that the Browns won’t go crazy in free agency, but we do feel he will make two or three solid roster additions in this market.

The organization isn’t going to go “all in”, but they know the time to take the playoffs has arrived. That will drive the GM’s aggressiveness.

Browns Fans Watching The Game Today With Hope.

Today is Super Bowl LIII, and there is no need to remind you that the Cleveland Browns are one of the few teams in the NFL who have never played in the game.

Only four franchises have never won their conference championships in the Super Bowl era, and two of them, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans, are expansion teams, both coming into the league after 28 championship games had been played.

Yes, the Browns are technically an expansion team as well, rejoining the NFL in 1999, but played in five conference title games in the Super Bowl era before they were ripped from the city and moved to Baltimore.

So, it leaves just the Detroit Lions and the Browns as teams around when the Super Bowl started and have never been there.

Actually, the Lions have only been to one NFC Conference title game, in 1991, losing to the Redskins.

The Browns lost to the Colts in ’68, the Vikings in ’69, and the famous three losses to Denver in the late 80’s.

This year’s Browns give you hope that it won’t be too long before Cleveland can get to the Super Bowl for the first time. They appear to have their quarterback in place at long last in Baker Mayfield, and in going from zero wins to seven this season, the future certainly looks bright.

However, let’s slow down on talk that the Browns can be in Super Bowl LIV next season. Yes, the second half of the season was impressive, and we aren’t even going to bring up the argument that the team didn’t beat anyone good.

They lost to a Ravens squad that everyone was deathly afraid of in week 17 (we weren’t, because of their “gimmick” offense), but had a chance to win on the game’s last possession.

They also lost to another media darling team, the Texans, when Mayfield threw three first half interceptions, and then had a dazzling second half.

The reason we say this is because the Browns haven’t even made the playoffs since 2002.

We understand that it can happen. Heck, the Eagles went from not making the playoffs for three straight seasons to winning the Super Bowl last year.

When the Rams won in 1999, it was their first playoff appearance in ten seasons. So, it can happen. When the Patriots won their first title, they were coming off a 5-11 season.

Still, the Browns have a lot of improvement to make in this off-season. The defense ranked as one of the worst in the league, and even though they have an elite pass rusher and a shutdown corner, there are still improvements that need to be made.

And they have to build depth. Playoff teams withstand injuries, so there must be a “next man up” mentality. It helps if that guy can play professional football at an acceptable level.

Fortunately, John Dorsey has demonstrated he can find these players. And with 11 draft picks and a ton of salary cap space, he will have to opportunity to fill the holes on the roster.

We are also quite satisfied that he knows where these holes are, and that is half the battle.

The biggest thing is having Mayfield though. After a brief period (2001 and 2003) where quarterbacks like Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson won the big game, for the most part, the winning signal callers are at the top of the heap among QB’s.

Only Joe Flacco and Nick Foles would not be considered Hall of Famer type players among winners in the last 15 years.

We’ll bet Dorsey has learned that once you have the franchise quarterback, you build around him, and not rely on him to erase all of the other roster problems.

For the first time in a long time, Cleveland fans can watch the Super Bowl with hope.

Kitchens Gets The Gig!

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.