The Browns have found their next head coach!
What a turn of events it has been for Freddie Kitchens.
About the New Hiring
According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, the Cleveland Browns are promoting Kitchens to be their new head coach on Wednesday. He will replace former head coach Hue Jackson and interim head coach Gregg Williams.
Freddie Kitchens will be named new Browns head coach later today, per sources.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 9, 2019
The Baker Mayfield Factor
When Kitchens took over the playcalling duties from the fired Todd Haley, the offense had a significant turnaround, and Baker Mayfield especially came alive. It was like the restraints had been taking off. Other things improved too — receivers stopped dropping passes, the running backs were hot, and the offensive line wasn’t allowing any sacks. Take a look at Mayfield’s productivity before and after the coaching changes:
Baker Mayfield pre-Freddie Kitchens as his OC: 130-of-223 (56.5%), 1,471 yards, 8 TD, 6 INT.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 9, 2019
Baker Mayfield with Freddie Kitchens as his OC: 180-of-263 (68.4%), 2,254 yards, 19 TD, 8 INT.
Gregg Williams is OUT
It appears that Gregg Williams’ time with the club will end, per Dan Graziano of ESPN.
The Browns have relieved defensive coordinator Gregg Williams of his duties and he is no longer with the team, sources tell @PatMcManamon and me.
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) January 9, 2019
Was it the Right Move?
This is from my perspective: after the firing of Hue Jackson and Todd Haley, we didn’t expect the club to have as great of a turnaround as they did. Gregg Williams deserves a lot of credit for keeping things together, but the real difference maker was Freddie Kitchens’ offensive playcalling.
My mentality was “if Kitchens worked so well with Mayfield and the offense, then why the heck would we risk losing him?” If the Browns had hired a defensive coach and tried to retain Kitchens as their offensive coordinator, then you run the risk of losing Kitchens a year from now to another club. Yes, Cleveland may have accidentally stumbled into Kitchens as their top head coaching candidate, but who cares? If it works, it works.
I don’t mind the team taking a different direction defensively. When I look at this season’s productivity, the unit was better than they were in 2017, particularly in the area of forcing turnovers. However, nothing was groundbreaking or innovative. Players like Emmanuel Ogbah and Jamie Collins underachieved. This seems like a good time to bring in a fresh mind defensively to see how their vision can improve the unit — because it’s not like it could get worse, really, with a coaching change.
What Are Your Thoughts?
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